Enes Kanter Freedom to Boston

lovegtm

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Kanter is still really bad at pick n roll defense. CLE should have run it every time Kanter was on Love and it likely would have resulted in a good look from three for either Love or whoever he ran it with
You're definitely right that a popping big is the biggest threat to Kanter currently. They're icing every screen when he plays, even if it pushes the ballhandler middle, in order to both allow him to drop while still taking away the big. That usually leaves the big with a 3 available (although you can veer the guard onto him if necessary, the Cs generally don't).

I've gotten really interested in seeing how the Celtics handle Kanter's defensive limitations, so I went back and watched all his 2nd and 3rd quarter defensive possessions. The short answer was that the Celtics put Kanter on Thompson instead, so the only way the Cavs could get Love involved in PnR was to run a big-big PnR. That failed for predictable reasons (Thompson is a non-threat as a shooter).

At 2:30 in the 3rd quarter, the Cavs finally got Kanter matched up on Love with Nance in. I'm honestly not sure why Brown or Hayward wasn't the one on Love, but he promptly sought out the PnR and drained a 3 as the pop guy. The Celtics then immediately subbed Theis in to counter.

Kanter's actual on-ball defense in the post was quite good. I'm honestly not sure there's a guy out there, reasonably available, who would be better.

A couple other thing that stand out on film in those minutes:
  • Kemba (while good at some things defensively) is their worst option in on-ball PnR defense. He often fails to execute the scheme in terms of forcing the ball-handler to reject the screen, and can't really rear-view contest due to length. Not sure exactly what the solution is there except for limiting the damage to floaters as much as possible and having his offense make up for it (it generally does).
  • Jaylen is lazy as hell when he's not focused. A lot of Love's good looks came from him needlessly helping on drives that were already contained. If he locks in on defense, that game is probably over in the 3rd quarter.
I get that it's cool to be snarky about Kanter, but he has real strengths, and there are a lot of approaches to mitigating his weaknesses. With the demise of the Warriors, I don't know that there's a team left that he's unplayable against for 15-20 minutes a night.

TLDR; the Celtics have mostly handled the jitterbug guard approach to attacking Kanter. Now to attack Kanter in the PnR against the Celtics current scheme, you need a popping big on your roster who's also good enough in the post to abuse wings. If you don't have that, the Celtics will put Kanter on whoever your non-popper is, and put a wing on the shooting big (Love, Myles Turner, etc). With Jokic and Embiid shooting meh from distance, I'm not sure there's a guy besides AD who can make Kanter unplayable. Maybe Milwaukee if they pop Lopez a ton, but the problem there is that they only really have Middleton as a threat to shoot in PnR, so you can go under against their other guys and match Kanter's minutes away from Middleton's.
 

HowBoutDemSox

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You're definitely right that a popping big is the biggest threat to Kanter currently. They're icing every screen when he plays, even if it pushes the ballhandler middle, in order to both allow him to drop while still taking away the big. That usually leaves the big with a 3 available (although you can veer the guard onto him if necessary, the Cs generally don't).

I've gotten really interested in seeing how the Celtics handle Kanter's defensive limitations, so I went back and watched all his 2nd and 3rd quarter defensive possessions. The short answer was that the Celtics put Kanter on Thompson instead, so the only way the Cavs could get Love involved in PnR was to run a big-big PnR. That failed for predictable reasons (Thompson is a non-threat as a shooter).

At 2:30 in the 3rd quarter, the Cavs finally got Kanter matched up on Love with Nance in. I'm honestly not sure why Brown or Hayward wasn't the one on Love, but he promptly sought out the PnR and drained a 3 as the pop guy. The Celtics then immediately subbed Theis in to counter.

Kanter's actual on-ball defense in the post was quite good. I'm honestly not sure there's a guy out there, reasonably available, who would be better.

A couple other thing that stand out on film in those minutes:
  • Kemba (while good at some things defensively) is their worst option in on-ball PnR defense. He often fails to execute the scheme in terms of forcing the ball-handler to reject the screen, and can't really rear-view contest due to length. Not sure exactly what the solution is there except for limiting the damage to floaters as much as possible and having his offense make up for it (it generally does).
  • Jaylen is lazy as hell when he's not focused. A lot of Love's good looks came from him needlessly helping on drives that were already contained. If he locks in on defense, that game is probably over in the 3rd quarter.
I get that it's cool to be snarky about Kanter, but he has real strengths, and there are a lot of approaches to mitigating his weaknesses. With the demise of the Warriors, I don't know that there's a team left that he's unplayable against for 15-20 minutes a night.

