[valentine]

Who do you think is putting better defensive stats?
*Per 40 mins.
-Anthony Davis (all last year): 5.8bpg and 1.7spg
-Nerlens Noel (up to tis point): 4.8bpg and 3.5spg
.
Basically 1 less block per, but 2 more steals.

[SiggyParticipant]

Davis was the better defender.
Noel gets more steals but he gets away with a lot of bad things fundamentally. That reach around, poke away out on the perimeter stuff won’t fly in the NBA.

[Chilbert arenasParticipant]

Davis, I like Noel but it’s not as close as some people would like to believe. But don’t discount how much having MKG helped Davis.

[Lebron’s HairlineParticipant]

Also Davis could defend the perimeter better than any big man in recent memory

[Lebron’s HairlineParticipant]

You could say the same thing about Goodwin and Poythress for Noel as well, Archie and Alex are good defenders that pressure their man into taking off balance shots which Noel comes in and cleans it

[M-EazyParticipant]

Who has better stats? Noel, as of now.

Who’s the better defender? Davis because her can guard every position and is a discplined shot blocker vs Noel who seems reckless with his swats sometimes.

[Lebron’s HairlineParticipant]

The only categories he has over David is steals and assists, his passing may translate but I doubt his reals will as he gambles was too much

[Sewok15Participant]

I have to give Noel credit because he has been showing that #1 pick potential people were talking about lately but for all the reasons others mentioned it is Davis. Davis had a bunch of better defenders around him as well so that can go two ways. You could say Noel gets more chances to block shots since the perimeter D isn’t as good as it was last year or you could say that benefited Davis because the people he was helping on were being better defended. I think it is a little more of the first scenario than the second but that is debatable.

Also Noel is averaging almost a foul per game more for what it is worth.

2.9 fouls to 3.7 Blocks for Noel is good.
2 fouls to 4.7 Blocks for Davis is incredible.

[lalailaParticipant]

why you guys always such a negatives all the time..steals are actually one of the things who easily translates, i see Nerlens stealing a ton from slow guys like Hibbert Lopez Perkins ect..especially with his long arms and arguably better quickness than AD’s

i mean we are talking about nearly 3steals a game (2.8!!) that’s something super unique you can put either of versitile defensive bigs and you will find out there is NO who came at least close to 2 per game, while in the NBA some active quick handed guys like Noah Griffin Cousins gets alot of steals..i mean even guards Westbrook, Walker are among league’s leaders but they had nothing close to 3/gm in college..
then you have blocks 4.7 is super great and 3.9 is just great too, so at least you have to say they are close there but how about AD played C in UK and fulltime PF in the NBA, that’s probably not gonna happen with Nerlens making him even more versitile(i mean idk who is better great perimeter dealone, defender PF or passing lanes teror CENTER)
Davis looks better rebounder with 10.4 in college and already 8 in NBA, but Nerlens 9.3 playing alongside WCS looks very nice too..

so if we are talking defense i disagree it’s so close that you can’t say the one who will clearly be better in the future..both are elite..
people still are afraid to give a nod for student over an NBA player, but look how great that type of player translates, who tought Andre will be such a great so soon?

[MkadozaParticipant]

We’re talking about more than stats though. Nerlens gets scored on by bigs with post move because hes fundementally terrible playing defense. He’s extremely quick and long, and his hands are very fast defensively. However, he gambles WAY to much, and he won’t just be able to reach in and strip attacking guards and wings at the NBA level. He has horrible leverage in one on one situations, and relies strictly on his length, explosiveness and timing (all of which are elite).

Davis’s lateral quickness, ability to stay with his man, and one on one defense in the post have all been shown to be better, but more importantly, Davis’s focus, fundemantals, motor, and commitment were all vastly superior at this point in their development. I think Noel may actually have more potential based on the fact that his natural height, length are better with similar quickness and instincts. However, that BBall IQ gap isn’t usually closed, at least not for a few years.

[JoeWolf1]

Opposing teams shoot 38.6 % against the 2012-2013 Wildcats which is good for 40th in the nation.

Opposing teams shot 37.7% against the 2011-12 Wildcats. Which may seem like a margain too close to count, but it was the top % in the nation.

Anthony Davis was the better defender, but I don’t think calling Noel worse than last year’s #1 pick is that insulting. Davis was a better help side defender with better instincts. Noel is talented in his own right and a very good college defender.

That being said Jeff Withey is 6.2 blocks per 40 minutes and Kansas holds teams to 34.4 % shooting good for first in the nation. I think he’s the best post defender to come out of college in the last two years and he probably won’t get taken before pick 20 or so, but I suspect when looking back, he’ll be one of the top 15 players in the 2013 draft.

[samosasParticipant]

As an ardent UK fan I’ve watched every second Noel has played and I think the general consensus here is right that he’s not as good of a defender as Davis was. When Davis played, people just quit taking the ball to the bucket all together because Darius Miller, MKG and Terrence Jones all played good defense in the middle and somebody was going to block you even if Davis didn’t. People still go at and score more often on Noel, but he has been playing much better overall defense in the past three,four games. Plus, Davis blocked a lot of shots on the perimeter, taking away chances for a long offensive rebound.

And whoever said that reach around poking the ball out on defense by Noel is exactly right about that not flying in the league. He gets out of position way, way too much doing that and that is not a hallmark of a Calipari coached defensive team–they don’t gamble. It hurts the team because Kyle ‘Wheelchair’ Wiltjer is the slowest human being on earth and can’t rotate and Poythress was missed on by everybody. This kid is nowhere near NBA ready in any aspect of his game, except maybe his size. He’s lazy, and that’s a whole lot harder to fix than many other things in basketball.

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