The following comment was just posted in our IU basketball Slack community:

I have a topic for you Jerod. The argument for Zach McRoberts to be named on the Big Ten All-Defensive Team.

My reply is simple:

What argument?

If Zach McRoberts isn’t an All-Big Ten defender, they shouldn’t even pick the team.

The macro case is pretty easy: Indiana has become the best defensive team in the conference in terms of per-possession efficiency, and Zach McRoberts is the best defender on the team.

I’m open to arguments that Juwan Morgan is Indiana’s best defender — given his defensive rebounding prowess, the amount of steals and blocks he amasses, his ability to defend bigger guys in the post without fouling, and his impressive versatility.

But that merely suggests to me that Indiana should have two guys on the All-Big Ten defensive team, not just one.

Which doesn’t even account for Robert Johnson, who has also been very good defensively for Indiana this season.

But back to Zach.

There are two ways to view his defense.

The first is quantitative, and the case is pretty clear.

Via Synergy Sports, there have been 145 possessions that have ended with Zach’s man having the ball and either shooting or turning it over. In those possessions, Zach’s man is scoring just 0.621 points per possession. That is in the 95th percentile nationally.

For comparison’s sake, Jaren Jackson, who is a leading candidate for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year even as a freshman, is holding opponents to 0.635 points per possession in 181 possession-ending opportunities.

Both of them have been outstanding, albeit in completely different ways.

Dakota Mathias from Purdue, who has a more comparable athletic profile to Zach, and is also renowned as a strong defender, is allowing 0.915 points per possession across 235 possessions. That is in the 34th percentile nationally. Vincent Edwards from Purdue, another versatile defender, is allowing 0.668 points across 184 possession. That is in the 91st percentile nationally.

Some numbers for other notable Big Ten defenders:

Jae’Sean Tate: 0.739 ppp across 268 possessions

Josh Reaves: 0.818 ppp across 148 possessions

Ethan Happ: 0.86 ppp across 178 possessions

Granted, Zach’s sample size is smaller than that of these other players, save for Reaves (who sat out several games). This is due, in large part, to those other guys playing a lot more minutes overall this season than Zach has, especially in non-conference play.

But it’s also fair to consider that Zach’s sample size is smaller because he is so effective at simply denying his man the ball in the first place. And given that he’s drawn some of the toughest perimeter defensive assignments over the last month, that’s impressive.

I should also point out that a raw point per possession number is an interesting and insightful, but ultimately incomplete, way to assess a player’s defensive impact. For example, Juwan is giving up 0.903 points per possession across 217 possessions — yet the context is that he’s often been playing post defense against players much bigger than him, and at times has simply conceded points to avoid fouling.

Finally, also worth considering from a quantitative perspective for Zach: no player in the Big Ten generates more steals per possession than Zach. His overall steal rate of 4.1% is 23rd nationally. In conference play, his steal rate has risen to 4.5%, which is first in the conference.

The second way to view Zach’s defense is qualitative.

Consider where Indiana was defensively earlier this year. The Hoosiers, at one point, were sub-200 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency. It’s not an accident that Indiana’s improvement all the way to 51st nationally, and first in the conference, has coincided with Zach playing a lot more minutes.

Also, there are no metrics that account for the impact of a guy who just freaking can’t ever stop hustling.

Zach McRoberts is 22nd in the nation in steal percentage at 4.1%. His effort has made him one of the most important players on Indiana's roster. Here we have two straight minutes of McRoberts out hustling everyone on the floor. #iubb Story➡️https://t.co/3j0E5wKD0Z pic.twitter.com/skNYxgCFer — The Hoosier Network (@TheHoosierNet) February 10, 2018

That type of effort is contagious. It’s leadership by extreme example.

Plus, think about all of the strong box-outs that don’t result in a rebound, the rebound tap-outs, the deflections, the smart rotations that keep the defense out of scramble situations …

No stats account for those, but anyone who has watched Indiana games this year can tell you how often McRoberts is doing them.

So, in conclusion, I really don’t think Zach McRoberts’ inclusion on the Big Ten’s All-Defensive Team should be a debate at this point.

The only debate should be whether someone like Juwan Morgan or Robert Johnson is on the team with him.