TLDR; the Celtics have mostly handled the jitterbug guard approach to attacking Kanter. Now to attack Kanter in the PnR against the Celtics current scheme, you need a popping big on your roster who's also good enough in the post to abuse wings. If you don't have that, the Celtics will put Kanter on whoever your non-popper is, and put a wing on the shooting big (Love, Myles Turner, etc). With Jokic and Embiid shooting meh from distance, I'm not sure there's a guy besides AD who can make Kanter unplayable. Maybe Milwaukee if they pop Lopez a ton, but the problem there is that they only really have Middleton as a threat to shoot in PnR, so you can go under against their other guys and match Kanter's minutes away from Middleton's.
Great post, thanks for taking the time to write this out and spell it out so well.
 

lovegtm

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Great post, thanks for taking the time to write this out and spell it out so well.
Thanks, I may make some videoclips this season if I have time. Couple other things:

1. If you want to see all this in real-time, just pay attention to the ball-handler's defender when Kanter is on the floor. He's almost always trying to get in position to force away from the screen. Toronto is a fun opponent in this regard, because they run a lot to try and get misdirection actions before the actual PnR, so that Lowry or FVV is able to actually use the screen.

2. The shot that this scheme concedes (pop 3 to the big) is one that Milwaukee has based an entire #1 defense around surrendering to all but the most elite shooters. Even if the guy makes it at 35%, you still get out in transition on more possessions (there are more misses), which may make up for that.
 

benhogan

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Jaylen is lazy as hell when he's not focused. A lot of Love's good looks came from him needlessly helping on drives that were already contained. If he locks in on defense, that game is probably over in the 3rd quarter.
very nice overall recap and good pick up on JB

While he's clearly worthy of All-Star consideration, Jaylen's perimeter defense on a whole has not been great this season. Besides the effort, his footwork is also inconsistent and the days of him locking down PG/SG-3pt snipers are over, as we witnessed earlier this season w/ Hield 2x, Beal, etc. The good thing is Tatum has been a terror on the perimeter and we're seeing Brad use JT to slow down those players now (ie FVV or Lowry today).

Jaylen is a solid modern-day 4. In the playoffs or a big regular-season game, I'm confident his effort will be better on switches to the perimeter or guarding 4s that can shoot. In December games against the Cavs with double-digit leads, coasting will happen.
 
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lovegtm

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very nice recap

While he's clearly worthy of All-Star consideration, Jaylen's perimeter defense on a whole has not been great this season. Besides the effort, his footwork is also inconsistent and the days of him locking down PG/SG-3pt snipers are over, as we witnessed earlier this season w/ Hield 2x, Beal, etc. The good thing is Tatum has been a terror on the perimeter and we're seeing Brad use JT to slow down those players now (ie FVV or Lowry today).

Jaylen is a solid modern-day 4. In the playoffs or a big regular-season game, I'm confident his effort will be better on switches to the perimeter or guarding 4s that can shoot. In December games against the Cavs with double-digit leads, coasting will happen.
Yeah, I seriously doubt he's lost the physical ability at age 23, but the focus is often lacking.
 

Reverend

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@Reverend I found it. Its actually a 4 part series. I read this like 10 years ago and realized then that some basketball analytics had jumped the shark. In all its glory: Rodman is the Greatest
That’s the stuff. I love the underlying thesis that, as expressed by Daryl Morey in that seminal NYT piece about Shane Battier, that we might not actually understand basketball as well as we think we do.

Thank you.
 

DJnVa

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One of those made-up stats, but:

Kanter is first Celtics reserve to get 13 points, 14 boards, and 6 blocks in a game. He's first Celtic to do it since Dino Radja, who started, did it in 1996.
 

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He seems like his value may exist, not just in the low-post scoring and rebounding, or even in the occasional defensive burst, but in his intangible role in the locker room. Maybe he’s one of those guys that great teams need. In the mold of Kevin Millar. The unexpected glue guys who can bring together disparate personalities.
 

TripleOT

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They should attack Embiid and get him in foul trouble. Theis should run him to death. They should think about Marcus-ing him a couple of possessions each half, to bait him into an offensive foul or two.
 

lovegtm

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He seems like his value may exist, not just in the low-post scoring and rebounding, or even in the occasional defensive burst, but in his intangible role in the locker room. Maybe he’s one of those guys that great teams need. In the mold of Kevin Millar. The unexpected glue guys who can bring together disparate personalities.
I honestly don't get why he's such a whipping boy for Celtics Twitter. It feels like the Brad Ausmus thing, where analytics people said snarky things his whole career, and then it turned out he was elite at framing strikes, and had been properly evaluated by his teams all along.

Kanter has some limitations, but he knows the game well, is really strong, has elite hands, runs the offense, and fits well against some important East teams.

One negative/point of concern: you'll see his +/- numbers thrown around, but the team is shooting 10% better from 3 in his minutes, which is clearly unsustainable.
 
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Imbricus

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Kanter getting some love from NBA.com (headline: "Enes Kanter Is the Most Underrated Signing of the Offseason"):
That role is to be a great teammate, to come off of the bench, to dominate the glass, to score efficiently around the basket, and to be respectable on defense. He has not only accepted that assignment, but he has excelled within it.
I know the knock on Kanter has been defense, and sometimes he has looked pretty bad, but he's also looked more than respectable at other times. He's been a mixed bag on defense, which is better than what we expected coming into the season certainly. So here's a question: it looks like he has a player option on the second year of his contract. Does he opt out?
 

lovegtm

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Kanter getting some love from NBA.com (headline: "Enes Kanter Is the Most Underrated Signing of the Offseason"):

I know the knock on Kanter has been defense, and sometimes he has looked pretty bad, but he's also looked more than respectable at other times. He's been a mixed bag on defense, which is better than what we expected coming into the season certainly. So here's a question: it looks like he has a player option on the second year of his contract. Does he opt out?
Probably depends on how he looks in the playoffs.
 

128

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He seems like his value may exist, not just in the low-post scoring and rebounding, or even in the occasional defensive burst, but in his intangible role in the locker room. Maybe he’s one of those guys that great teams need. In the mold of Kevin Millar. The unexpected glue guys who can bring together disparate personalities.
This is a great point, and it's why I'm wary when I hear alleged NBA insiders state unequivocally that the C's need to make a deal to shore up the center position. For starters, I'm not sure that deal is out there, unless Boston wants to part with one of its core players. More important, team chemistry can be crucial, and these Celtics, from all accounts, get along exceptionally well with each other.

After years of Horford, of whom I'm a fan, I'm enjoying the hell out of having a dominant rebounder on the roster.
 

Jimbodandy

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I wouldn't say that their need to add depth at center is a reflection on Kanter. As others have written above, he has played well. Mixed around the occasional bad miss on defense has been a lot of solid positional play and better than expected rim protection. The need to add a body at 5 is a reflection of Brad's clear lack of confidence in VP and RWill's apparent allergy to hardwoods.
 

bankshot1

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The need for #5 depth revolves primarily around offsetting/defending Embiid and maybe AD for 7 days in May (poetic license).

IMO Philly may implode all on their own in a long series with or without the C's bagging another big.

And fuck the Lakers, LBJ may be tired in May.

I would not gut this team for a big.

Putting on my green-team hat, a healthy Celts can play and wear down anyone.

And if they can't, and the Buck stop here, I was wrong, but this team is good, play real good 2-way hoops and are fun to watch
 

benhogan

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The need for #5 depth revolves primarily around offsetting/defending Embiid and maybe AD for 7 days in May (poetic license).

IMO Philly may implode all on their own in a long series with or without the C's bagging another big.

And fuck the Lakers, LBJ may be tired in May.

I would not gut this team for a big.

Putting on my green-team hat, a healthy Celts can play and wear down anyone.
They already have that. Kanter will be able to handle Embiid w/ help.

I agree with jimbodandy. Due to salary cap constraints and roster construction, a move for a cheap 5 is based on injury insurance depth and experience.
 

bankshot1

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They already have that. Kanter will be able to handle Embiid w/ help.

I agree with jimbodandy. Due to salary cap constraints and roster construction, a move for a cheap 5 is based on injury insurance depth and experience.
Kanter/Theis may be enough re Embiid and 76ers. But size is an issue. I hope TL gets back and continues his hoops growth and adds about 20 lbs of muscle. And i agree the Celts don't have the contracts or players to trade for a major big. I'd go to war with Brad's current team.
 

lovegtm

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Kanter/Theis may be enough re Embiid and 76ers. But size is an issue. I hope TL gets back and continues his hoops growth and adds about 20 lbs of muscle. And i agree the Celts don't have the contracts or players to trade for a major big. I'd go to war with Brad's current team.
In what sense is size an issue? The Celtics have been basically fine in that regard in pretty much every non-Sixers matchup this year. They’ve had issues in plenty of games, but few of them have been size-related.

