I’m officially coming out of long-term lurker status for this one! Great topic. I apologize for the wall of text.
First off, I feel like these long breaks between games haven’t done us any favors as a team. We have lacked some intensity and the whole team seems to be a bit off. With that said, Brady is not in the right shape to be a center for 25-30 min a game, he is not a good post defender, and when he’s missing shots he’s taking shots away from higher percentage shooters this year.
I think there are three things at play with regards to Brady’s physical shape: Brady didn’t train to be a full-time center this off season, Covid took more out of him than we realized, and the combination has really affected his ability to recover, defend, and shoot. His expected role on the team looked very different 3 months ago vs now. I know his legs are shot after being undersized and banging with centers all game. I’ve been there! It sucks. I also don’t think Lon has done him any favors either with shot selection. It seems like most of his 3’s come from above the break. I wish he would get more shots from the corner.
As far as his actual defense goes, he’s a liability. While Kur is far from perfect, Kur does a much better job forcing the opposing center to actually fight for the block and is probably the better option for pick and rolls (though not by much). What Kur does exponentially better though is alter shots in the paint. Kur allows our guards to be more aggressive on ball because if they get beat, he’s in better position back there to actually contest the shot. Brady is so concerned with his defensive responsibility (their big) that he isn’t putting himself in the right position to play good team defense. I feel for him because he’s been put in a tough spot, but that is now part of his job on the court.
Lastly, if Brady was shooting at his last year averages, he is worth the bad defense. But with him shooting the ball at about a 36ish % from the field and 25% from 3 in February (let me know if my math is wrong lol), his shots take away from higher percentage shooters like Mo, Harkless, Reaves, & Harmon.
I think we need to start Kur for defense which also allows our guards to shoot the ball more. I also want Lon to run some offensive sets for Brady to get Corner 3’s and miss-match post ups off the bench when he is in. Brady can truly elevate the team to a higher level.
I’ll always have the utmost respect for Brady because he has worked hard for this program and is a huge part of it for the last 4 years. But Lon needs to be the head coach and give him an opportunity to be impactful and find his role in the team off the bench. Or Brady breaks out of this slump in March? I 100% support this option as well!
