Everything Serge Ibaka

[charlesnba23]

We are all going to be nice and just assume you were in a coma these last 2 months.

lol

[charlesnba23]

Yeah I like our odds better.

lol

[rocwell]

#TheStarters found out live on their Twitter Show that @sergeibaka_7 was being traded to the @Raptors! Check out their reaction! pic.twitter.com/TcT3RQpa1f

— The Starters (@TheStarters) February 15, 2017

[NeedTristanThompson]

BIG WORRY! Age of Serge Ibaka

Okay so I was just reading an article about the Serge Ibaka trade when they referred to his age being a subject of question...

Ibaka isn’t in his prime. His rebounding and especially his shot-blocking numbers have been declining for the past few years: He blocked 5.0 and 4.1 shots per 100 possessions in 2012-13 and 2013-14, respectively; that number the past three seasons has been 3.7, 2.9, and 2.6. He is listed at 27 years old, but people around the league have long speculated the Congolese big man is older than that.

So I did some more research, and apparently this is not uncommon! Biz might have been significantly older too

So what is the deal here? How likely is it that Ibaka is older than he claims, and by how much? Does anyone know more about this whole age faking thing? I only ask because this compounds the worries I had when I remember hearing some commentators comment that he's out of his prime, etc., which sounds quite odd if he really is 27!?

[The Great One]

[GOLDBLUM]

Does this really need it's own thread?
Since I'm a VET who's very nearly got a whopping twice as many posts as you, I'm gonna saaaaaaaay.... No. No, it doesn't.
I'd say, since it's SOMETHING about IBAKA, it miiiiight fall under the EVERYTHING IBAKA thread.
This thread title looks like a Trump tweet.

[KHD]

i think we have much bigger worries

[DanH]

This has been covered ad nauseum. The only reason people worry about age is it causes decline, so you can judge him on his numbers over the last few years. He's seen a decent uptick in most of his numbers this year, and we don't need that much from him besides being a great fit (which he is), so I'm not concerned.

[Scraptor]

I think there's enough smoke to be concerned.
Defensive real plus/minus (positive is better)
Went from +3.23 four years ago to +3.51 to +0.86 to +0.52 now

Difference in FG% when guarded by Serge (negative is better)
Went from -3.2 four years go to -5.5 to -0.9 to +1.3 now

Although his defensive rebounding rate has bounced back a little this year, from 16.2% to 18.5%, that has dropped from 21.9% and 20.8% in his first two years. His block rate has trended in a straight line down from his third season to its current career low. WS/48 is well below his early seasons and is second lowest of his career.

Also someone posted these on reddit (/u/ca1294):





Note too this is a contract year, one in which you'd expect Ibaka's numbers to really shine as he plays for a payday.

None of this matters in the short term. It does matter over the long term, because Masai intends to re-sign him to a long-term deal. We just have to hope Masai uses his best judgment and knowledge of the situation to mitigate the risk of further decline as much as possible.

[Just Is]

Ibaka right now:

Not enough Arrested Development gifs here.

[JawsGT]

The problem I have with some of the stats is that they don't necessarily transfer from one team to the next, or even season to season.

[Joey]

Does this really need it's own thread?
Since I'm a VET who's very nearly got a whopping twice as many posts as you, I'm gonna saaaaaaaay.... No. No, it doesn't.
I'd say, since it's SOMETHING about IBAKA, it miiiiight fall under the EVERYTHING IBAKA thread.
This thread title looks like a Trump tweet.

Hahahah "SAD!"

[Joey]

I'll let this thread live for a little bit, but I agree this could likely just be discussed in his main thread.

[GLF]

Realest thing I've heard. He HAS to come to this team thinking defence. No questions asked. His spacing is all fine and dandy but if he doesn't get back to being a big time defender we're fucked. If he can get back to that and Patterson comes back there's still hope for us because they will be our two best defenders on this team.

[golden]

A few things I stood out for me, paraphrasing...

1) McHale says that Ibaka fell in love with his jump shot and thinks he's a finesse player. Doesn't play D as hard as before, but Dwane Casey will fix that.

2) C-Webb says that the Raptors regular season offense is easy to stop and will flat-out not work in the playoffs.

All eyes on Casey now.