With improvement comes added responsibility. For Rookie of the Year candidate Nerlens Noel, that can mean brand new experiences, too.
As the season has progressed, Sixers coach Brett Brown has been adding new looks and different variables for Noel to take on. On Sunday night, Brown had Noel play the four-spot on defense, which isn’t that much of a new thing.
But when that opposing power forward is Kevin Love, it presents different challenges for Noel. Love is more apt to be more of a perimeter threat than a presence in the paint on offense. Even though Noel has advanced shot-blocking skills, he still has a lot to learn about defending his man away from the rim.
“It was a real eye-opener defensively in that he has to be able to look and find good perimeter scorers,” Brown said prior to Monday's OT loss to the Lakers (see game recap). “I think having to run down the floor and going straight to the rim, Kevin Love was foreign to him.”
Noel grabbed 11 rebounds in the one-point loss to Cleveland, but shot just 4 for 12 for eight points and did not block a shot. Love scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds in 30 minutes, but departed the game with a back injury.
That injury offered a reprieve of sorts to Noel because it allowed him to guard Cavs center Timofey Mozgov, who has attempted 68 shots longer than 16 feet in 74 games this season.
Nevertheless, Brown forecasts a future in which Noel will spend more time guarding players on the perimeter as opposed to “lurking” around the rim. Plus, with Joel Embiid penciled in as the team’s center of the future, Noel is going to have to learn about guarding those stretch-fours sooner or later.
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“When you play it out and you have Joel down there, you’re going to have a different type of rim protector and you’re not going to see Nerlens categorically live as much as defensive four,” Brown said. “You’re going to see him play some five, but his blocked shots are going to take a hit as I move him more to a perimeter four defensive player.”
Can Noel still be a playmaker under the basket with rebounds and blocked shots? Sure, says Brown, but under different circumstances. Just don’t expect Noel to race back to the rim on the defensive end.
“You’re not going to see him in that environment as much,” Noel said. “As a weak-side defender coming to make plays, you’ll see it. But to see him stand by the rim and lurk and make plays, you won’t see him as much in that position as you used to only guarding fives.”
For as good as Noel is as a defensive player, don’t expect the transition to be completely smooth. After all, Noel has been a rim protector his entire basketball life. In high school and college where zone defense is much more common, Noel could simply stand in the paint under the basket.
With Embiid set to take over as center and more and more power forwards suited to playing on the perimeter, Noel is going to have to make an adjustment.
“Obviously, defensively, that’s the area that stands out the most where it will be the biggest challenge and the biggest adjustment,” Brown said.