The most unorthodox defender in NBA history | Matisse Thybulle 

Ton of insightful comments on this (as always). When researching, I couldn't quite find anyone like him. As some have mentioned, Bird had his share of rearview blocks, Kirilenko had a long/chaotic element to his game, and Jordan has some of this too (especially helping down on the post).

After watching this, it made me realize that Thybulle and Embiid mesh so well on defense. Imagine your a ball handler trying to get to the rim, you have Thybulle hounding you from behind and if you manage to get pass him, you're greeted with Embiid. That's nasty.

Have a look at him playing for the Australian team in the Olympics. His defence was very interesting to watch.

When i was in my younger years as a basketball player, i use to defend like that. My body didnt have the bulk to face up vs bigger and stronger guys so i use my quickness and timing to let them pass and block from behind. Its much easier and effective.

As a sixers fan, I would do everything in my power to make sure he is a Sixers for as long as we can have him. He is so important on the court.

we also have to take into consideration the players he's guarding in everyone of these clips. He gets matched up 1 on 1 vs some of the best scorers in history on a nightly basis, which makes some of the opponent field goal percentages even more impressive

Mad respect to him, I never really noticed this, I Just thought his recovery was bonkers. He plays like a competitive 2K player, looking to bait the passer or the ball handler rather than looking to react from the front. Wade-like shot blocking ability. The offensive player is trained to light up their eyes when they beat a defender in front of them, however this is exactly what Matisse wants. Great video

I'm from Seattle and had the pleasure of watching Matisse ball out here at UW for some great years. Mike Hopkins ran a wonderful 2-3 Zone and Matisse was one of the guards at the top of the zone. The dude was an absolute menace on defense and it was crazy how night in and night out, this dude would make offenses work so damn hard to trying to pass the ball around the top of the key without being picked. Check out his defensive highlights in college. His anticipation and bait game is next level.

I was shocked Dwyane Wade wasn't in that guards block list per 100. Turns out he just missed with a 1.9

Such frequent content from Thinking Basketball is a treat

I agree that he gambles a lot on plays, but it makes him so entertaining to watch. Not sure you can block a curry 3 without taking some risks.

still insane to me how a video about thybulle is your most viewed video, just shows the quality of the content you produce

this type of defense is taught in the Seattle area a lot and he most likely learned it at UW. I was taught a similar way of playing defense when I played. I have no clue who started it but playing parallel and baiting shots is emphasized a lot here at some schools. Would be a cool thing to investigate. I remember Brandon Roy was really good at this also.

His ability to keep jumping without any recovery Time, reminds me of Rodman and Barkley. That talent made those two to spent there time under the basket. There you cant really defend while staying behind your opponent.... What a peculiar player.

Paint defense will always be more valuable than perimeter defense but perimeter defenders need to be acknowledged & respected more, perhaps give a DPOY award to a perimeter guy.

It's how he recovers so quickly and adjusts to plays as they develop that I love so much. And with the average player skill being high enough to switch hands on a layup to avoid a defender... not being able can't see matisse's block attempts coming from behind is huge. It's so simple on paper, but so difficult and risky to pull off... It's insane that he can make it work at all, let alone at such a high rate. With how him and Maxey are stepping up, along with how insane Embiid is playing; I see the sixers putting in a good run this year.

Idk why, but his defense reminds me of some defenders on 2K I play defense similar to this in real life and it transitions pretty well to 2K. Easy pick pockets and chase down blocks. Passing lane steals come easy as well when your IQ is just high enough to know who the ball is going to.

