Milwaukee Bucks bigs climb NBA Defensive Player of the Year Ladder 4.0
By Phil Watson
. Previous: . brook lopez. 2. player. 89.
Yeah, it took awhile to recognize what Brook Lopez has been doing this season as the guy at the heart of the defense for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Lopez is in his age-31 season, his 12th in the NBA, has to date has never sniffed an All-Defensive team, much less be in the conversation for Defensive Player of the Year. That made it understandable (not forgivable, but understandable) why it took awhile to lock onto Lopez.
He’s third in the NBA at 2.5 blocks per game this season, on pace to set a new career-high for the second consecutive season (he was at 2.2 blocks last season).
Lopez is 11th in the NBA in Defensive RPM — eighth among those averaging enough playing time to be considered legitimate contenders, ranks third in Luck Adjusted Real Adjusted Plus-Minus and is tied for second in defensive RAPTOR.
What could damage his candidacy is his playing time — I’ve placed him on the list while he’s averaging 26.6 minutes per game, a little shy of the 27-per-game guideline for inclusion (based on Michael Cooper’s 27.5 minutes per game when he was named DPOY in 1986-87, the lowest average for any winner).
But what Lopez is doing as a rim protector has been important for the most efficient defense in the NBA. While Milwaukee’s defensive system doesn’t rely on steals — the Bucks rank just 24th in the league with a defensive turnover percentage of 13.5 — what Lopez’s presence in and around the paint allows is for perimeter defenders to aggressively pursue.
Even if that pressure doesn’t create a turnover outright, it can disrupt timing on passes and make getting clean transitions of possession from one player to the next more difficult. Lopez’s 7-foot, 270-pound frame also helps keep bodies off the offensive glass, which is a significant factor in Milwaukee’s NBA-best 22.4 opponents’ offensive rebounding percentage.