A Taj Homage: Praise for the Knicks’ ageless wonder at center
Nobody could have predicted that 35-year-old Taj Gibson would be one of the main reasons for the Knicks’ stingy defense this season when he was a late add to the roster in January, yet here we are. Benjy Ritholtz dives deep into Taj’s considerable impact for the Knicks this season.
“Taj has great feet and is one of the best pick-and-roll defenders in the league,” said Tom Thibodeau.
Nope, this quote was not pulled from a Chicago Bulls press conference in 2014. For that matter, it wasn’t even pulled from a Minnesota Timberwolves presser in 2017. That’s right — Thibs said this about his almost 36-year-old third-string center just a few weeks ago. Straight-faced as ever, Thibs called a player who was out of the league as recently as New Year’s Day 2021 one of the best pick-and-roll defenders in basketball.
Crazy ol’ Thibs, right? WRONG.
Somehow, someway, Taj Gibson has legitimately reemerged as an elite defender at the all-important center position, and together with Nerlens Noel, has improbably rendered Mitchell Robinson’s absence from the lineup more of an offensive issue than a defensive one. Taj has been so good, in fact, that Thibs has closed several games with Gibson as his center, and yet avoided the sarcastic jabs and slander that usually accompany Thibs’ over-reliance on his trusted vets. To be sure, there was certainly plenty of eye-rolling from Knicks fans and beyond when the organization brought Gibson back into the fold. The reality is that both the film and the numbers confirm that their faith in Taj Gibson was more than well-founded — Gibson has been a godsend.
According to Cleaning the Glass, New York is 4.5 points per 100 possessions better defensively when Gibson is on the floor, placing him in the 85th percentile of the league, his best mark since 2012. With Taj manning the middle, Knicks’ opponents have shot a worse percentage, turned the ball over more, snatched fewer offensive rebounds, and drawn fewer fouls.
Then there is this truly mind-blowing statistic: Of all NBA players who have logged 500 or more minutes this season, Taj Gibson ranks third — THIRD — in 538’s Defensive RAPTOR metric, which attempts to measure the totality of defensive impact. 538 ranks him behind only the great Rudy Gobert and mountainous Clint Capela, and in front of decorated defensive stalwarts like Joel Embiid and Myles Turner.
It’s hard to believe that Gibson, at just 6-foot-8 and now essentially ground-bound, can be an elite defensive center, or even as effective defensively as the group of elite, athletic rim protectors the Knicks currently employ on their roster — Robinson, Noel, and Norvel Pelle. So how does he do it? He utilizes those great feet, flawless defensive fundamentals, communication, and pure effort to keep the opposition away from the rim.
After all, there are two ways big men can “protect the rim” in the NBA:
Defend shots that are taken near the rim, or
Disallow the opposition from getting near the rim at all.
Noel and Robinson possess the height and leaping ability to shine in the former category; Taj’s nimble feet allow him to excel at the latter.
This is Gibson’s interior defense player profile from Bball Index as compared to all NBA bigs:.
Notice how Gibson receives an A grade — ranked in the 95th percentile — for Rim Deterrence, which measures a player’s impact on the frequency at which opponents attack the rim. By preventing penetrators from reaching the deep paint, Taj compensates for his relatively low grades in some of the rim-contesting stats illustrated above.
The contrast with Nerlens Noel’s profile is illuminating:
Taj is human police tape — he sets up a barrier around the perimeter so opponents can’t even approach the scene. Noel is the bouncer — he rolls out the red carpet and escorts opponents to the door (an “F” in rim deterrence!), only to mercilessly reject entry (“Straight A’s” everywhere else!). Both centers have been extremely effective, and the Knicks’ variety at the position allows Thibs to match up depending on the specific strength of that night’s competition.
Watching only Taj for entire defensive possessions can be downright inspiring.
Presenting: Taj Gibson in all his glory. He communicates the initial screen and coverage to Alec Burks as his man comes to screen for Jayson Tatum. Burks falls behind the screen and Taj is left to deal with Tatum on the switch. Despite the difficult matchup, he moves those feet expertly to contain the Boston wing. When Tatum finally gets a step, Taj pursues with supreme effort, diving to dispossess Tatum, recovering the loose ball, and forcing a jump.
