Angel Reese's Defense Is Speaking for Itself

The comments on our TikTok video came quickly. People called us dumb. Some swore we didn't know basketball. Others couldn't understand how we could possibly put Reese in the DPOY conversation.

But we stood on what we were seeing.

And that's the important word: seeing.

There is a difference between watching basketball and watching basketball clips.

Highlights will show you the steal, the block or the rebound. What they don't always show is Reese getting a hand on a pass and forcing the offense to reset. They don't show every deflection, disrupted passing lane, switch or possession where her pressure makes an offensive player abandon what she wanted to do.

Those plays don't necessarily become highlights. But they change basketball games.

Reese's rebounding will always command attention, but focusing only on the boards misses what makes her such a disruptive defender. She can battle bigger players in the post, move her feet against smaller players, switch defensively, pressure passing lanes and finish possessions by securing the rebound.

And that's what Coach Onnie and I kept seeing.

We watched Reese's activity disrupt opposing offenses possession after possession. We watched her communicate, recover, fight through actions and compete for loose balls. Most importantly, we watched how her energy became infectious.

A deflection becomes a loose ball. A loose ball becomes a transition opportunity. One defensive stop creates another, and suddenly the entire team is playing with a different level of intensity.

That's defensive impact that doesn't always appear in a box score.

Now we're seeing those same qualities on an even bigger stage at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup. Reese has a different role with Team USA, but the defensive instincts haven't disappeared. The activity, physicality, rebounding and ability to disrupt possessions have traveled with her.

Different uniform. Different teammates. Different role. Same defensive mentality.

That's why we're not backing away from what we said earlier in the season.

There are other outstanding defenders deserving of consideration, and DPOY shouldn't be determined by one statistic. But that's exactly why Reese belongs in the conversation. Watch how many possessions she affects without recording a steal or block. Watch the deflections. Watch the switches. Watch what happens to an offense when she's involved in the action.

Watch the entire game.

For We Ballin Too Media, that's important. We don't want to simply repeat whatever basketball opinion is trending. We want to watch the games, study what is happening and tell you what we see — even when the opinion isn't popular.

People laughed when we made the argument earlier this season. We stood on it then. And after watching what Angel Reese has continued to do defensively in the WNBA and now on the international stage, we're standing on it even stronger today.