At the start of the season I wrote a piece in which I made some crazy claims about how good Matisse would likely be defensively. He has exceeded even my over-the-top expectations. Consider:
- The best system we have right now for ranking players is 538’s RAPTOR, which is based on adjusted-plus-minus which it then supplements with data on how well players created poor shooting percentage from those they guarded. According to RAPTOR, as of this writing, the best defender in the entire NBA on a per-minute basis is... Matisse Thybulle. That is absolutely astonishing performance for a rookie.