Xavier Tillman and John Konchar are agents of chaos
The Grizzlies have trended towards the top of the league defensively the past few months. Xavier Tillman and John Konchar's ability to create blocks, steals, and deflections have been key for them.
The Memphis Grizzlies have been at the very least an above average defense for the GrzNxtGen era — and were in the top 5 in both the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. This year, they’re 9th in defensive rating this season, and they’re 5th in NBA defensively since December 1st.
Their formula defensively the past few years has been rather simple. Jaren Jackson Jr. fortifies it with his Defensive Player of the Year skillset — patrolling the paint as a protector or roamer, while serving as a catalyst for their switching defense. Their secondary rim protectors often help lock down the paint quite well — Steven Adams, Brandon Clarke, Santi Aldama. They typically deploy a feisty, point-of-attack defender that’s malleable with any position archetype — Dillon Brooks, Vince Williams Jr., and Marcus Smart.
Then there are agents of chaos. They swarm around the court, hounding their individual man, and their active hands generate cycles — defense into transition offense. In the past, De’Anthony Melton and Kyle Anderson spearheaded the team’s defensive event creation into transition offense with their activity.
Now, it’s Xavier Tillman and John Konchar.
“Those guys have so many intangibles. Their feel for the game—especially when there was that run where both teams were in transition,” Taylor Jenkins said of the two players. “Showing crowds and those guys stripping guys without foul, it’s impressive. It’s innate in those guys.”
Xavier Tillman (85) and John Konchar (65) are 2nd and 3rd on the team in stocks. They also rank in the top-15 in defensive box plus/minus — Konchar (9th, +2.4), Tillman (14th, +2.2) — among players that have played at least 500 minutes this season.
While those two don’t jump off the page defensively, they’ve been immensely valuable to a formidable Grizzlies defense with their technicality and chaos on that side of the floor.
Xavier Tillman has always been a sound defender, but his recognition as a steady defender has taken off over the past calendar year. With Steven Adams’ injury, he was thrusted in a pivotal role defensively. As the Grizzlies deploy a roaming strategy with Jaren Jackson Jr., Tillman has been assigned a stopper role to the opponent’s best frontcourt opponent. His versatility has shined with his assignments. He guards big men like Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, and Anthony Davis, but he can also pivot to forwards like LeBron James, Zion Williamson, Kawhi Leonard, or Paul George.
He’s thrived in this role, because of how he nails down the technical elements behind defense. And while his performance as a stopper shines brightest in his defensive performance, his event creation from the 5 is elite.
There is only one player in the league with block and steal percentages greater than 2.5 — garbage-time minutes filtered out. Yep, Xavier Tillman.
Tillman is stellar at drawing steals, as he leverages his physicality with quick hands.
“I’m able to utilize my physicality and my stature to not pick up fouls. A lot of guys have trouble when they get bumped and stuff like that. Since I’m 255, I’m able to take a bump and show my hands, which knocks the offensive guy off balance, and I can go in there and get my steal.” - Xavier Tillman
In the 1st clip, he shows help on De’Aaron Fox and diverts his attention back to Domantas Sabonis. On the spin, Tillman swipes the ball as Sabonis goes high to set up a finish. Against Jimmy Butler, Tillman helps at the nail and takes on the drive. Butler lunges forward to force a foul, but Tillman backpedals and shows his hands to generate a turnover. Against the Knicks, Tillman switches Anunoby as he turns the corner at the level. He contests and forces the pick-up. Once GG Jackson catches up from the screen, Tillman crashes the passing lane to blow up the dump-off and generate a steal.
Tillman sets up these actions with his activity. He’s always in the midst of downhill motion, preparing for any possibility of a shot or pass. In the moment in which contact is initiated, Tillman absorbs it and crashes the action with his hands.
Tillman isn’t an emphatic shot-blocker like his frontcourt partner Jaren Jackson Jr., nor does he possess the measurements of most imposing rim deterrents. However, he’s a phenomenal rim protector. He ranks 5th in “Rim defensive field goal percentage vs. expected,” as opponents shoot 13.2% worse with Tillman defending the rim — per The B-Ball Index. He offsets physical limitations with impeccable timing and smart contests.
In these specific examples, Tillman illustrates his versatility and prowess defending near the level in pick-and-roll coverages. Against the Timberwolves, he shows on the switch and slides back to Gobert off the slip pass. On the drive, Tillman stays at his hip and swipes the ball low to prevent the layup at the rim. Against the Nuggets, he switches onto Murray. After picking up his dribble, Murray tries to pump-fake to draw the foul, but Tillman stays grounded then maintains verticality on the contest — drawing the block, with the help of fellow chaos creator John Konchar.
A huge component of Tillman’s event creation is his quick processing. He moves his hands and feet with swiftness. Once he spots the read, he reacts with perfect timing to come away with deflections and steals. Specifically, with his steal on OG Anunoby (clip #2), he contests the fake on the closeout, then uses his other hand to knock away the entry pass — really insane, under-the-radar defensive highlight. This element sets the foundation for his defensive prowess in space and as a switcher — and he can be deployed in various coverages.
