How was Magic Johnson guarded?

[Jyap9675]

Seeing that he's like 6'9, did 6 feet PGs also guard him? How did teams guard him?

[L.Kizzle]

The player best suited to guard him guarded him.

[brain drain]

Cmon we're talking about the 80s here. Everbody knows that nobody guarded no one during that decade.

[brain drain]

Although according to Isiah, the best method was the "Rocco Defense":
http://citofonarelordlucas.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/immagine-39.png?w=225&h=300

[pauk]

As long as that uber tall PG doesnt take advantage of the mismatch by posting up/backing him down then its all good.... look at Shaun Livingston (6'7) and Greivis Vasquez (6'6) today.... they are not using that length well imo and they aint that stronger either compared to the shorter PGs today... its kindof a waste.... Magic used to exploit that advantage to the max, teams would scramble and send help, resulting in open shots for everybody...... he would then be guarded by SGs/SFs instead... but he would then blow by them instead especially in the full court...

Magic was pretty much unguardable... to much ballcontrol & size/strength for a typical PG (or SG).... to much ballcontrol & quickness for a SF/PF.... and just simply to much IQ..... Teams would try different defenders (and team defense) on him during the game anything from a PG to a PF and hope for the best....

[Micku]

From the games that I watched, made the Lakers just a tough match up.

They would switch on him depending on the situations. So, you'll see guys like bigger guys guarding him if they have it. Like with the 76ers, I saw Dr. J instead of Mo Cheeks and with the Jazz I saw Bob Hansen instead of John Stockton. But you still see some guys that were below 6'5 guarding him too. Regardless, he was tough to guard.

In the beginning of his career, they sagged on him a lot. He never really had a reputation of having a good jumpshot. But despite that, I see him knocking them down a lot. They used to leave him so open or he picked his shots very well. He could spot up very well. With Kareem or Worthy getting the double team, they pass to Magic and he hits it almost every time.

Later on in his career, he more tough to guard with his post game and outside shot improved. Can't really think of ways to guard him. He was basically unguardable.

[Jyap9675]

Damn, that's pretty crazy. I can just imagine Stockton having to guard SGs.

[Jyap9675]

You have given out too much Reputation in the last 24 hours, try again later.


Would rep tomorrow.

[kennethgriffin]

magic was like kobe, lebron

scott was like fisher, chalmers


the pg was fisher, chalmers, scott... magic, kobe, lebron were/are the play makers

scott, fisher, chalmers guard pg's... theyre guarded by pg's

magic is a 6foot 9 point/forward

[Cali Syndicate]

I think I remember reading or hearing somewhere that one of the main reasons Detroit drafted Rodman was so that they could have a player who might effectively be able to guard Magic in case they met in the finals.

But like one of the above posters stated, the opposing team just had to match up the best they could.

If Lebron, once his athleticism goes, can play the playmaker role out the post like Magic used to, he will age very well. Magic had a good post game though.

[pauk]

But for Magics first 4 years Magic didnt touch the PG position... Norm Nixon was the starting PG and Magic was starting SG/SF, point-forwarding a la Lebron today... very similar to Chalmers & Lebron today... With that being said opposing PGs didnt play much undersized his first 4 years, as they could guard Nixon (6'2).... its not until Norm Nixon left and Magic took officially over at PG (1983-84) which made their shortest guy in the lineup be 6'6"..... Thats when they wreaked extra havoc, your 6 foot'ish PG couldnt guard Magic so now he has to guard a SG instead, another size mismatch.... it was a nightmare... :)

Thats kindof why i want Lebron to officially go PG and do this same thing, but the thing is Lebron is such a great scorer / finisher / of the ball player aswell... starting him at PG would bottleneck that ability..... Magic didnt have to worry about that, especially not when he had the most productive scorer in NBA history to pass to (and ofcourse Worthy and so on)...

[Living Being]

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5p94gP1zg1rs8oc6o1_500.jpg

[Xiao Yao You]

Damn, that's pretty crazy. I can just imagine Stockton having to guard SGs.

Byron Scott wan't that much bigger than him at 6'4". Micheal Cooper at 6'6" was a bit taler..

[Ne 1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eibq7MpTAvE

[Haymaker]

Magic had one of the best hands/ball security of all time. I don't remember seeing someone stealing the ball from his hands.

[wakencdukest]

One way to guard him was to put someone really quick and tenacious on him that could stay in front of him and slow down the fast break, but then he would kill you in the post. If you guarded him with a forward he would exploit you in the open court. You could slow his scoring down a little, with the right defense, but there was literally NO ONE who could stop Magic from dishing out 15 assists every night if he wanted to.

[Kobe 4 The Win]

One way to guard him was to put someone really quick and tenacious on him that could stay in front of him and slow down the fast break, but then he would kill you in the post. If you guarded him with a forward he would exploit you in the open court. You could slow his scoring down a little, with the right defense, but there was literally NO ONE who could stop Magic from dishing out 15 assists every night if he wanted to.

Magic Johnson was a matchup nightmare. There wasn't anything you could do with him. His height, big body, instincts, baskeball IQ, post game, handles and unselfishness made him pretty much impossible to defend.

[pauk]

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5p94gP1zg1rs8oc6o1_500.jpg

Did you watch that series? Magic treated Jordan like he was a ragdoll or something, posting/backing him down with success all the time.... Pippen did a better job guarding him though...