I enjoy watching Matisse play defense, it’s honestly a joy to watch. He’s what I call a defensive highlight playmaker

Loving these non-all star breakdowns. Show some role players some love

Low key this is a smart way of playing defense because most offensive players read what’s in front of the them. So when you get pass him your focus shifts to next guy in front and you tend to forget you have a defender behind you

Crazy good video! Ive had this on my watch later list for about a month now haha so glad i finally watched it

As a Sixers fan I love watching him play defense, my eyes are always glued to him no matter where the ball is. I’m biased but I think he’s the most fun defender to watch in the NBA rn

As long as he’s on a team like Philly, Utah, Milwaukee or Miami, he’s gonna have a great career

The data in this breakdown is incredible the amount of research that you had to do to creating this incredible content is amazing 💯💯💯

I got a few things to say 1. Him and Embiid given time can be a huge powerhouse, once he masters the 1v1 defense this guys is going to be a menace. 2. I believe that he is the best transition defender ever, because his ability to see the ball and read the eyes of the defender is unmatched, that paired with his athleticism are a dangerous combo. 3. Also, if I he learns to talk on the court and have that chemistry with his teammates so that they know when he’s doing the wrap around, it’ll be like a double team that the offense never saw coming. All of this was said by a 13 year old peace

When he played alongside Ben, the flaws weren’t visible because of what Ben is able to do as a 1v1, help, and interior defender. Ben allowed him to roam and be as effective as possible. Without him, teams can avoid him with good ball movement

been rooting for him and ja since 2019, glad they shine this year.

I love how you pointed out the good and the bad!!

As a UW fan, he was probably my favorite college player to watch. He was such a huge problem in those Husky zone defenses. The defensive numbers he was putting up were unreal

One thing I saw in this video besides the fact that it is amazing and insightful is the fact that Durant must have watched film on him, that’s why he wasn’t looking at the guy but he still made a bounce pass after faking the shot because Thy was lurking from behind as usual

You can look at his defensive highlights playing for the boomers to see that he doesn’t need a elite paint protector behind him to cause hell on the perimeter as we were playing baynes and landale

Brilliant stuff! His game and ur video! Love the breakdown.

Fascinating! Great video man!

This is so well done. Thank you for putting the spotlight on Matisse and how truly special his defense is. His defensive style really is most akin to MJ's (if there's a past precedent). But in part bc D is a greater % of his energy/overall game, he's like a turbo-boosted Jordan (which is crazy to think possible.) And yes, the more interior block'g help & positional react'g know-how his teammates can make to cover for a miss/buy time, the more valuable he is. Your conclusion is right on.

It’s insane that a video on a non starters defense is Ben’s second most viewed video

Amazing video man. He’s one of my favourite players to watch

His defense is already generational, he’s done things I never thought were possible defensively

I enjoy the simple things in life: A hot shower, good coffee and a fresh break down from Thinking Basketball.

You deserve more subs my dude. Love the depth you get into.

This is a awesome video man very informative

I agree with your Dr. Evil suggestion: Mathysse sometimes DOES intentionally let his man go to chase him from behind. And as a spectator I love it, he's a walking defensive highlight reel. There exists a defense showtime ladies and gentleman

I remember noticing Mikal bridges take the same rear view approach defense on luka a couple of years ago that worked really well on PnRs. Mikal isn’t the same athlete but he’s got super long arms and great timing

Wow what excellent breakdown!! Thank you.

Great content! I am a big fan. And now I discover more about him!

mattisse is one of my favorite players because he puts in effort. dude gets a 3pt shot and he plays for years

Very interesting analysis of the drawbacks to his style. We're lucky to have him and Embiid together. I'm guessing he'd be significantly less effective with an offense-minded big man like Towns or Jokic.

Great analysis. Fascinating stuff

I’m a sixers fan, always knew he was an great defender and could see it regularly. Never really notice how fast he can jump into the air, pretty amazing

Fantastic stuff. Your videos are so detailed and interesting. It’s crazy how seasoned vets who have a good idea of when they can get shots off are completely caught off guard when Matisse does his crazy matrix blocks from behind. Gary Trent jr had a frustrated look on his face like damn wow wtf. I know he’s young but Steph did this too. Truly a specimen. In pickup games I’ve done this when people drive for layups if I know they have an advantage shooting over me. I just let them get around me and swat from behind. Yes I’m no Matisse but it’s a very tricky yet effective play. He’s a quirky, great defender with a capital Q. This brings back memories of when how Ginobili blocked Harden from behind to seal a playoff win I wanna say around 2015. Don’t need to be uber athletic to pull it off it’s mainly timing. Matisse is a beast so that’s why he blocks a ton of shots like this.