"There’s not really a coverage I don’t like defensively.” — Xavier Tillman
His event creation also shined in an individual matchup against Zion Williamson in December. With Tillman as the primary defender, Williamson shot 3-8 from the field. Tillman also finished with 5 blocks and a steal in that game.
Tillman leverages contact well in individual matchups, because his frame allows for him to absorb it. He forced Williamson into crowds as well, closing any sort of finishing window power through. He also stays on Williamson’s hip downhill and timed the drive to come away with blocks.
Tillman is quietly an elite defender. He’s 3rd in the league in defensive estimated plus/minus (+3.9), per dunksandthrees. He’s malleable for any sort of assignment. He can switch and play various coverages. He also fuels transition offense with defensive event creation. For where this league is right now — big wings, defensive switching, dominant, old-school centers (as friend of the platform Mat Issa dove into on Basketball Insiders) — Tillman is a great chess piece to have defensively.
John Konchar has been an analytics darling for quite some time defensively — as mentioned above, he’s in the top-15 in dBPM and he’s also 7th in defensive DRIP (+1.3) per The Analyst. As always, there always needs to be an eye test to these metrics. John Konchar passes the eye test with his event creation.
Konchar generates 1.8 blocks, 1.4 steals, and 3 deflections per 75 possessions, per The B-Ball Index. There are only 4 other perimeter players that meet these thresholds: Alex Caruso, De’Anthony Melton, Dennis Smith Jr., and Cam Reddish.
While Konchar doesn’t possess the measurements of imposing wing defenders, his tenacity, processing speed, and quick hands allow for him to be an impactful defender in a variety of ways.
“I mean Jitty’s arms are long. He can do a lot of stuff and everybody’s activity is important, rotating wise. Jitty is good at that.” — Jaren Jackson Jr.
Bigger players look to go to the elbow with Konchar defending them — tough to blame them, as he’s 6’5” and 210 pounds. However, he’s deceptive defending on the low block. He steadily keeps his hands in the cookie jar to blow up the attack to the basket. He loves the wrap-around knock-away and steal, as the offensive player gets into his attack.
Konchar’s on-ball defense shines on drives, where plenty of his defensive events pop up. He times gather steps really well. When the player completes the gather and exposes the ball, Konchar immediately gets his hand on the ball to knock it away and halt the drive.
Konchar is a great help defender because of how quickly he processes the floor. Like Tillman, his activity is on 10, evident through his quick hands when jumping in passing lanes. His help defense has also led to resounding blocks, created through crisp rotations and great timing with his verticality.
And by the way, we have to talk about the blocks. He’s building one heck of a mixtape with emphatic blocks, doing his best LeBron impersonation with some of these swats. He’s rejecting shots at a career-best rate, accumulating 1.8 blocks per 36 minutes — tripled his career average. A few weeks ago against Toronto, he became the first player 6’5” or under to block 5 or more shots in a game this season.
In these 3 blocks, his ability to stay in the play stands out. The offense player finds a presumed advantage in a variety of ways — pick-and-roll actions, closeout attacks, or space generation off step-backs. However, Konchar remains active to barge his way back into the fray, blowing up the advantage with a block.
Hoopers at all levels have had coaches scream at them to get back on defense. Some people reading this have been the coach that yells at his teammates to get back on defense. Some of Konchar’s best defensive events have been in transition, showcasing that hustle is an important skill. Evident in his halfcourt defense, Konchar rushes to blow up easy buckets by getting his hands on the ball as the offensive player gathers for the layup/dunk. In addition, his timing leads to emphatic blocks that are obliterated into the glass.
John Konchar doesn’t fit the quintessential wing defender prototype front offices typically covet. However, he's a thrilling chaos agent with his individual and help defense — one capable of providing a spark off the bench with his hustle play. He’s really a neat defender.
Taylor Jenkins hit the nail on the head when describing Xavier Tillman and John Konchar’s defensive impact: innate.
Their work ethic on that side of the ball is the catalyst for their event creation, but they excel in these areas because of their processing and timing when processing what the opponent is seeking offensively.
“They just sniff stuff out. Luckily, they do that, and we let them do their thing. I don’t want to change their habits when it comes to making those impact plays.” - Taylor Jenkins
And their defensive event creation also fuels their offense, a major component of the Grizzlies’ system on both sides of the ball the past several seasons.
“Those 2 are always active on the defensive end,” Luke Kennard said of the two players. “Those things really create for us offensively and it kinda gets us going.”
Xavier Tillman and John Konchar don’t garner the most defensive buzz on the team, but the chaos they causing with blocks, steals, and deflections have been vital components to a Memphis Grizzlies’ defense that’s been trending towards the top of the league the past 2 months.
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