Whereas Marc Gasol is positionally adept and can occasionally draw charges or make life difficult with his no-jump verticality, Ibaka makes a scorer pause, think and sometimes change his shot. Both players’ defensive versatility is growing, though. “The good thing is this year we’ve been trying to give them the same coverages,” Fred VanVleet said of the two centres. “It doesn’t always work. But last year, it was like two different teams — when Serge was at the five and Marc was at the five, it was completely different. But I think this year, they’re in the same coverages a lot. We’re challenging them to switch and be up and move their feet. It gives us a lot in the toolbox at the end of the year.”
