Looking at our rivals (Iran, leb, China) frontline line-up specifically big men (Center and PF) , I’m of the opinion that much of our success in August will depend on our ability to defend the paint. A key component of this is the ability to play two-big men at the same time (twin towers so to speak for FIBA’s context). Unfortunately the PBA’s traditional good big men (Kelly, Ping and Ranidel) are undersize for FIBA Asia’s context. The other thing to remember for international basketball is the four spot because of spacing and the zone is traditionally played by a “stretch four” offensively and defensively (must also be able to cover perimeter) , especially for a DDO system. This makes playing either Fajardo or Slaughters with Marcus unlikely. This is where Japeth’s versatility and length really becomes critical for our campaign. While I am aware that Jap is not a good one on one defender especially on the low post, he is actually an exceptional complimentary defender (weakside) when playing alongside a strong post center like Marcus Doulthit. His ability to cover space rotating with Marcus strong to weak will be key. (includes pick and roll and covering perimeter) The effectiveness of this is very similar to how the Spurs improved defensively this year by playing Duncan and Splitter together. (read article below) .
Another key point to remember is if we need to go small for contingency purposes, remember that it was actually Gabe Norwood playing PF with Marcus in the Jones and Asia cup , that was our best defensive center &PF combo for those 2 tournaments.
http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2013/03/22/these-spurs-arent-the-same/
A big key has been the improvement from Tiago Splitter, who has been the full-time starter next to Tim Duncan since mid-December, and whose minutes have increased about 5 1/2 minutes per game from last season.
With Duncan and Splitter on the floor together, Spurs opponents have shot just 43.7 percent in the paint. That’s the lowest mark for any two-man combination that has defended at least 500 paint shots all season.
Lowest opponent FG% in the paint, two-man combinations
Combination OppFGM OppFGA OppFG%
Duncan & Splitter (SAS) 229 524 43.7%
Sanders & Dunleavy (MIL) 246 553 44.5%
Hibbert & George (IND) 594 1,310 45.3%
Minimum 500 FGA
The Spurs’ defense has allowed a measly 91.9 points per 100 possessions in the 648 minutes that Duncan and Splitter have shared the floor this season and just 87.4 in 477 minutes with Duncan, Splitter and Kawhi Leonard on the floor. That’s a ridiculously good defensive trio.
Opponents have scored 95.3 in Splitter’s 1,662 minutes total. Only five players who have logged at least 1,000 minutes (two for Memphis, two for Indiana and the Clippers’ Lamar Odom) have a lower on-court DefRtg.
