The Underrated and Important Dewayne Dedmon

A strong defender

His defensive real plus minus, a stat that looks at an individual player’s effect on a team’s possessions and controls for teammates and opponents, was 2.20, which was 17th out of 68 NBA centers. Just as a comparison, his number was better than Dwight Howard and Marc Gasol, both of whom are former Defensive Player of the Year Award winners.

The team’s defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) with him on the court was 98.5, which was 6.7 points lower than the team average.

Clearly he has a huge impact on the team’s defense.

His impact is primarily felt inside the paint. According to NBA.com’s player tracking stats, opponents shot 47.3 percent against him within six feet of the basket, which was about 11.5 percent worse than league average.

Opponents shot 44 percent with him guarding them within 10 feet of the basket, which was 9.8 percent lower than league average.

He even guarded well outside of the paint, only allowing opponents to shoot at the average rate from 15 or more feet away from the basket.

Opponents shot 41.6 percent against him overall, which was about 5.1 percent lower than league average.

Dedmon needs to limit his fouls, as 2.4 fouls in 14.3 minutes is too high of a rate. However, if he begins to play more minutes, he will likely slow down his foul rate. Although that may come with a dial back of his aggression too.

Dedmon provides the interior defense necessary to allow the perimeter defenders to pressure, therefore getting the most out of the team defense. He is also able to defend screens and switch onto guards if necessary, covering up any potential mismatches opposing teams would look to exploit.

Next: Work on the glass