The Celtics are also very big/physical at the 2/3, long at the 4 with Tatum, and big at the 1 when they play Smart or Wanamaker.
 

bankshot1

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In what sense is size an issue? The Celtics have been basically fine in that regard in pretty much every non-Sixers matchup this year. They’ve had issues in plenty of games, but few of them have been size-related.

The Celtics are also very big/physical at the 2/3, long at the 4 with Tatum, and big at the 1 when they play Smart or Wanamaker.
My concern is not the games in Jan or Feb, where the size impact is minimal in one game. but rather a post-season series against the 76ers (or LAL) where size and phyiscality and foul trouble can get magnified as an opponent exploits a perceived weakness and mismatch.

And again its a concern, I'm not sure yet its a fatal flaw, as the Cs have barely played as constructed all year.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Stevens and his staff deserve a fair bit of credit in maximizing Kanter's skills while minimizing his flaws. Most good coaches do this but it seems like Boston, during the Stevens era- and often by necessity - seems to be amongst the best at getting the best out of players who have pretty large holes in their game (e.g. size, athleticism, shooting etc.).

Setting aside the caveat that its 24 games, Kanter's net rating/differential is the best since his first few years in the league and even his defensive stats are decent. Its probably no coincidence that his minutes/game and usage are closer to those years than the rest of his career.

As others have noted, the playoffs will be a different story and it will be fascinating to see how he is handled then.
 

PedrosRedGlove

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I honestly don't get why he's such a whipping boy for Celtics Twitter. It feels like the Brad Ausmus thing, where analytics people said snarky things his whole career, and then it turned out he was elite at framing strikes, and had been properly evaluated by his teams all along.

Kanter has some limitations, but he knows the game well, is really strong, has elite hands, runs the offense, and fits well against some important East teams.

One negative/point of concern: you'll see his +/- numbers thrown around, but the team is shooting 10% better from 3 in his minutes, which is clearly unsustainable.
I've seen you make this point before. I'm curious, could some of that possibly be a real effect of Kanter's gravity on the offensive end? It's noise that may never be sorted out, but theoretically the threat of Kanter's post game and offensive rebounding would draw defenders to the paint, opening up the perimeter more. Obviously 10% is unsustainable, but I wonder if there is a sustainable effect of some degree there.
 

lovegtm

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I've seen you make this point before. I'm curious, could some of that possibly be a real effect of Kanter's gravity on the offensive end? It's noise that may never be sorted out, but theoretically the threat of Kanter's post game and offensive rebounding would draw defenders to the paint, opening up the perimeter more. Obviously 10% is unsustainable, but I wonder if there is a sustainable effect of some degree there.
Yeah, there could be a real effect, and sorry if I’m harping on it. It’s not a Kanter thing—I just always go straight to 3% when looking at +/-, since just a few % either way can swing things wildly, and it’s often just variance.

I do think that Kanter is a skilled offensive player who knows how to work in space, so he may be helping a bit. 10% is God Mode though—like if that were real somehow, he’d be an insta-max.
 

benhogan

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Yeah, there could be a real effect, and sorry if I’m harping on it. It’s not a Kanter thing—I just always go straight to 3% when looking at +/-, since just a few % either way can swing things wildly, and it’s often just variance.

I do think that Kanter is a skilled offensive player who knows how to work in space, so he may be helping a bit. 10% is God Mode though—like if that were real somehow, he’d be an insta-max.
I've always thought the kick out from underneath, step-in, open 3pt shot after an offensive rebound is the highest % 3pt shot. It's the ultimate "paint touch" since the defense is drawn in going after the rebound.

I have zero evidence, other than the eye test.
 

lovegtm

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I've always thought the kick out from underneath, step-in, open 3pt shot after an offensive rebound is the highest % 3pt shot. It's the ultimate "paint touch" since the defense is drawn in going after the rebound.

I have zero evidence, other than the eye test.
I f--d up a bit--the 10% 3PT rate is net, not on offense. When I looked at it on Cleaningtheglass's stats, he was about 8% better on defense, 1.5% on offense. The 1.5% could be better from quality of look, but that opponent unluckiness from 3 is where a lot of his good defensive rating is coming from.

One positive for him defensively though is that the team's opponent shot profile is decent with him on the floor--fewer layups, fewer 3s, a few more midrangers. They also finish rebound well defensively. The big downside is that opponents shoot really well at the rim when they do get there, but that's expected when Enes Kanter is on the floor--the key is limiting that.
 

