Denver Nuggets: Where to attack the Portland Trail Blazers on offense
By Sean Carroll
Where the Denver Nuggets can attack on offense: Enes Kanter
If you’ve been anywhere near a TV when the NBA is televised in the past decade, you’ve surely heard about Enes Kanter’s defense or lack thereof.
Given his size and role, he’s slow when trying to guard smaller players on the perimeter, understandable for a traditional big man, but he also routinely gets beaten by his man, and fails to help on drives.
It’s obviously not all bad, he remains gainfully employed in this league for his offensive contributions, but in a playoff setting when each possession is critical, there’s no reason the Nuggets should let him rest for each possession he’s out there.
Building on that, putting the ball in Jokic’s hands is always a wise move, so doing it while the poor defender in Kanter is out there, it’s sure to bring a smile to Denver fans. Scratch that, fans of fun basketball – Jokic scoring is good for basketball in general.
When Kanter was on the court this season, opponents score +3.3 more points per 100 possessions according to Cleaning the Glass, good for the 22nd percentile among big men, and while he was on the court, he was the single-worst big man at forcing turnovers.
What’s worse is that he’s giving up shots in incredibly poor areas. Using Cleaning the Glass’ metric, opponents are taking more shots at the rim and behind the arc when Kanter is out there. Yes, he’s limiting mid-range attempts, but they’re generally understood to be the worst shot in basketball.
Oh, and he allows more transition opportunities for the opposition team when he’s on. Eat your heart out Denver.