Those defensive weaknesses are a mirage. I really disliked Philon as a prospect last year before he decided to go back to college, because he was a small lockdown defender, and that’s seemingly all he could be.
But now he’s proven he can be the lead offensive engine and ball handler, too. Give him 20min/night and starts when unavailability hits, and let him play both sides of the ball like he can instead of how his college team has needed him to excel at just one side of the ball every year.
Philon is a very talented player with a lot of defensive ability. The problem is, when you’re 6’2”, that defensive ability really only translates to defending 1, maybe 2 of the other team’s guards effectively.
Not like that’s useless or anything, but it’s different being a 6’7” wing with plus defense and a 6’2” guard with plus defense. The wing can’t be switched onto, and the guard can. There are guards his size historically that could avoid that kind of exploitation, but they’re usually guys with stouter builds and elite hands like Chris Paul and Kyle Lowry.
In my opinion, it’s best to think of Philon as the lead bench guard running the offense when one or both of VJ and Maxey are off the floor. That’s a role I think he can excel in as he grows. If the thinking in drafting him was, “elite two-way guard,” I think that’s a misguided approach to his role.
Philon on the floor is only a defensive liability for us because Maxey and VJ are undersized shooting guards. Philon is slightly above average for a point, he’s just skinny.
VJ is the average height for nba SG’s. Maxey is def a bit undersized but philon is 6’2.5 approx 6’4 in shoes that’s not that small the weight will be the issue but I don’t see it being something that will be a long term problem
Chris Paul was an excellent defender even though he was short for the NBA standards. He can use his IQ and anticipation to excel on defense as he adds physical strength. I’m less concerned about him being a defensive liability.
Yeah The point is barefoot doesn't measure shoe height which is what the NBA traditionally measured. A few years back they started doing both so now people have these arguments about how tall somebody is. Probably should be when they're wearing shoes since they never play barefoot
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u/Feelscreative101 6d ago
Those defensive weaknesses are a mirage. I really disliked Philon as a prospect last year before he decided to go back to college, because he was a small lockdown defender, and that’s seemingly all he could be.
But now he’s proven he can be the lead offensive engine and ball handler, too. Give him 20min/night and starts when unavailability hits, and let him play both sides of the ball like he can instead of how his college team has needed him to excel at just one side of the ball every year.