What's the best DEFENSIVE stat out there?

[tmacattack33]

There was a thread a few days ago but what the best stat is.

Now, let's talk about the best DEFENSIVE stat.

Is it DPRM, Defensive-win shares, defensive rating, etc?

[dhsilv]

There was a thread a few days ago but what the best stat is.

Now, let's talk about the best DEFENSIVE stat.

Is it DPRM, Defensive-win shares, defensive rating, etc?

drpm is about as good as it gets from stuff easy to access...not perfect. Assuming this year stuff..

[LAKingKobe]

Not blocks nor steals.
Which is why fantasy basketball annoys me. So much value given on those two stars when they are a very metric to gauge a players defensive ability.

I usually just watch players and their ability to play man and help defense and how well they can rotate and fit into a scheme.

[sd3035]

iso

[3ball]

.
Here's why DPBM, DWS, and DRtg aren't valuable tools for gauging defensive capability:


Bird... Career DPBM: 2.5
Pippen Career DPBM: 2.4

Bird... Career DRtg: 101
Pippen Career DRtg: 102


I'm too lazy to do the math right now, but Bird had better DWS too.. So WHY does Bird have higher defensive stats than Pippen???... Because these stats are derived from individual DRtg, which is based on TEAM performance.. This is from basketball-reference:



"Out of necessity (due to a lack of defensive data in the basic boxscore), individual Defensive Ratings are heavily influenced by the team's defensive efficiency. They assume that all teammates are equally good at forcing non-steal turnovers and non-block misses, as well as assuming that all teammates face the same number of total possessions per minute."


This is how DRtg works, and subsequently DPBM and DWS... These stats result in hundreds of similarly erroneous conclusions like Bird > Pippen defensively.