[Pointguard]

The Greyhounds, Magic, Cooper, Worthy and AC Green were all long (felt like 6'10) and super fast and coordinated*. Don't forget that Scott could run too. When they ran, and Magic saw to it that they did, you couldn't really match-up. So in the half court there was always three mismatches. Worthy, who was quicker than Magic and whose post play was off the chain, Kareem with his sky hook, and Magic, who primarily used his advantage to set up others. The PF position was usually a motion decoy for Magic's passing ability. Boston would go McHale on SF big game James Worthy, the stocky Dennis Johnson on Magic and Parrish on Kareem which was the best you could do against the Lakers.

But Magic didn't go bananas and try to exploit his height like you would imagine. Worthy and Kareem's post game was just too good to pass up on. Magic would always get like 18 ppg and be a set up man most of the time. He would have the occasional 35 points if the teams weren't playing him honest. Magic exploited mainly for others and he was unpredictable as to when he would get his. He would post up primarily just to see what the other teams strategy was. And sometimes would keep going back to posting until they changed the strategy. Teams never figured out whether to double him or not. Magic was always adjusting, exploiting and manipulating the whole defense, not just the guy guarding him. He was always a step ahead. He ran the most potent, super efficient, well oiled machine the league every had.

So teams only went after an aspect of Magic's game that they wanted to stop: quicker guys to slow down his running game, or bigger guys to slow down his half court game. Eventually Magic figured it out.


*The Clippers tried to get all 6'9ish guys or long co-ordinated players with Charles Smith, Ken Norman, Danny Manning and Ron Harper but found out that it was Magic's ability to exploit team weaknesses that was the Magic formula.

[willds09]

Magic cheated come on a damn 6'9 PG???:wtf:

[Kobe 4 The Win]

Did you watch that series? Magic treated Jordan like he was a ragdoll or something, posting/backing him down with success all the time.... Pippen did a better job guarding him though...

Jordan and Pippen were racking up fouls trying to guard Magic one on one. When they started to have success is when they started doubling Magic as soon as he crossed half court. They forced him to give up the ball early and it gave us a lot of problems.

Michael Cooper had recently retired and that really hurt us. He was our secondary ball handler and he was a great defender. Jordan wore Byron Scott out. Scott and Worthy were banged up so we were screwed. I wish Magic would have posted up more and been a little more aggressive scoring.

We probably wouldn't have won the series but it would have been more competitive.

[jlip]

Jordan and Pippen were racking up fouls trying to guard Magic one on one. When they started to have success is when they started doubling Magic as soon as he crossed half court. They forced him to give up the ball early and it gave us a lot of problems.

Michael Cooper had recently retired and that really hurt us. He was our secondary ball handler and he was a great defender. Jordan wore Byron Scott out. Scott and Worthy were banged up so we were screwed. I wish Magic would have posted up more and been a little more aggressive scoring.

We probably wouldn't have won the series but it would have been more competitive.

The '91 Finals was the first time I had really ever seen a team do that. I was used to doubling a player in a half court set, but basically at midcourt was a very revolutionary move to me. And it worked.

[kNicKz]

Did you watch that series? Magic treated Jordan like he was a ragdoll or something, posting/backing him down with success all the time....

clearly
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GmQJoGyYH40/TLjMvEb_L_I/AAAAAAAAAKw/g4blxCDSu-k/s1600/jordan-w-trophy.jpg

[SHAQisGOAT]

Had to get the best player on the floor for the job, with that I mean a long dude who could guard the perimeter and the post, didn't really need to be super athletic but had to be strong and a good defender at least. Didn't matter if PG or not, but if you didn't have one of those guys available you were pretty much screwed.

Can't forget they also had dudes like Worthy, Wilkes, Scott and so on, on the court, so it's like pick your poison.

Only guards I can remember off the top right now, that could guard Magic, some better than others of course, were DJ, TR Dunn, Derek Harper (recurring much to hand checking though), Micheal Ray, Drexler, Theus.. Could only do so much though, Magic was almost 6'9, big and strong, great ballhandler, could put it on the floor or use his great postgame, great touch around the basket, many ways to finish it, great FT shooter, improved his shooting along the way also....

[willds09]

clearly
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GmQJoGyYH40/TLjMvEb_L_I/AAAAAAAAAKw/g4blxCDSu-k/s1600/jordan-w-trophy.jpg
Wrong finals tho:no: :oldlol:

[Eat Like A Bosh]

A similar way LeBron is guarded today, which unfortunately isn't working.

[HorryIsMyMVP]

Larry Bird shut his ass DOWN lol.

[get these NETS]

Dennis Rodman guarded Magic on a switch at top of the key..STOLE the ball from him and was about to run down the court for the layup when Magic grabbed him

ONLY time I remember somebody stripping the ball from Magic

also when I realized that Rodman was a special player

=========================================
I remember teams using the two guard on Magic and the pg on Scott


not mentioned already was the dribbling stance that Magic used in the half court... head high.....body half turned to guard the ball//at 6'9" with insane ball handling skill and vision...just a matter of where he wanted to direct the offense

[pauk]

clearly
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GmQJoGyYH40/TLjMvEb_L_I/AAAAAAAAAKw/g4blxCDSu-k/s1600/jordan-w-trophy.jpg

Yes, but i am talking about one on one here, Magic did his thing... unfortunately its a team game and that Bulls team was a bit to much

[crisoner]

http://www.mediabistro.com/agencyspy/files/2012/08/Right-Guard-Coupons.jpg

[Kobe 4 The Win]

Larry Bird shut his ass DOWN lol.

:biggums: