Everything Serge Ibaka

[NeedTristanThompson]

And props to Nurse for recognizing the potential here.

Hindsight is 20/20 of course, but I now cringe at last year's lineup of Ibaka and Jonas suffocating each other with their overlapping minutes.

And Serge's shooting is now 20/20!

[Shaolin Fantastic]

Said all last year that Ibaka is not a power forward anymore in the modern game, he's a center. Look how much better he's playing now that he's playing that position full time.

- He has a quickness advantage now basically every night instead of a disadvantage
- He doesn't have to guard the perimeter as much, he can stay home and protect the rim which is what he's best at defensively
- He's pulling the opponents' best rim protector away from the basket with his 3PT threat.

All of these things would not be possible if he was playing the 4. Power forward is more similar to SG and SF nowadays than it is to the center position.

[Puffer]

Said all last year that Ibaka is not a power forward anymore in the modern game, he's a center. Look how much better he's playing now that he's playing that position full time.

...and has Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green and Pascal Siakim in the starting five to play with.

Taking nothing away from Serge, he has been outstanding the last few games, but without those three in the lineup with him, he doesn't get the opportunity to up his game.

His screening has really improved. It was particularly noticeable in the Utah game. Credit to whoever worked with him in the summer and big props to Nurse for seeing the opportunity to use his potential in the new lineup.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

...and has Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green and Pascal Siakim in the starting five to play with.

Taking nothing away from Serge, he has been outstanding the last few games, but without those three in the lineup with him, he doesn't get the opportunity to up his game.

His screening has really improved. It was particularly noticeable in the Utah game. Credit to whoever worked with him in the summer and big props to Nurse for seeing the opportunity to use his potential in the new lineup.

Even without Kawhi playing he's been excellent, in fact he's arguably been even better in those games.

Siakam isn't a change, that's what some of us were calling for last year (Siakam and Ibaka to start). Yes Green is definitely an upgrade shooting wise on DeRozan, but his improvement has way more to do with the position and role he's in now than the players around him.

[planetmars]

Second-year bigs Zach Collins and Jarrett Allen have been among the most effective rim protectors in the league this season. pic.twitter.com/JSphVbVyT4

— The Nylon Calculus (@NylonCalculus) November 7, 2018

Serge is having a renaissance under Nurse.

[KeonClark]

Second-year bigs Zach Collins and Jarrett Allen have been among the most effective rim protectors in the league this season. pic.twitter.com/JSphVbVyT4

— The Nylon Calculus (@NylonCalculus) November 7, 2018

Serge is having a renaissance under Nurse.

A lot of people said "Serge isnt declining, hes just moving further and further from the basket"

Looks like they were right.

Also, I love how it defies the simple thinking of modern nba. Just BECAUSE a guy can shoot around average from 3 doesnt mean he HAS to. Serge built his name of rim protection and midrange. It's his bread and butter. The last few years was like neutering him

[Maury]

How many guys do we get on all-defence teams this year? Three?

[planetmars]

A lot of people said "Serge isnt declining, hes just moving further and further from the basket"

Looks like they were right.

Also, I love how it defies the simple thinking of modern nba. Just BECAUSE a guy can shoot around average from 3 doesnt mean he HAS to. Serge built his name of rim protection and midrange. It's his bread and butter. The last few years was like neutering him

Yeah the space an pace era can really mess up with what a guy's good at. Serge is a decent 3pt shooter, but the ball always stuck when he was out on the perimeter.. and he's not coordinated enough to drive to the rim when given space.

You also have to give credit to Serge himself. He worked out really hard this summer. Nurse was really praising his work ethic in training camp (and in his radio interviews last night). I believe he worked out with the same guy that re-shaped Oladipo last year.

[DanH]

Second-year bigs Zach Collins and Jarrett Allen have been among the most effective rim protectors in the league this season. pic.twitter.com/JSphVbVyT4

— The Nylon Calculus (@NylonCalculus) November 7, 2018

Serge is having a renaissance under Nurse.

DFG% is largely garbage, though less so right at the rim. And the Raptors' centres have been fantastic on that front so far this year. Take this all with a grain of salt, as it is really early and DFG% numbers even at the rim take a long time to stabilize, but what the heck, we'll look at it anyway since ESPN is jumping the gun.

NBA.com actually tracks DFG% and also DFG% impact (which takes into account the typical FG% in that range of the players that player has defended). Ibaka and JV have defended 57 and 54 shots within 6 feet of the rim respectively and given up success rates of 44% and 52%. Even better, both players have been defending shots against guys with a high typical conversion rate in that range (62% for Ibaka and 64% for JV), meaning they have DFG% impacts of 18% and 12% (raw differences). Those impact values rank 1st and 5th of the 35 rim protectors with at least 50 defended attempts in that range.

Looking at the tracking data for rim protection stats (a slightly different method of tracking, with the shots being right at the rim instead of out to 6 feet, and with different requirements on how close a player needs to be to register as the defender - they count as defenders even if there are other defenders around, whereas the other tracking assigns a primary defender to each shot and gives all the credit to them), we see a similar dominant story. Serge and JV have helped defend 52 and 49 shots at the rim respectively, with DFG%'s of 52% and 49% respectively (that's not a typo, it really is 52-52 and 49-49, what are the odds?). Of the 43 players with at least 40 defended attempts at the rim, the pair rank 6th and 11th in DFG%.

Bonus tidbit: that last list I cut off at 40 attempts and missed including one Danny Green, who has defended 39 attempts at the rim with an incredible 49% DFG% as a guard.

Second bonus tidbit: Kawhi Leonard hasn't guarded as many attempts at the rim (partly due to missed time, partly due to guarding the primary perimeter player quite often, partly due to players being terrified of even attempting a shot near him), but he is basically impossible to score against when he does. He's guarded 17 shots at the rim. Opponents have made 5. FIVE! Looking at every player who has defended at least 10 FGAs at the rim (286 players), Leonard's 29.4% DFG% is the best by a wide margin, with the next closest player (Chieck Diallo) at 36%, and the rest of the very bottom of the pack near 40%.

For reference, the average FG% at the rim league wide is 66% this year.

That's a lot of rim protection on one team.

[ReubenJRD]

A lot of people said "Serge isnt declining, hes just moving further and further from the basket"

Looks like they were right.

Also, I love how it defies the simple thinking of modern nba. Just BECAUSE a guy can shoot around average from 3 doesnt mean he HAS to. Serge built his name of rim protection and midrange. It's his bread and butter. The last few years was like neutering him

Serge made his living in the paint when he first came into the league. Hence he even got considered for a dunk contest. He's got a solid touch around the bucket, and his moves are quite solid. Then he started developing the shot out of necessity when Durant & Westbrook's driving lanes started closing. But, as he improved, the more the emphasis was put on him to be a floor spacer.

The new NBA has screwed with a lot of good players' play. Ibaka was always capable of being a good third option, but was always utitlized as a floor spacer.

I still have my reservations about Ibaka, cause he still gets lost offensively and his hands are made of stone when he gets thrown passes, but I credit him for getting into really good shape, and Nurse for putting him into good positioning to be successful. JV and Ibaka are getting so many inside looks because of the four-out, one-in situation with one big on the floor.

[007]

Kawhi Leonard hasn't guarded as many attempts at the rim (partly due to missed time, partly due to guarding the primary perimeter player quite often, partly due to players being terrified of even attempting a shot near him), but he is basically impossible to score against when he does. He's guarded 17 shots at the rim. Opponents have made 5. FIVE!

Damn. That's incredible hahaha

[Chr1s1anL]

Why are you guys acting so surprise? Ibaka has always played well when he was at C. Even in the playoffs, game 3 when they made that run against the Cavs Ibaka was the center in the lineup. Playoffs series against Bucks changed when Ibaka started at C. We've seen more than enough evidence that he would be good at C.

[Maury]

Why are you guys acting so surprise? Ibaka has always played well when he was at C. Even in the playoffs, game 3 when they made that run against the Cavs Ibaka was the center in the lineup. Playoffs series against Bucks changed when Ibaka started at C. We've seen more than enough evidence that he would be good at C.

Because he’s always sucked at rebounding at screen-setting which are two of the most important skills for centres. Luckily he has improved tremendously in both (judging from the eye test, hopefully the numbers back this up). He also was declining as a defender and that was obvious. We’re all happy that he’s turned it around though.

[Chr1s1anL]

Because he’s always sucked at rebounding at screen-setting which are two of the most important skills for centres. Luckily he has improved tremendously in both (judging from the eye test, hopefully the numbers back this up). He also was declining as a defender and that was obvious. We’re all happy that he’s turned it around though.

He always played well at center. The only difference now is that he is playing there full time now.

[DanH]

He always played well at center. The only difference now is that he is playing there full time now.

He never played like THIS at centre. Never. He played well at centre - but he also played well at PF, in spite of the narrative people like to run with.