TripleOT

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If the Celtics get a playoff series with the Sixers, and they don't impose their will. it won't matter what kind of defensive center they put out there against Embiid. Run, slash, hit your threes off kickouts and swings, team rebound, and play team defense, using your quickness and toughness. If any of those elements are missing, the Sixers are going to win if they impose their will and pound the paint.
 

Eddie Jurak

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Kanter is averaging 18.3 minutes, which would be his lowest average since 2012-13, his second year in the league.

But he's been incredibly productive of late, posting double doubles in 4 of his last 6 games (and 5 times on the season) along with a slew of near misses.

On the season, he's at career bests in PER, DBPM, BPM, OR%, rebound rate, and he's nearly tripled his career block rate.

Over the past couple of games, the Smart/Kanter PNR has become a productive thing.

They are even finding ways to protect against his biggest weakness (PNR defense).

View: https://twitter.com/ByJayKing/status/1213643126495236096?s=20


That seems like more of an opportunistic thing that can be sone when it presents itself than a long-term strategy thing, but every little bit helps.

It makes a real difference, I think, to be able to go to Kanter when the rest of the offense is struggling.
 

lovegtm

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Kanter is averaging 18.3 minutes, which would be his lowest average since 2012-13, his second year in the league.

But he's been incredibly productive of late, posting double doubles in 4 of his last 6 games (and 5 times on the season) along with a slew of near misses.

On the season, he's at career bests in PER, DBPM, BPM, OR%, rebound rate, and he's nearly tripled his career block rate.

Over the past couple of games, the Smart/Kanter PNR has become a productive thing.

They are even finding ways to protect against his biggest weakness (PNR defense).

View: https://twitter.com/ByJayKing/status/1213643126495236096?s=20


That seems like more of an opportunistic thing that can be sone when it presents itself than a long-term strategy thing, but every little bit helps.

It makes a real difference, I think, to be able to go to Kanter when the rest of the offense is struggling.
The defense with Kanter is actually not bad, especially when he’s put with guys like Tatum, Wanamaker, and Smart.

The team in its base defense has a tendency to overhelp and give up corner 3s, but with Kanter in, the shot profile is marginally better—fewer 3s and rim shots, more midrangers. Even with better luck from 3 for opponents, he’d still be around 103-104 defensively.

This matches the eye test—the default offensive possession against him is a guard stuck in no-man’s land, deciding whether to take a floater.

On offense, he runs the system well and knows where to be, and then opportunistically can attack post mismatches.

I still don’t feel great about a Milwaukee matchup, but I think they have a clear path to beating the other Eastern teams with him+Theis.
 

benhogan

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The defense with Kanter is actually not bad, especially when he’s put with guys like Tatum, Wanamaker, and Smart.
I still don’t feel great about a Milwaukee matchup, but I think they have a clear path to beating the other Eastern teams with him+Theis.
They each had 5 fouls last night. We need one more of these guys in case of injury/fouls/load mgmt.
I just don't trust TL to stay healthy or VPs lack of experience.

Get it done Danny, give the Brad Machine one more arrow for that quiver.
 

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They each had 5 fouls last night. We need one more of these guys in case of injury/fouls/load mgmt.
I just don't trust TL to stay healthy or VPs lack of experience.

Get it done Danny, give the Brad Machine one more arrow for that quiver.
Hate to break the bad news, but VP and/or TL are your backups in case of foul trouble and probably injury. DA may find a buyout big or turn some kind of magic deal to bring in a useful big, but the options are clearly limited. He's never going to rip up the roster for the likes of Drummond or Tristan (thank God).
 

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Hate to break the bad news, but VP and/or TL are your backups in case of foul trouble and probably injury. DA may find a buyout big or turn some kind of magic deal to bring in a useful big, but the options are clearly limited. He's never going to rip up the roster for the likes of Drummond or Tristan (thank God).
Gawd no, Danny never would look to pay those two players, that would be awful. As would paying Kevin Love $90MM to play the 5.

We'll see about TL's health or VP's inexperience. I'm leery of both. Why risk it when the supply/demand of cheap, back-up 5s favors the Celtics? Put them in the Brad Machine and watch them uptick.
 
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DannyDarwinism

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The defense with Kanter is actually not bad, especially when he’s put with guys like Tatum, Wanamaker, and Smart.

