OKC Thunder should unleash the beast in Deonte Burton
Offense is for show, defense wins championships.
Legendary Alabama football coach Paul William “Bear” Bryant is often credited with the above phrase, which has permeated the sports world since he first said it. Though its truth is often debated, it is hard to argue against the game of basketball being offensively-minded in general. With that said, any team that can reduce their opponent’s typical offensive production stands a decent chance of walking away with a win.
The table below shows basic defensive statistics for each player on a per game basis:
| DRB | STL | BLK | PF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis Schroder | 3.0 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 2.3 |
| Terrance Ferguson | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 3.2 |
| Markieff Morris | 3.5 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 2.4 |
| Patrick Patterson | 1.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.7 |
| Abdel Nader | 1.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.2 |
| Raymond Felton | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.9 |
| Deonte Burton | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 1.1 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/20/2019.
The next table offers more advanced defensive statistics for each player as normalized for their allotted time on the court:
| DRB% | STL% | BLK% | WS/48 | DBPM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis Schroder | 11.0 | 1.3 | 0.4 | .053 | -1.5 |
| Terrance Ferguson | 5.6 | 1.0 | 0.8 | .065 | -0.4 |
| Patrick Patterson | 12.8 | 0.9 | 1.3 | .068 | -0.6 |
| Abdel Nader | 15.6 | 1.3 | 1.5 | .074 | -0.7 |
| Raymond Felton | 7.7 | 1.2 | 1.7 | .072 | -1.7 |
| Deonte Burton | 9.7 | 1.2 | 2.9 | .036 | -0.5 |
| Markieff Morris | 21.2 | 1.0 | 0.7 | .087 | -1.6 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/20/2019.
What fans can see is Terrance Ferguson, Oklahoma City’s premier 3-and-D player, is actually in the lower tier of defensive contributions as compared to his teammates in defensive rebound percentage, steal percentage, and block percentage.
Conversely, Deonte Burton is in the middle to upper tier in each of those categories. One might expect Burton’s defensive production to improve if given the chance to see increased playing time, Which would allow Burton to get into the game flow and establish his own rhythm rather than coming in cold and exiting the game just as he starts to find his groove.