The Superstar Silencer
An Ode to Jonathan Isaac’s All-Defensive worthy half-season
Jonathan Isaac was a flat-out dominant defender anytime he stepped foot onto the hardwood this season. The Superstar Silencer shut down names like Kristaps Porzingis, Anthony Davis, and Paul Millsap, while making life difficult for other respected bigs like Joel Embiid, Pascal Siakam, and Giannis Antetokoumnpo.
The Data Visualization attached below compares Player Impact Plus Minus (PIPM) values for all players aged under 23 who have played 200+ MIN this season. (as of 2/16/20)
J.I. revealed himself as an elite defender early into the year. With the highest Defensive-PIPM value of the group, this graph shows how far Jonathan Isaac has separated himself as a defender amongst his peers, with teammate Mo Bamba trailing just behind with the next closest D-PIPM value. (data via BBall Index)
Let’s compare how Isaac ranked through the first quarter of the season compared to where he ranks today, having not played since New Years Day.
Jonathan Isaac’s ranks among all players through his first nineteen games:
T-1st in BPG
3rd in BLK%
2nd in DBPM
T-17th in Deflections (total)
12th in D-PIPM
(19 GP)
Jonathan Isaac’s ranks among all players as of today (2/20/20):
3rd in BPG
14th in BLK%
8th in DBPM
9th in Deflections (per game)
5th in D-PIPM
(32 GP)
(stats via BBall Index, NBA dot com ,and Basketball Reference)
Check The Tape
A look at all of Jonathan Isaac’s marquee moments of the season.
10/23/19 vs Cleveland
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Jonathan Isaac offers a flashbulb moment of his two-way potential, meeting Cedi Osman at the rim for the rejection, sprinting in transition, and Euro-stepping his way to a layup on the other end.
10/26/19 @ Atlanta
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Jonathan Isaac blocks John Collins (2x) and Trae Young.
Coach Clifford pulls Isaac out of the closing lineup for some reason in a game Orlando ends up losing, but he flirted with J.I. at the five; was it worth it?
10/28/19 @ Toronto
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Jonathan Isaac drills a Career-High five three-pointers (5/7 3P) and scores a Career-High (at the time) of 24 points.
10/30/19 vs Knicks
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Jonathan Isaac begins a possession guarding Julius Randle on the wing, Randle backs his way down into the post, only to take a tough contested shot over Isaac; after Mitchell Robinson gets the rebound and goes back up strong with the rock, Jonathan Isaac sends his shot packin’.
11/01/19 vs Bucks
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Jonathan Isaac shows he can hang with anyone in this league after making Giannis work all game. Isaac strips Giannis twice, blocks him, draws a charge and a foul on the offensive end, while disrupting passing lanes with help-D.
11/02/19 vs Denver
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Isaac puts the clamps on Paul Millsap, shattering any hope of scoring for Millsap. Shooting 1/5 from the field that night, Millsap had his lowest FG% of the season. (35gp through 2/20/20)
as of 11/04/19, this is where Isaac ranked just six games into the season:
4th BPG (2.5, > 2gp)
T-7th deflections per game (3.8)
T-2nd Total Stocks (24 stl+blk)
10th D-PIPM (1.18)
6th D-BPM (6.7)
12th %BLK (62.5%, > 15mpg)
12th dFG% (29.7%, > 2gp)
in just six games, J.I. had enough highlights for an entire season’s mixtape:
11/06/19 @ Dallas
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“The Porzingis Game” felt different, like Isaac had finally arrived on the big stage. This was one of the first games where Jonathan Isaac had put “it” all together as a defensive force to be reckoned with on every possession. The most impressive performance of J.I.’s career to date, this is the moment Jonathan Isaac became… The Superstar Silencer.
In the 7:26 where Jonathan Isaac guarded Kristaps Porzingis, KP shot 2/9 from the field and 1/4 from downtown, while having his shot blocked or stolen at least 2x each. Kristaps’ 28.6% FG% from this game is tied for his 7th-worst FG% through 42 games played this season. (as of 2/20/20)
Evidence of the annihilation is available on Twitter and Youtube below:
That game may have been when “it” fully exposed itself in the regular season, but signs of “it” began revealing themselves in the pre-season. In a single possession, Jonathan Isaac guarded three different Spurs(including Rudy Gay twice), snagged the rebound, went coast-to-coast, ignored the screen with a behind-the-back dribble, and finished the play off with a euro-step no-look handoff to Mo Bamba for the emphatic slam:
if you’d like to see more flashes of what was to come, Jonathan Isaac also blocked Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler and Blake Griffin in the pre-season:
but enough about games that “don’t matter”, let’s get back to the real stuff.
11/08/19 vs Memphis
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Jonathan Isaac shoots 9/11 from the field and blocks Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. (x2) in a 32-point blowout victory.
11/20/19 @ Toronto
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Jonathan Isaac grabs a Career-High 13 rebounds, guarding Siakam and staying active on both ends.
11/23/19 @ Indiana
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Jonathan Isaac posts a new Career-High 25 Points when Nikola Vucevic missed time, forcing Orlando to play through J.I.
11/25/19 @ Detroit
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Jonathan Isaac stuffs Andre Drummond, protects the rim against the Pistons:
12/1/19 vs Warriors
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Jonathan Isaac swats FIVE shots against the Warriors.
as of 12/6/19, Jonathan Isaac (4.3 blks) and Mo Bamba (4.5 blks) ranked Top-5 in Blocks Per-100 Possessions.
