If a player averages only 3.1 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists, what kind of player do you think he is? Veteran to retire? Lounge leader? A player on the verge of elimination? These answers are very reasonable, but this is the result that Philadelphia 76ers sophomore Matisse Thybulle paid in 18.3 minutes per game.
We don’t need data experts to tell you that these “book data” are very, very bad, so what is the reason for him to win nearly 20 minutes of playing time in the Eastern Division’s powerful 76ers?
The answer is his defense. With a height of 6 feet 5 inches and a 7-foot wingspan, Thybulle has the hardware conditions to become an excellent big lock. In addition, his flexible defensive footwork combined with his defensive instincts that he can’t even practice makes him the biggest nightmare of opponent defenders. In the last year of his college career, he paid a monster score of 3.5 steals and 2.3 blocks per game, which also allowed him to be selected by Celtic with the 20th overall pick in the first round in the 2019 draft (then traded to 76 people).
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Coming to the NBA, Thybulle’s defensive influence on the defensive end has not been reduced, and his 2.8 interference balls per game this season can be ranked 20th in the league. Compared with other players on the list, who are the main players of the team, Thybulle is only a role player with limited playing time. And if we change the data to the number of interference balls per 36 minutes (more than 450 minutes played), Thybulle will undoubtedly become the first in the list, averaging 5.8 times per game, which is not small compared with the 5.2 times of second place Facundo Campazoo. difference. In terms of steal rate, 3.9% is also the highest among all players who have played more than 500 minutes. From the above data, we can prove that Thybulle has a very good defensive instinct, and Thybulle can do more than that.
If you want to simply divide the defense in two, single defense and assisted defense may be a good way (although the latter is often ignored), and Thybulle also has a huge influence in assisting defense. In terms of moving speed, the average 4.24mph per game is second only to Danny Green, who is also known for his peripheral defense. We can occasionally see the 76ers put up a 2-3 zone defensive formation on the field, and the focus of the 2-3 zone zone defense is to defend the penalty zone, so only two defenders will be placed on the periphery. Head coach Doc River usually puts Thybulle plus Ben Simmons or Shake Milton. These three guards with a wingspan of more than 7 feet can pose a great threat to the 76ers’ perimeter defense, and this defensive formation requires a lot of rotation. It just highlights the defensive value of Thybulle.
