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IPC2
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Ping's strength was he was a versatile defender. He was short for a PF but his strength, length and tenacity made up for it. He was also versatile enough to switch to guards. However, in the end he was a complementary defensive player. He still needed to play alongside a rim protector. The center position is more important it seems in Fiba than in the NBA. There is no defensive 3 seconds so tall guys can camp in the paint and effectively stifle drives. In the NBA guys like Valenciunas are defensive liabilities but in their home teams in Fiba not as much. This experiment of Cone and Chua of not getting an NP center relies heavily on Kai's progression. I personally think it's a big risk. Good as the strides Kai has been making as of late I still can't imagine him being our main rim protector in Fiba. But we'll see in the Olympic Qualifiers where he will finally be matched up against 7 footers.
Yeah, let's see how Kai performs defensively in the OQT, against NZ in November and February, and in next year's FIBA Asia Cup to see if we can afford not getting a 4 (defensive-minded or two-way go-to guy) to protect the paint. I chose those tournaments, because I think that's how long JB will be playing with us. Otherwise, after JB retires, we will have to rely on our perimeter defenders (Dwight, Scottie, Oftana; I left out Newsome because he'll be 35 next year, and I don't know if he will continue) to prevent rim pressure if AJ is not on the floor.
And yes, the center position is very important in FIBA (really fitting the name of pivot), either as a rebounding presence, a rim protector, or a post presence, or any combination of those mentioned.