He actually hasn't been a liability at all out there, even go as far to say a he's been above average. His ability to use his length as a cushion and intelligence to position himself well compensates well for his lack of foot speed (which I feel is overblown due to his nickname).
Anyone else get this impression as well? Obviously against LeBron or some of the more athletic SF in the league he may struggle some but playing against bench guys shouldn't be a huge issue.
They're teaching him good positional defense. On one play, he got a steal against Houston, and their announcer said that he kicked the ball, or might have. He didn't. He's just an absolute condor with that 7'3" wingspan. He will steal the ball or block your shot if you're not careful and mindful of his arms. He's not like Kawhi in that he's going to just take it from you, but he's great at playing the passing lanes, and picking off passes that people think they can throw over the top.
One example I saw of improved defense was staying in front of Harden, forcing a tough shot, but of course Harden made it. The Houston commentators even said that Kyle played good defense that possession, but Harden made a tough shot...
Still will kill you on defense, doesn't matter if he can came up with some flashy steal once in awhile...
Not reading. Not watching games to see improvement.
Still haven't killed yourself yet I see. Go do it already pussy.
He will not be a stopper, but he has shown me enough to not be a total liability on the defensive end ...
You can't teach length.... he's got a lot of length that works well in the kind of defense that the Spurs play (that is, not jumping against a jump shooter)
I never knew Anderson was part Chinese (found it right now):
http://zagsblog.com/articles/like-je...sian-heritage/
But yeah, his defense has looked good. Shifting his feet much faster and is much stronger than last year, he can actually stay in front of his man. I'd read he was one of the worst defenders in the D league, however that may have been due to playing as the #1 option. Anderson developing into a quality role player would be huge for the Spurs, the passing on the 2nd unit is crazy good.
I think he is below average still. Very slow and sometimes lost.
That's all he needs to be as a bench player.
He has improved a lot this last year at moving his feet and using those long arms to block the vision of the opponent. I am pretty encouraged with his skills and increasing BBIQ. He is still pretty darn young too. As long as his defense improves and he is using his brain, I am sure he will be fine in the team defense.
Actually liked him on Harden tbh. He's too slow to get faked out by all of Harden's pumpfakes, and long enough to make it hard to shoot over him, and recover if Harden drives to the basket.
Antidote to Harden is length.... either put Kawhi or Anderson on him. Anderson will do very well with help defense. Considering you have Duncan, Aldridge and Marjanovic to help, he has the luxury of funneling the opponent into the bigs.
I think West and Diaw are a bit too small to bother most players in help defense. In fact, I would like to see West as the 11th or 12th man.
Kyle Anderson in the one preseason game I saw this year, looks like a vastly improved player than he was last year.
That's only a positive for the long term futures of the Spurs.
He's like a different player on defense so far.
Agree on his smart use of his length, and size. He's also in better conditioning than last year. He was caught standing straight legged at times last year. This year he is properly in a defensive stance at all times on defense. His size allows him to help on D and recover to his man and contest. He doesn't blow by shooters like Danny. He doesn't bite on fakes. He doesn't loose track of his man off the ball. He boxes out his man properly. He's gain muscle and is stronger. Strong guys that like to post up can still back him down some, but he's sturdy enough to at least allow a helper to come in and help, instead of just being a straight up push (like Daye).
He's able to fight through screens, anticipates them and uses smart feet placement to go over them, without fouling the shooter on the recovery. His size is apparent when you are aware he's able to get back into the play relatively fast. To be honest, the young man is going to be a plus in games. Like they say, you can't teach size, and he's got that. He's been larger/longer than all bench players and some starters he's been up against. He looked larger than Ariza for example.
We are right to be excited. He's going to help, not hinder that bench. The lineup with him and Boban is an Xfactor TBH.
The stars in the league will give him trouble of course, but those guys will give trouble to anyone and only a DPOY like Kawhi can deal with them, and they will still get theirs, so overall we are fine.
I've been saying this since he was drafted. People just didn't believe due to his lack of speed. But his wing span and positioning make him a devasting defender on any level.
I still fully believe he is Manus replacement
A lineup with Boban, Diaw, Anderson, Ginobili, Mills is oozing with X-factor. A matchup nightmare and if they start passes well it can be devastating. Even the short time against the Rockets with Diaw and Anderson, both could have posted up their small ball. Diaw, Anderson and Boban are nightmares covering a post up single coverage. They are also are tall enough to see passing angles that get guys like Mills and Ginobili easy shots.
Thought Anderson looked great in the Houston game. He is going to get a lot minutes with the second unit. He and Boban look comfortable together as well.
I like this. I figure West and Boban will be interchangeable depending how small Pop wants to go. If small ain't working enter Boban the Giant. Really was happy to see how well he did against Houston, scrubs or not.
I'm really excited to see the bench unit this year, especially Boban and Anderson. When the bench mob is clicking they should run a train on other teams second units.
Worst case scenario, he's still better than Beli.
great post. I agree
There are currently 2 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 2 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Yep!