2019 NBA Draft: Warriors Zone Defense in Finals is Good for Matisse Thybulle on Atlanta Hawks

A quick look at the gutsy decision by Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors to run a 2-3 zone defensive scheme in Game 6 of the NBA Finals – and how that decision might affect the Atlanta Hawks draft decisions in the 2019 NBA Draft.

The Atlanta Hawks currently sit with six picks in the 2019 NBA Draft, though it must be noted that Atlanta Hawks General Manager Travis Schlenk made it clear in his media availability last week that it is unlikely that the team will make all of those selections.

Of course, that was widely assumed, but Schlenk put a finer point on it, per reporting from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Chris Vivlamore:

However, there is one player that this writer in particular is a huge fan of whose stock might have lifted somewhat after the events of Game 6 of the NBA Finals. By now, everyone knows that the Warriors were bested in six games by the Toronto Raptors. An interesting wrinkle occurred in that game in which the Warriors opted to play a strict 2-3 zone defense, which actually foiled the Raptors’ scoring attempts in a surprising manner:

Perhaps the Raps were unprepared for the zone, or maybe the terrific defensive personnel that the Warriors had on the court was too much for Toronto. Either way, it almost swung the game for Golden State on their home court:

One player that played in a zone constantly in college was Matisse Thybulle out of Washington. Thybulle was a brilliant defender throughout his four college seasons, and he produced one of the most astonishing total steal and block totals in NCAA history – combined with ridiculously impressive steal and block rates.

Detractors might posit that Thybulle’s numbers were inflated by playing in a zone defense, but since one of the greatest teams of all time went to a zone to stymie their foe in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals, doesn’t that show that a terrific performer in the zone might make for a good selection in the 2019 NBA Draft?

Furthermore, according to KenPom’s defensive fingerprint (which, the site, admits has “quite a few misses”), Washington actually plays a zone that potentially morphs into a “mostly man-to-man” defensive scheme. This shows that Thybulle might actually be able to shift over to a more standard NBA defense should the need arise.

As long as Thybulle’s three-point shot is for real (he shot 37.9% through his first three seasons before dipping to 30.5 percent last year per KenPom), he will likely be a terrific choice in the 2019 NBA Draft for the Atlanta Hawks – or any team that wants to take a chance on an older, defense-first prospect.