Not at all a rip on Joplin question as I'm 100% a fan and hope he continues to grow. But, I don't know enough about his defensive deficiencies. I can see what he needs to develop offensively. Smart's comments at Dave and Busters about Joplin being out of position were telling but hard for me to 'see' as a fan. What two or three things should I be looking at / watching for when I watch Joplin on the defensive end?
Jop has improved on that end. His on the ball defense has gotten better. Off the ball he still gets caught watching the ball too frequently. If they run the double team with him on the post, sometimes he'll linger and they'll get a cleaner look from three because he's a step or two behind.
The play coach was talking about... again Jop was watching the shot, didn't feel where Daniels was and never got a body on him. It was an incredible play by Stevie who had a flying closeout in the opposite corner.