The team in its base defense has a tendency to overhelp and give up corner 3s, but with Kanter in, the shot profile is marginally better—fewer 3s and rim shots, more midrangers. Even with better luck from 3 for opponents, he’d still be around 103-104 defensively.

This matches the eye test—the default offensive possession against him is a guard stuck in no-man’s land, deciding whether to take a floater.

On offense, he runs the system well and knows where to be, and then opportunistically can attack post mismatches.

I still don’t feel great about a Milwaukee matchup, but I think they have a clear path to beating the other Eastern teams with him+Theis.
Yeah, He’s been much better than I thought he’s be, but the Bucks should run him off the floor. He’s been solid in his space, but unfortunately that’s about a 15 foot radius around the basket. Teams stacked with jump shooters will just target him on switches and bury Js over him all day when he inevitably drops. The alternative- him actually stepping out- isn’t necessarily better given how slow his feet are, but I’d like to see him at least show some selectively contesting slower PnR handlers. Brooklyn and Miami would be tough matchups for him too. But Brad has been using him really well and he’s been a valuable weapon.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Hate to break the bad news, but VP and/or TL are your backups in case of foul trouble and probably injury. DA may find a buyout big or turn some kind of magic deal to bring in a useful big, but the options are clearly limited. He's never going to rip up the roster for the likes of Drummond or Tristan (thank God).
Actually, Brad would probably ride with GWill if The Is and Kanter ever fouled out. Not likely.
 

HomeRunBaker

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This guy...

View: https://twitter.com/eneskanter/status/1215720987125256192?s=21

Like, opening a school in Oklahoma? Just because he used to live there for awhile in the past?

"Despite playing for other teams, I continue to return to Oklahoma City to host my annual basketball summer camps and to support programs that serve the OKC children,” Kanter wrote in a letter describing his efforts, via Nuria Martinez-Keel of The Oklahoman. “Through my foundation, my philanthropic activities extend to all of the cities where I have played for: Utah, Portland, New York, and Boston.”
 

benhogan

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Extremely high character guy.

I hope the Celtics can retain him for 3yrs at $15-20MM.

He's the perfect 15-25mpg player depending on the match-up (Centers are turning into the Hoops version of a "middle reliever", where coaches use them based on situation).
Yep. The worm has turned on this guy for me. Hard.

Character stuff can be overrated or underrated, depending on who you're talking to. We have people that overrate glue guys for sure. And we have people that completely disregard what a guy adds or takes away culturally. But it is clear that Kanter brings an edge on the court and humanity off of it. His teammates love him.

And lest we (I) underestimate CBS again, he had been able to mitigate EK's defensive shortcomings for the most part and consistently puts him in positions to succeed.

I'd like to see if EK is exploited in the playoffs too badly before they start making a space in the rafters, but a multiyear exception-level salary deal seems like a no brainer.
 

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I'd like to see if EK is exploited in the playoffs too badly before they start making a space in the rafters, but a multiyear exception-level salary deal seems like a no brainer.
If EK gets exploited in the playoffs, that's on Brad/Danny. Brad knows exactly what he can/can't do and who he should pair with on the floor. EK should never be on the floor when the opponent has a strong PnR combo. Otherwise, Enis has consistently over-delivered.

Centers are so cheap to acquire/pay, Danny just needs to provide a stable of healthy 5s for Brad to mix/match in the playoffs.
 

HomeRunBaker

bet squelcher
SoSH Member
Jan 15, 2004
30,096
If EK gets exploited in the playoffs, that's on Brad/Danny. Brad knows exactly what he can/can't do and who he should pair with on the floor. EK should never be on the floor when the opponent has a strong PnR combo. Otherwise, Enis has consistently over-delivered.

Centers are so cheap to acquire/pay, Danny just needs to provide a stable of healthy 5s for Brad to mix/match in the playoffs.
I'm not worrying about Kanter being exposed in the playoffs because he won't be placed in positions designed for him to fail. It is why he didn't play in the 2H vs Philly when there was nobody on the floor he could defend without disrupting the entire defensive set.
 

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
11,996
If EK gets exploited in the playoffs, that's on Brad/Danny. Brad knows exactly what he can/can't do and who he should pair with on the floor. EK should never be on the floor when the opponent has a strong PnR combo. Otherwise, Enis has consistently over-delivered.

Centers are so cheap to acquire/pay, Danny just needs to provide a stable of healthy 5s for Brad to mix/match in the playoffs.
It’s hilarious how much the narrative focuses on center when this team lives or dies based on its offensive execution from guards and wings.