Dallas: Is it true that some people are underrating Elton Brand because 1) they haven't watched him a lot or 2) they're pushing an agenda?
Why yes, yes it is. I'm glad you asked this question. Allow me to quote a couple of unbiased sources about Elton Brand last season:
" By Tom Haberstroh-
Let me ask a simple question:
Why isn't Elton Brand a candidate for defensive player of the year?
I know what you're thinking: Wait, Elton Brand? The guy who makes $17 million to average 11 points per game and has limited mobility? That Elton Brand?
Yes, I'm talking about that Elton Brand, and here's why:
He checks off more boxes on the defensive player of the year rubric than just about any big man in the league.
Not a believer? Start at the team level. If you look at the history of the defensive player of the year vote, you'll notice a pretty obvious trend: The winner almost always hails from a top defensive team. Over the past decade, here are the ranks of the DPOY in team defensive rating, starting with the most recent: 3rd, 3rd, 1st, 1st, 11th, 5th, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 8th.
With the exception of Marcus Camby in 2006-07 and Ben Wallace in 2001-02, you see that every DPOY winner comes from a top-5 defensive team in the league. Obviously this makes sense. This team-then-player philosophy is largely the same logic behind the MVP award as well. In that vein, the Philadelphia 76ers, unbeknownst to too many fans, remain the top defensive team in the league. Sure, the Sixers have been in a standings freefall for some time now, but blame the offense for that; their defense has ranked second in efficiency since the All-Star break. So, Brand has that going for him right off the bat.
Secondly, believe it or not, Brand has the box score stats to back up his candidacy. Brand is in the midst of a career year in defensive stops department, averaging 1.7 blocks and 1.1 steals per game. Here's the long list of players who can match Brand in those two categories: Howard and Josh Smith. That's it. You'll see Smith and Howard on the list of defensive player of the year candidates, but probably not the big man in Philadelphia.
Now, Brand might have lost a step or two after Achilles surgery, but he simply has a knack for the ball thanks to his sharp instincts and airplane-like 7-foot-5.5-inch wingspan. In fact, among NBA players, only Bismack Biyombo has a longer wingspan at Brand's height, according to DraftExpress' pre-draft measurement database. And night in and night out, his length continues to catch opposing players by surprise despite his 12-year track record in the league.
Take Tuesday, for instance. Heading into a matchup against the Sixers, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra specifically wrote in the game's scouting report to beware of Brand's hands in the lane. "He's very deceptively long," Spoelstra told the media before Tuesday's game. "He's one of the best at stripping the ball, and thanks to his aesthetics, his natural gifts are very underrated." And what happened in that game? Despite the Heat's prep work, Brand got his hand on the ball three times in the Heat's first five possessions. When the final buzzer sounded, Brand had collected four steals and three blocks in just 31 minutes of action.
So, Brand has the team qualifications and the traditional box score stats on his side, but we're just getting started. Sure, Brand has his hands on the ball in the lane and at the rim, but what about his post defense?
Synergy Sports Technology, a video tracking service provided to NBA teams, tracks every possession of every game played in the NBA and slices each game into play types. One of the plays Synergy tracks is the post-up; it analyzes how many points a player allows in those situations. So where does Brand rank in points allowed on post-up plays? First. Nobody is better this season. Not Howard. Not Andrew Bynum. Not Kevin Garnett.
In fact, according to Synergy tracking, there are 39 players who have defended at least 100 post-up plays this season, and Brand ranks first in points allowed per post-up play (0.582). And it's not really close. The distance between Brand and the second-ranked player Marc Gasol (.664) is the about the same distance between Gasol and the 13th-ranked player Samuel Dalembert (.750). Opponents going against Brand in the post have shot an abysmal 31 percent on their field goals, but more importantly, Brand plays them clean, as they earn a trip to the free throw line only once every 20 tries. For reference, players going against Howard go to the line four times as often as Brand.
And as Spoelstra emphasized Tuesday, the key to Brand's defensive success is that he's wildly deceptive. Just when a post player thinks he can score on a 6-foot-9 veteran who's lost a step, Brand will extend his Go-Go-Gadget arms and distract him just enough to alter the shot without fouling. Not only that, at 280 pounds, Brand is virtually unmovable on the block. After Tuesday's game, Brand's defense prompted Chris Bosh to shake his head and groan that the 33-year-old is "like a tree stump." Indeed, the length of a tree and anchored like a stump.
How essential has Brand been to the Sixers?
First, consider that, due to Spencer Hawes injuries, the team has alternated between starting rookie LaVoy Allen and 87-year-old Tony Battie at the center slot, and it's still a top defensive team. Despite all the turnover at the center slot, Brand has posted the best on-court defensive efficiency in the NBA among players with 1,000 minutes. According to basketballvalue.com, opposing offenses have mustered just 96.1 points per 100 possessions with Brand on the floor. Underscoring his impact on the squad, the Sixers surrender three points more every 100 possessions when he steps off the floor.
