Can someone explain to me how Andre is always top 5 or so in defensive rating and defensive win shares? All the analysts say he isn’t a great defender and such and such, but this is the second team he’s on where he exhibits this, so it probably isn’t the system. Is the idea he isn’t a great defender just something people have accepted without much research?
I think, and I have not really paid attention to stats recently due to other obligations, the idea is he has great counting statistics which skew his actual defensive ability. Mainly, he does not protect the rim well (gives up too many layups/dunks even when he contests), he gets lost on defense, and gambles too much. I think there are some advanced metrics that do back up that eye-test.
That said, IMO, those stats are also flawed because Dre uses his absurd athletic ability almost as well as any NBA player in the game to hedge/rotate/gamble for steals and it is because of his athleticism he can get away with the gambles most bigs just could not even attempt. He also recovers better than most bigs and challenges a number of shots others couldn't, which hurts his rim protection metrics (IIRC). He also gets dinged by some pundits for his relatively poor boxout technique (like he needs it).
IMO, his only real flaw right now is he really is a poor shooter and a surprisingly bad finisher near the rim. I think his athletic ability also hinders him a bit here. He tries too much near the rim. Where other bigs may just try to dunk the ball, he tries to hard to get a fancy layup. While his jumpshot looks much improved he just should never be taking a three, IDK how coaches allow him to ever take one with more than 1 second on the clock. Kudos to him though for adjusting his FT% after his first 4-5 years. He has been consistently above 50% for years now.
One thing Dre does not get enough credit for is his screening. Not only is he just big, but he takes good angles on the screens these days. He is fantastic with a PnR PG. If you look at the PGs he has played with, it is truly criminal how wasted Dre has been on offense in this regard. Arguably the best PG he played with was about a season with Reggie Jackson, for any big not named Jokic, that would kill the bigs offense and possibly his career.