Fantastic video! I knew he was a great defender but this thoughtful breakdown really assists my appreciation even better. Love the content!!

Fascinating video, I really enjoyed it 👍

Yeah, this video is super interesting. Well done y’all ✅👍🏽

He is just extremely athletic and more importantly, has this perfect timing instinct. You're born with that, gods gift

Ball-seeking defense. Definitely keeps him in hunter role. It can also be risky. This cost Philly in game 7 with a costly foul on a 3 point shot in the waning moments.

Love this analysis, thanks for the thorough breakdown./

Very cool video. Thanks for sharing.

I think the element missed in this analysis is how effective he is at creating offensive fastbreaks. In some of the analysis of the Warriors this season, there's been a correlation between the effectiveness of their defense at creating opportunistic scoring, which across the league is always more efficient than going into a set defense. I think if you examined the easy points he gives up versus the easy points he creates, you might have an answer as to the effectiveness of his defense (ie, separating the noise in determining if he's just good or great). Does he increase his team's scoring efficiency with these defensive plays more than he increases the opponents scoring efficiency by forcing these bad rotations. You already gave decent evidence that he's good at reducing on-ball shooting percentage, but I'd want to see perhaps whether opponents score more points in the paint than usual, and whether his defensive effectiveness changes when Embiid is off the floor. Not definitive, but a quick scan of his box score +/- does not appear to correlate this. He has 4 games with a very high +/-, but 3 or fewer steals+blocks. He also has 3 games with a very high +/- and more than 3 steals+blocks. There's definitely something going on here, and figuring out how to model it will probably improve defensive metrics, even if he is a unique player.

I’ve been waiting for this one! I Love Thybulle

Great observation, and attention to detail... keep this up

This is a great content man

Awesome, great analysis! He's definitely a rare player! Another player who played like this, was Andrei Kirilenko (AK47). At 6'9, he was the shortest player in NBA history apart from Ben Wallace to average over 3 BPG twice in his career, and lead the league in this category at least once. He's also the only SF to ever do this. In addition, he's the only player in NBA history to finish a season in top 4 in both blocks and steals per game. He also had 3 5x5s in his career (games with at least 5 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast, 5 blk, 5 stl), second only to Hakeem the Dream, who had 6. In addition to Blocks and Steals, hee was also a great all around player, including passing, rebounding, and had a decent mid range and 3 pt shot. With a 37 inch vert in his prime, and a 7'4 wingspan, he was in optimal condition to block shots, but he also had great positioning, timing, anticipation, and straight up effort. Definitely one of the most underrated players ever, and one of the best defenders of all time! I love players who put a lot of effort into defense, and Thybulle, like AK47 is definitely one of them. This video gives a good summary of his rare stats, with highlight video in the background, and how he'd do in today's game: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eak73CVfQHk.html P.S I don't remember if you ever made a video similar to this about AK47, but you should!

He’s been my favorite role player since he checked in to guard Kemba his rookie year and snatched Kemba’s soul! He is a defensive guru!!!

When the only badge you have is chase down artist 😂😂

Great video Mate ! Love from Poland

would love to see a video on his former teammate in Seattle Dejounte Murray

Would love more videos on defenders like Jrue, Giannis, AD, Bam, etc

Amazing video dude 🙌🏻👏🏼👏🏼

I am liking and subscribing merely due to the fact you added that clip from Curb. Nice taste. Cheers.