NBA analysis too often defaults to effort-describing cliches — “he leaves it all on the floor;” “he gives it everything he’s got.” Those turns of phrase should be strictly reserved for players who resemble Taj Gibson at the end of this clip — flat on his back, panting for oxygen, sweat dripping — that is true effort personified.
Watch how many actions Gibson defends, and how much ground he has to cover, to prevent Toronto from ever penetrating the painted area. He contains Malachi Fynn’s initial pick-and-roll, forcing a difficult pocket pass that almost results in a turnover. He then positions himself beautifully, high in the paint, to wall-up on Khem Birch’s drive, forcing another kickout. The job isn’t finished — Taj has to return to the perimeter to defend a second Flynn pick-and-roll. He slides toward the baseline to cut off the ball handler’s angle, and forces Flynn to give it up with the shot clock winding down. To put the finishing touches on an absolute masterpiece of a defensive possession, he hustles back to the middle of the floor, switches when his man screens for Rodney Hood, and forces Hood into a desperate heave as the buzzer sounds. To review, in 24 seconds, Gibson sussed out three pick-and-rolls, nailed a help assignment, kept the Raptors away from the rim, and forced a 24-second violation. That is rim deterrence at its finest.
Taj has always been a sturdy and stout defender in the post as well. While that skill has been increasingly deemphasized in the 13 years since he entered the league, Gibson’s ability to hold firm against the now-rare post behemoth remains valuable in certain matchups, especially considering Noel’s slight build. For example, without Gibson’s key one-on-one stop of Karl-Anthony Towns in the closing seconds of the Knicks’ first matchup with the Timberwolves, the Knicks may well be 0-2 against one of the NBA’s worst teams.
But Taj contributes more than just containment of pick-and-rolls and post-ups — he’s quite adept at forcing turnovers as well. Taj received another “A” grade in Bball Index’s Pickpocket Rating metric (which measures on-ball loose-ball steals), ranking him in the 96th percentile of all bigs. According to Cleaning the Glass, Gibson’s 1.7% steal percentage (meaning he gets a steal on 1.7% of his team’s defended plays) is in the 83rd percentile amongst bigs. Taj approaches every action in an active defensive stance, knees bent and arms wide open. If you expose the ball for even a moment, he’ll pounce, whether you’re a big man with a loose handle...
...or the greatest ball handler in the world.
And despite some vertical limitations, Taj still gets his share of rejections — his 2.4% block percentage is in the 71st percentile amongst players at his position. What he lacks in verticality he makes up for in positioning, intelligence, and impeccable timing.
Sometimes, Taj earns a block through simple, relentless effort.
(Knicks fans might particularly enjoy this one.)
That play was extraordinary. Gibson’s weak-side help contained the initial drive, deterring Dallas from the paint, yet he still managed to recover to his man, Porzingis, as the corner shooter. Had he simply gotten Porzingis to pump-fake, it would have been sufficient. Somehow, he remains in the play, recovers from out of bounds, and gets the block to boot. That sequence encapsulates Taj Gibson basketball.
Admittedly, the prospect of seeing this version of Taj again seemed all but impossible last season, when Gibson looked, well, washed. According to Bball Index, Gibson is tenth in the league in increased defensive impact from last season to this one. One could chalk it up as another of David Fizdale’s many failures as New York’s head coach. Or, perhaps reuniting with the head coach who helped turn him into a defensive menace in the first place has reinvigorated him. His resurgence can probably be attributed to both, plus the fact that Gibson is the type of player who thrives when his teammates are as committed to playing within a system and at maximum effort as he is.
Either way, he has been an absolute joy to watch this season. Teams across the league searching for impactful help at the center position, and those who overpaid for such help last offseason, must be kicking themselves considering Gibson was an unsigned free agent until January. His defense will be key to New York’s stretch run. Long live Taj Gibson.
