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Dario ari’s deficiencies as a defender limit what the Golden State Warriors can do with him as their backup center.

Defense responsibilities are substantial in centers. They must continuously defend pick-and-roll action, which necessitates knowing which coverages are being used. They must stay near to the paint in order to wall it off; if someone falls through the cracks, he must be in a legal position to contest it.

Given the type of player ari has been throughout his career, he falls well short of the profile outlined above — primarily because he hasn’t been employed in that capacity for the majority of his career.

Ari is more of a floor-stretching power forward whose attacking variety is a key asset. He can serve as a focal point for others, whether as a passer at the top of the key in 5-out action, at the elbows with screening action on both sides of the floor, or as a pick-and-roll partner who can either roll to the rim or drift beyond the arc due to his ability to shoot the three-ball.

This season, Steve Kerr has chosen to play ari as a five (465 possessions) rather than a four (231 possessions). The stats with him as the lone big man on the court have been dismal:

With ari as the five, opponents have outscored the Warriors by 2.8 points per 100 possessions, and the Warriors have a defensive rating of 116.8 (21st in the NBA).
The Warriors have outscored opponents by 7.4 points per 100 possessions with ari as the four — with one of Kevon Looney, Draymond Green, or Trayce Jackson-Davis — and have a defensive rating of 101.7 (equal to the greatest defense in the NBA).

ari appears to struggle more as a five against teams whose priority on offense is to attack bigs in space – an area where his lack of above-average footspeed severely limits him.

As a four, he doesn’t have to defend in space as much because teammates better equipped for the job are doing it.

The San Antonio Spurs provided ari with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to excel as the five. According to Synergy, the Spurs are one of the few teams in the league whose schemes do not seek out matchups to attack in space — they rank 17th in pick-and-roll frequency and 30th in isolation frequency.

The 2014 Nets-Raptors game 7 needs a deep rewind

The Nets and Raptors of 2014 had a lot in common! They both have a track record of bad records. They both began the year in a humiliating manner. And they’re both in danger of being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. I don’t imagine they’ll be bonding anytime soon, given that they’re in each other’s hands. Besides, their differences are more distinguishing. The Nets spent heavily to boast one of the league’s top (in theory) teams. Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Brook Lopez were their starting five at the start of the season. That’s a total of five all-stars. The Raptors, on the other hand, have a low-key payroll that supports one all-star (DeMar DeRozan), a bunch of inexperienced players, and a point guard who is struggling.

With Ari no longer having to worry about his obligations as a space defender, the offensive side of the floor became more of a playground for him. He finished with 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists on 7-of-11 shooting (4-of-7 on threes). In his 26 minutes, the Warriors outscored the Spurs by 13 points.

Granted, many of his points came as a result of the Spurs’ less-than-ideal coverage selections when defending pick-and-pop opportunities. However, ari was brought on board in part because he is built to exploit opponents’ coverage flaws.

Ari’s offensive side of the floor became more of a playground for him now that he no longer had to worry about his duty as a space defender. On 7-of-11 shooting (4-of-7 on threes), he finished with 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. The Warriors outscored the Spurs by 13 points in his 26 minutes.

To be sure, many of his scores came as a result of the Spurs’ poor coverage choices when defending pick-and-pop situations. However, ari was brought on board in part because he is designed to expose coverage vulnerabilities in opponents.