For Philadelphia 76ers rookie Nerlens Noel, the half-court line is a line of demarcation. On the defensive end, Noel is a budding superstar; a physical monster, singlehandedly capable of transforming the lane into a Bermuda Triangle for opposing offenses. When the Sixers have the ball, however, — poof — the 6'11 big morphs into a confused, bumbling lug who doesn’t seem to understand where he’s going or, even worse, where he’s supposed to be.

And despite recent marginal improvements on the offensive end, the contrast between the two Noels remains incredibly stark:

In the broadest sense, Noel’s presence has had a dramatic effect on Philadelphia’s defense. Last year, the Sixers were anemic when it came to stopping the opposition, ranking 27th in the league in defensive rating, 21st in points in the paint allowed, 25th in blocks per game, and 28th in opposition field goal percentage closer than five feet from the rim.

In essence, 2013–14 was nothing short of catastrophic for Philly’s defense, and it would not be unfair to place some of blame at Spencer Hawes’ feet, as he manned center for the team. This season, with Noel at center, the Sixers rank 12th, 14th, T-5th, and T-6th, respectively, in those same defensive metrics.

While Noel hasn’t done it alone, he has been at both the literal and figurative center of the team’s improvement:

Noel’s greatest strength as a defender is his ability to defend the rim. This season, he is averaging 1.9 blocks per game — good for sixth-best in the category in the league, trailing only Anthony Davis, Serge Ibaka, Rudy Gobert, DeAndre Jordan, and Pau Gasol, each of whom are elite rim protectors.

SportVU data confirms that Noel compares favorably with his peers, too. Of the 67 different players who have played at least 35 games and defense five or more shots at the rim per game, Noel ranks eighth-best in field goal percentage against. Furthermore, opposing shooters are more than ten percentage points worse than the league average when squaring off against Noel. What this data suggests is that Noel’s impact is legitimate, and not borne of empty weakside blocks.

Plus, Noel is getting better as the season progresses, which, to some degree, is to be expected given his lack of professional experience. (He missed his entire “rookie” season recovering from an ACL tear.) Here are his average blocks per game by month:

Noel’s rim-protecting skills are impressive enough in their own right, but it is his ability to create turnovers that sets him apart from pretty much any other big in the game today. He’s averaging an absurd (and unsustainable) 3.7 steals per game in March, a binge of kleptomania that has raised his year-long per-game rate to 1.9 — tying him with Chris Paul, the league’s steals champion six of the last seven years.

Noel’s ability to cover guards at the three point line has actually helped secure two (oh so rare) victories for the Sixers this season. (Philly has 15 wins. It’s March.)

Against the Wizards, a defensive switch resulted in Noel guarding fellow Kentucky alum, John Wall — a task no defender relishes — but the center managed to stifle the guard’s drive attempt, instead forcing an 18 foot jumper over outstretched fingers that clanged off the rim.