I'm a sixers fan, and I just gotta say, I love Matisse. We all love him actually

His way of defending from behind would work so well on the bucks where guards have to chase around screens because of Brooks extreme drop coverage

Great insight. Thybulle never really gets talked about as an elite athlete, great job explaining it.

Wow this video hit home. This is EXACTLY how I always played defense...I never knew or seen anyone play same until now. It's so accurate too, yes you get a lot of blocks but I tend to let people drive by and help defense is 100% important. Without the help d people get pissed at me that people drive in all the time. Good video!!

I’ve been impressed with his defense since his 2nd year, it says something that he’s considered one of Philly’s leaders as well he’s got a bright future

Just a couple games into his time in Portland, and he’s already looked really good - especially when you consider that Portland has been without their starting center. He’s already gotten one of those amazing blocks on what appeared to be a wide open corner 3.

God I enjoyed this so much! Good video!

This video is awesome. Wow. Great work. This guy has skills

He's a smart defender who's pretty disciplined but he's also got size and wingspan and explosiveness laterally and vertically. If only he had more of an offensive game. He's such an interesting player. Embiid is the defensive anchor and dpoy candidate not thybulle but matisse is a great defender. He's a defensive highlight reel making plays with calculated gambles and his unique style.

Would love to see your update on his play now that he's on the Blazer's.

Jus came here to say your thumbnails are legit broski 👌🏾. Always make me do a double take.

Legendary timing 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾

Just based on clips you showed, I 'd say he needs to master his techniques bit more. Tries too much to steal and/or block. Sometimes it's enough to redirect/distract the opponent. But yea, definitely worth keeping an eye on his defensive stats to see the impact he's having.

Thanks for the video. Very interesting. I wonder if his playing from behind is something he developed to compensate for his lack of lateral footspeed. I don't think he can play a normal scheme but he's actually not good at moving his feet, keeping up laterally with attackers.

Wonderful breakdown

Great, interesting video. Unique look at Matisse's sklls

Matisse probably owes half of his $33/3yr contract to this video, lmao.

I Feel it reminds me of Jordan style defending, high risk/high reward, lots of steals from behind, lots of blocks, lots of passing lane attempts etc.

Also, your breakdown is incredible. Subbed

Not a 6ers fan so this wasnt even on my radar. Great spotlight man. I'll be watching his defense going forward :)

He’s absolutely phenomenal, still can’t believe my Celtics drafted him and then traded him to the 76ers

He is the Russell Westbrook of defense…he’s an athletic freak with a crazy high motor, takes risk and causes chaos, sometimes at the expense of his team

I’m glad you added the second half of this video because I spent the whole first half thinking to myself this is just bad defense being covered up by superior athleticism in and length. Now he’s obviously a smart guy and understands his body and angles well but he is definitely hurting the defense in some situation‘s but like I said I think he’s a smart guy and I think eventually he’s going to fine-tune this.

great video my friend, very informative

I think he and John Stockton have a lot of similarities in backcourt defending.

He would be perfect for the Raptors. His help D would fit in perfectly with FVV and our front court.

great analysis my man, you got a sub outta me

Brilliant analysis

I was having a conversation with a friend about how much his defense reminded me of early, athletic prime MJ. Difference being, Michael didn't gamble as much and stayed in front of his guy more often. But MJ being an offensive force as well makes him ever much more impressive! But don't get it twisted, Thybulle is crazy fun to watch and is quite impressive in his role. He's also one of the few guys that have been able to translate their defensive play from college to the pros and make their money strictly off that.

Top 3 wing defenders rn imo: Thybulle, Herb Jones, and Mikal Bridges. Kawhi is in there when healthy and motivated. Others like Jrue Holiday, Marcus smart and giannis are great too.

This is honestly amazing

Watched him all thru college cuz grew up a UW fan, guy is so fun to watch, his defense is insane, would love to see him added to a elite team and be their defense glue