The Lakers abandoned the Lakers who can attack and defend! Caruso, who has full functionality, truly proves himself!

Although Caruso came to the Thunder through a trade in the middle of the season, he has completely found his position here. As a abandoned player of the Lakers, he has become a key role in the Thunder's tiebreaker against the Nuggets. So how strong is Caruso now? This issue of the column will help you understand through in-depth data analysis.

It is said that in the summer of 2021, the Lakers were unwilling to pay a bigger contract for Caruso, so Caruso went away from the Bulls and finally came to the Thunder after several twists and turns. In the playoffs, Caruso averaged 9.3 points per game, with a small average of points per game, but his three-point shooting percentage reached the first among the 7 main players in the Thunder with more than 20 minutes per game, but Caruso's better aspects can fully reflect the basic data of the game.

Caruso has always been considered a 3D player with three-pointers + defense. From the offensive end, Caruso's three-pointers took when he received the ball but did not dribble, and the proportion of other shots after dribble was very low. This means that Caruso's main scoring method was to catch the ball directly;

At the same time, Caruso's three-point shooting percentage when he received the ball but did not dribble reached 46.2%. This hit rate is seventh among the players who averaged more than 3 times per game without dribble. Although he failed to reach the highest level, his three-point shooting percentage when he received the ball was already the top level. On the offensive end, Caruso has completed the task as long as he could do this well.

If the offensive end sometimes has poor feel and low hit rate, then the defensive end is Caruso's real stage. The Thunder itself is a team with excellent overall defense, while Caruso is superior to the best:

Caruso in the basket area within 6 feet can reduce the opponent's shooting percentage from 62.9% to 50%, which means that Caruso can reduce the opponent's shooting percentage by 12.9% compared to the playoff average. This limit The system effect is the best among the five players who averaged more than 3 shots at the basket by the Thunder;

In the close range within 10 feet, Caruso can reduce the opponent's shooting percentage from 59.1% to 48.1%, which means Caruso can reduce the opponent's shooting percentage by 11% compared to the playoff average. This limit effect is the best among the seven players who averaged more than 3 shots at the Thunder;

in the entire three-point line Necaruso can reduce the opponent's shooting percentage from 55.3% to 46.1%, which means that Caruso can reduce the opponent's average playoff level by 9.2%, which is the second of the 7 players who averaged more than 5 shots within the 3-point line.

In the three-point line, Caruso can reduce the opponent's average shooting percentage from 37.6% to 32.4%, which means that Caruso can reduce the opponent's average playoff level outside the 3-point line. The shooting rate of 5.2%, this limit effect is the third of the 7 players who have played more than 3 attempts outside the three-point line of the Thunder.

These can indicate that Caruso can cause a significant decrease in the opponent's shooting rate in all areas. In each area within the three-point line, the best defender for the team's average defense is even the best defender for the team to combine the number of defenses per game. Although it is only third outside the three-point line, the three-point shooting rate that reduces the opponent by 5.2% is also excellent enough. Caruso is extremely outstanding in terms of the reduction of the reserve requirement ratio on the defensive end.

' excellent reserve requirement ratio reduction ability also makes Caruso's defense very obvious. When he is not on the court, the Thunder's defensive efficiency is 102.9, and when he is on the court, the Thunder's defensive efficiency reaches 96.3, which means that when Caruso is not on the court, the Thunder's points lost by 6.6 points per 100 rounds will be reduced, which is second only to Carson Wallace in the team.

Carson is of course excellent in terms of reserve requirement reduction. Compared with Caruso's exaggerated reserve requirement reduction ability within the three-point line, Carson has outstanding reserve requirement reduction performance outside the three-point line. The two of them have played in the playoffs and have won the top two among the main teams of the league who averaged more than 20 minutes per game. This means that the Thunder's score per 100 rounds lost points when they were on the court. These two are also the reason why the Thunder can always crush their opponents during the connection period of the second team.

The exaggerated defensive performance in the three-point line also made Caruso take on the task of defending Jokic in the tiebreak. From the whole game, his defensive effect was very significant: Jokic only hit 4 goals in 12 shots against Caruso's defense in this round of the series, sent 4 assists but also made 4 mistakes. Once Jokic was blocked, the Nuggets naturally had no offense and defense state.