Jonathan Isaac’s ON/OFF Splits as of 12/6/19, via PBP Stats:
with J.I. ON the court, The Magic were +2.65 in 586min
when J.I. is OFF the court, The Magic were -4.12 in 422min
as of 12/7/19, Jonathan Isaac led the league with 2.8 Blocks and 4.2 Stocks (STLs+BLKs) per game.
12/9/19 @ Cleveland
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Jonathan Isaac suggests the clutch gene might exist after all by contesting one shot, swatting another, and drilling a middy and a triple to close out the Cavs.
12/10/19 @ Milwaukee
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Jonathan Isaac racks up FIVE blocks against Giannis and the Bucks:
as of 12/11/19, Jonathan Isaac ranked 3rd in Defensive PIPM (2.54), behind Giannis Antetokoumnpo and Rudy Gobert and ahead of Anthony Davis.
12/11/19 vs Lakers
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Jonathan Isaac continues to prove why he’s The Superstar Silencer, quieting down Anthony Davis all game long. Davis shot 6/20 from the field and 1/4 from beyond the arc; AD’s 30% FG% in this one is his 2nd-lowest FG% of any game he’s played this season. (through 46gp as of 2/20/20)
as of 12/15/19, Jonathan Isaac (8.0%) and Mo Bamba (7.8%) ranked 3rd and 4th in BLK% respectively, via Basketball Reference.
at this time, The Orlando Magic had the HIGHEST KILL RATE in the NBA. why? Primarily due to Isaac & Bamba blocking everything in sight, Clifford’s conservative style and emphasis on DREBs, along with Nikola Vucevic’s box-out & board skillset:
12/15/19 @ New Orleans
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Another day, another complete game for Orlando’s best player:
as of 12/25/19, Jonathan Isaac climbs into the Top-10 of Defensive PIPM (9th, +2.54); it’s a Christmas miracle!
12/27/19 @ Philadelphia
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Jonathan Isaac blocks Ben Simmons (at least once)
12/28/19 @ Milwaukee
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Mere days before going down to injury, Isaac had one of the best games of his career, setting a career-high of SEVEN steals against the Giannis-less Bucks.
as of 12/29/19, Jonathan Isaac was T-7th in D-PIPM (+2.63) at this point.
12/30/19 vs Hawks
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Jonathan Isaac rebounds, attacks the offensive glass.
as of 12/31/19, The Magic ranked 11th in D-RTG (107.8),
via Cleaning the Glass.
Jonathan Isaac’s ON/OFF Splits, via PBP Stats:
with Jonathan Isaac ON, The Magic have a +0.41 Net RTG (947 MIN)
with Jonathan Isaac OFF, The Magic have a -5.94 Net RTG (637 MIN)
with Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz ON,
The Magic have a +1.51 Net RTG (657 MIN)
Chemistry with Markelle Fultz
In transition, Markelle sees all. Once Orlando forces a turnover, the games begin. Fultz wants to push the pace and Isaac wants to run with him.
In the half-court, Fultz looks for cutters. Isaac takes advantage of Clifford’s backdoor-cut-friendly offense and unaware defenders with properly timed cuts to the basket. All Markelle needs is a target, he’ll take care of the rest.
Jonathan Isaac’s injury came on the first day of the new decade.
(Which has been a controversial topic on Twitter. Did we start keeping track of years with Year 0 or Year 1? on the other hand, what kind of person would say 2020 is their favorite year of the 2010's?)
The night before his injury, Jonathan Isaac was the league-leader in Stocks (STLs + BLKs) per game, exchanging the title back and forth with Anthony Davis all year. Here’s a data visualization of the NBA’s Stocks per game leaders at that point in the season.
In what became a sad, ironic bit of trivia, Jonathan Isaac scored the NBA’s first bucket of 2020; this would be his last shot of the season, as he went down to injury soon-after Bradley Beal decided to try on defense for the first time all year by stumbling to get in-between Isaac and the rim in transition.
J.I.’s Final Numbers for the Season
(stats via BBall Index and Basketball Reference)
Jonathan Isaac’s per-36 for the season:
14.6pts-8.4reb-3blk-1.9stl-1.7ast (32gp, 949mp)
Jonathan will finish the season with career-highs in every traditional box score average and shooting percentage, other than 3P% and FT%:
12pts-6.9reb-2.4blk-1.6stl-1.4ast
46.3 FG%, 33 3P%, 76.7 FT%
50.9% eFG%, 54.2% TS%
Jonathan Isaac’s 2.4 BLK/gm and 1.6 STL/gm establishes Isaac as one of three players to average over 1.4 STL/gm and 1.4 BLK/gm this season.
(along with Anthony Davis and Andre Drummond)
Isaac will also finish with career-highs in the following advanced stats and catch-all metrics:
7.4% BLK%, 12.4% TRB%
7.3% AST%, 18.4% USG%
.227 FTR, .119 WS/48
+1.82 PIPM, +3.08 D-PIPM
2.9 BPM, 5.0 DBPM
1.2 VORP, 17 PER
The Magic’s 101.0 D-RTG with Isaac ON the court is the best rating of Isaac’s three seasons in Orlando.
Jonathan Isaac (7.4 BLK%, 2.6 STL%, 5.0 DBPM) is one of eight players to hit the following marks this season: ≥ 2.5 BLK%, ≥ 1.5 STL %, > 3.5 DBPM, sharing company with Giannis Antetokoumnpo, Anthony Davis, Nerlins Noel, Bam Adebayo, Andre Drummond, Mitchell Robinson, and Rob Williams.
If Jonathan Isaac wasn’t the best defender of the season before the calendar flipped to 2020, he was on a short list. Whatever “it” is; he has “it”. Don’t let me down, voters.
