The San Antonio Spurs have the tough path of having to defend Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Brunson in back-to-back series if they want to win the NBA Championship. Guard Stephon Castle has been tasked with being the main defender for the opposing team’s best scorers. Brunson had a strong performance in Game 1 to give the New York Knicks a 1-0 series lead in the NBA Finals by stealing home court quickly.
Castle praised Brunson after the game, but he also took a shot at Gilgeous-Alexander when discussing their differences:
“They are very similar in ways. Jalen’s left-handed, Shai is right-handed. But I think Shai is more of a threat to get all the way downhill, all the way down to the basket, and I think Jalen likes to use angles a lot more, use a little bit more pump fakes than Shai.
He gets to his spots. Not really trying to draw fouls as much, trying to get to his midrange and spots where he likes. We’re trying to keep him from getting that.”
Castle claimed that Brunson doesn’t try to draw fouls as much as Shai does when citing the challenges in defending each. Gilgeous-Alexander is considered the top “foul baiter” in the league right now, but Brunson is one of the other top stars accused of this as well. Castle went out of his way to share that Brunson is not as bad as Shai in this regard.
Is Stephon Castle Accurate About Shai?
It is worth mentioning that Gilgeous-Alexander did not finish in the top three for most free throws attempted per game this season, despite being the MVP winner. Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Deni Avdija all averaged more free throw attempts than SGA.
NBA players and fans have extra criticism for Oklahoma City Thunder players due to their playing style. Thunder defenders like Lu Dort and Alex Caruso get away with playing hard defense and not getting foul calls equal to other players across the league.
This causes more frustration when Gilgeous-Alexander gets questionable calls on the offense side to give him free throws. Castle and the general NBA public view Shai as more of a foul baiter than anyone else due to the Thunder getting to play hard defense, while their opponents get called for fouls.
Stephon Castle Must Figure Out Brunson
The Spurs’ defense did the best job yet against Gilgeous-Alexander to make his life difficult in the Western Conference Finals. Many of these plays were double teams that forced Shai to pass to less trustworthy teammates.
However, Castle was still the primary defender and often held his own when the game got more intense and double teams became too risky. Brunson and the Knicks are now the favorites to win the NBA Championship after obtaining home court with the win.
San Antonio badly needs Castle to at least limit Brunson from taking 30 shots a game since other guards like Devin Vassell and De’Aaron Fox struggle to defend elite offensive talents. Brunson had a slow start, but the one-on-one defense allowed him to keep shooting until he got hot to hit the clutch shots late with the game on the line.
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