Carson Cooper is No. 1 defender in Big Ten, according to BPR analytics

One analytics site has rated sophomore center Carson Cooper as the best defender in the Big Ten this season.

One of the main talking points this season for Michigan State basketball has been the lack of post production. There is no denying this is a problem on offense, but I think the opposite is true on defense. The Spartans’ post defense, in my opinion, has actually been pretty solid this year.

Mady Sissoko has always been viewed as a plus defender, even though he’s struggled some recently. Xavier Booker has even turned a corner defensively and is proving his worth on that end. But it’s Carson Cooper who has actually stood out the most on defense.

Carson Cooper has been the #1 defender in the @bigten this season, via @EvanMiya.

Bayesian Performance Rating (BPR) is the gold standard among basketball analytics.

Cooper also ranks highly in overall BPR (16th) and in Adj.TEM (5th). pic.twitter.com/qcCsGB1SwU

— Justin Spiro (@DarkoStateNews) February 29, 2024

Carson Cooper is the No. 1 defender in the Big Ten

The Bayesian Performance Rating (BPR) is one of the most respected data driven rating systems in college basketball. Using play-by-play data, historical information, and box score statistics, the BPR shows how effective individual players are on the court.

The BPR tells us that Carson Cooper is the No. 1 defender in the Big Ten. This did initially come as a surprise to me, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Cooper never really makes a bad play on defense. He usually doesn’t have any silly fouls or careless mistakes that results in easy points for the opposition. Cooper also has turned into a solid defensive rebounder which helps limit teams to one shot. But where he has done the best is his flexibility on defense.

Cooper has the elite ability to be strong enough to guard bigs when they post up while also being quick enough to defend on the perimeter. This is seen the most in pick-and-roll defense where Cooper is able to cut off opposing guards after screens and recover fast to who he’s defending.

The reason he doesn’t get more love is because of his struggles on offense.

The rest of the BPR metrics

When you factor in overall performance, which includes offensive production, the BPR drops Cooper to No. 16 in the conference. This is quite the drop off from No. 1 on defense, but all things considered it is still very high.

Cooper also checks in at No. 5 in the Big Ten in adjusted team efficiency margin. This represents how their team performs when any individual player is on the court.

This data tells me that maybe Cooper needs to be the primary big down low. He has seen an increase in playing time recently due to Mady’s struggles, but Booker has made a recent push for more playing time as well. This is why I think Cooper and Booker need to split a majority of the post minutes. Booker gives you an increase on offense whereas Cooper is more sound on defense. So depending on what the team needs in each game, Tom Izzo has his options with these two.

Many doubted Cooper out of high school as he was not on anyone’s radar in the recruiting world. But he has proven everyone wrong, and this is just another data point that shows that.