Now, you might be thinking: Isn't Andre Iguodala the reason for Sixers' defensive prowess? No doubt, Iguodala has been masterful as a perimeter defender, and he probably belongs ahead of Brand in the DPOY conversation. But it should be noted that the Sixers' defense falls apart when either of them steps off the floor. When Iguodala doesn't have Brand on his side, the Sixers' defense becomes 4.6 points worse on the defensive end. Without Iguodala on the court, the Brand-led defense becomes 7.5 points less stingy. Iguodala might be Philadelphia's most essential defender, but considering all the stated credentials above, Brand isn't too far behind.
So, let's recap. Team dominance? Check. Blocks and steals? Check. Post-up effectiveness? Check. Plus-minus impact? Check. What's holding Brand back? Minutes and reputation. Because of the condensed season and his age, Brand plays just 29 minutes per game, which puts him in the same boat as Kevin Garnett. But if you're going to include Garnett or Serge Ibaka (27.3 minutes per game) as a candidate, it doesn't make sense to leave out Brand.
As for reputation, few labels are tougher to shed than the "overpaid star" label. His coach Doug Collins recently went on record to state that over his 40-year career in the league, no one has been more professional than Brand. But even lofty praise like that can't remove the stink from his near-$20 million salary. What's more, it doesn't help Brand's case that he plays for a team that hasn't been in the national consciousness since Allen Iverson retired.
Basketball Prospectus (naming Brand to the All-Defense team):
Whereas Garnett started with every physical tool possible to go with his intellect, Brand is a more unlikely defensive success story. Few big men listed at 6-9, 254 qualify as elite defenders, but Brand has taken to his role as an interior anchor under Doug Collins. As Tom Haberstroh noted for ESPN Insider a few weeks ago, Brand meets every criteria for Defensive Player of the Year. He plays for an elite defense and his Synergy numbers are outstanding (at 0.67 points per possession to roll men, he's second to Garnett, and he was second among the big men I looked at with 0.59 points allowed per post-up). Brand is a little behind Garnett in box-score defensive stats and RAPM value, but the gap between the two is narrow.
Yet with seven games left in the season, it would take a catastrophe to move Brand off the top of the charts of a handful of advanced metrics that measure defense. Notably, Brand is ninth in defensive win shares, which measures the number of wins a player contributes with his defense.
More impressive, Brand is third overall in the NBA in defensive rating behind only Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard. Perhaps a more subjective statistic than win shares, defensive rating is an estimate of the player's points allowed per 100 defensive possessions. In that category Brand’s 94.8 is slightly behind Howard at 94.7 and Garnett at 94.3.
“For us to be where we are defensively, a big part of that is can you defend the paint and can you rebound the ball,” coach Doug Collins said. “And E.B. is a big part of that for us.”
“He protects the rim, but he doesn’t block a lot of shots. Yet, he’s matched up with Blake Griffin and he’s been matched up with Dwight Howard and blocked some of his shots,” said veteran Tony Battie, the only player on the Sixers older (36 to 33) and with more experience (14 seasons to 13) than Brand. “He’s not afraid to foul anybody. Guys will look at him and say, ‘You know what, I’m not going to be able to take the ball in there and dunk it on Elton, because he’s going to foul me.’”
[Moving Brand in the post] is like moving a tree stump.
So, enough about defense. What about shooting?
3-to-9 feet: 44.5%
10-to-15 feet: 45%
16-to-23 feet: 48.6%
Overall, that's better than Chris Bosh (35.5%/47.9%/40.8%, respectively).
Brand is a really, really good player. It's a shame more people don't watch him play, and instead buy into the "shell of his former self" meme.
Hey I am not the only one. He didn't get the recognition you think he deserves from a lot of people who get paid for a living to analyze the game.
I will say this. That is great stuff you posted though. It does make me change my stance a bit about his impact. In all seriousness I give you props for that.
As for an agenda lol. Ouch. I can see why you would say that, but I truthfully don't think Brand is the difference between you getting to the finals or not. And I doubt anyone else on here feels that way. I think it's gonna be your ability to sell how you score points consistently outside of James and Irving. How Irving does in the playoffs and how you match up with LA. B/C your road goes through LA.
If I really want to have an agenda I am not going to focus on your back up PF.
I think this is a Conference Finals team for sure. I said that previously. Your ability to strategize in the LA series will be key and I look forward to reading your posts in that thread.
Good stuff and nice job coming with the goods in defense of Elton. Lol not like anyone else was making you work a little bit in this thread.
Topic: 2012 CB Draft Southwest Division Press Conferences (Read 51114 times)