Atlanta Hawks: 5 Reasons to Draft Matisse Thybulle in 2019 NBA Draft
By Chris Guest
Statistical Profile
In terms of his stats, if we just focus on defense, Thybulle grades out as one of the most impactful college players in history. Indeed, The Stepien NBA Draft podcast proclaimed that Thybulle was “the most impactful defensive player in college basketball.”
Certainly, his statistics back that up. In his junior year, Thybulle produced 101 steals and 45 blocks – making him only one of two players since the 1992-93 season per College Basketball Reference (Eric Coley of Tulsa being the other) to produce such a total in both categories.
In his senior year, Thybulle thoroughly outdid himself on both fronts by producing 125 steals and a whopping 79 blocks. To contrast, Thybulle finished the year with 111 rebounds and 77 assists.
No player since 1992-93 has come anywhere close to producing numbers like that. Similarly, Thybulle is the only player in College Basketball Reference’s database to log a season with a steal percentage of higher than 6 and a block percentage higher than 7 – never mind that Thybulle’s steal rate was actually 6.6 and his block rate was 8.1.
By comparison, Mikal Bridges, who was widely believed to be one of the best defenders in the 2018 NBA draft class, finished his three-year college career with a steal rate of 3.0 percent and a block rate of 3.6 percent.
Thybulle’s numbers in those categories are hair-raising. His career steal rate is 4.7 percent, and his career block rate is 4.9 percent.