Detroit Pistons: Christian Wood vs Thon Maker explained
Casey’s Choice
I would guess it’s because of plays like the one below. Christian Wood doesn’t want to foul here but he doesn’t want to contest the shot either. I’ve seen Stan Van Gundy bench players for less.
There were plenty of plays like that in Wood’s tape and it’s totally justifiable that Casey is hesitant to put him in the game. Don’t forget that this is a man in the preseason competing for his NBA life. He just cannot be that lackadaisical.
Watch the play below which is very indicative of Wood’s overall defense in the preseason. Sorry, but you have to be a superstar to get away with this lack of effort.
He’s just not focused enough on the defensive end. High school mistake below, turning his back on the ball. That’s a mistake that no NBA head coach will tolerate and for good reason. It shows a total lack of focus.
Drummond has to contest this shot attempt and Malik Monk does a great job of finding Zeller on the cut. Wood sees the whole thing but does little to contest the shot. You can’t teach effort, as they say.
Thon Maker might be an ineffective defender but he tries. Sometimes to a fault. He makes an extra effort to block this next pass, knowing that the 76ers are running an off-ball screen. But he does so overzealous-ly and jumps out, actually exposing the middle lane, which is the last thing a defender wants to do.
Not only does he allow Kyle O’Quinn to drive straight to the rim if he wanted to but he also opens up an easier pass that leads to an even easier bucket.
There’s no such thing as too much effort for a coach and Dwane Casey sees in Maker a player he can groom into a plus defender. He has the length, the foot speed, the attitude and he’s only 22 years old. When he gets down all the defensive principles, bulks up and masters the footwork he can grow into a defensive stopper.
We can’t say the same for Wood, who seems to have much better positioning and awareness but lacks the mentality. This is what I think it comes down to for Casey. Wood will get out of the way…
…while Maker will put his body on the line without fear of failing
That’s not all that goes into playing defense in the NBA but sometimes it’s the deciding factor for fringe rotation players. So, is Maker actually a better defender than Wood? It seems important to answer that question.