Best/Worst Defenders in the League?

[travelingman]

I'm trying to compile a list of the best and worst defenders in the NBA. I'll try to update this post according to the input brought about by you guys. Submit a player name and where you think they fit in (what category). I'm conducting this as sort of a poll, so I'll keep my own thoughts on who belongs where out of this post.

--Elite--
Tony Allen
Avery Bradley
Tyson Chandler
Tim Duncan
Kevin Garnett
Paul George
Roy Hibbert
Dwight Howard
LeBron James
Shawn Marion
Joakim Noah

--Good--
Harrison Barnes
Patrick Beverley
Eric Bledsoe
Chris Bosh
Jimmy Butler
Anthony Davis
Paul George
Jrue Holiday
Kawhi Leonard
MWP
Derrick Rose
Ricky Rubio
Iman Shumpert
Dwyane Wade

--Average--
Kobe Bryant
Stephen Curry
Kevin Durant
Joe Johnson
Tony Parker

--Bad/Below Average--
Carmelo Anthony
Blake Griffin
Deron Williams

--Horrendous--
Andrea Bargnani
Carlos Boozer
Ben Gordon
James Harden
Kyrie Irving
Antawn Jamison
David Lee
Steve Nash

[KobesFinger]

Man or team?

[travelingman]

Man or team?

Individual Players

[get these NETS]

Individual Players


nah dude is asking you about man defense or team defense


sort of a copout ..if you ask me

pretty clear that you are talking about man to man defense

[travelingman]

nah dude is asking you about man defense or team defense


sort of a copout ..if you ask me

pretty clear that you are talking about man to man defense

Yeah, M2M. I just realized how dumb my previous response was.

[HurricaneKid]

nah dude is asking you about man defense or team defense


sort of a copout ..if you ask me

pretty clear that you are talking about man to man defense

Why would that be? We have pretty good data on team defenders which is clearly far more important that 1-on-1 action that means nothing in the NBA.

[Young X]

Worst:

Boozer
Harden
Ben Gordon
David Lee
Bargnani
Melo
Parker
Nash
Jamison

SMH.

[travelingman]

I'm not opposed to ranking the best team defenders, either. Just specify when you propose a player for the list whether the ranking is based on team or m2m defense.

[KeylessEntry]

I am excited to see what the Unibrow can do this year. He certainly has enough talent to be an elite defender.

[KobesFinger]

Ok here are some players:

Elite: Joakim Noah (both), Dwight Howard (both), LeBron James (team), Tony Allen (both), Tim Duncan (team), Kevin Garnett (team), Avery Bradley (man)

Good: Harrison Barnes (both), Kawhi Leonard (both), Jimmy Butler (both, though edging toward elite), Paul George (both), MWP (man), Chris Bosh (team) Tony Parker (team)

Average: Kobe Bryant (man, lack of effort puts him here) Stephen Curry (man, effort puts him here), Joe Johnson (man)

Below average: Deron Williams (man), Blake Griffin (both)

Horrible: Kyrie Irving (man), Carlos Boozer (man), James Harden (man)

[get these NETS]

Why would that be? We have pretty good data on team defenders which is clearly far more important that 1-on-1 action that means nothing in the NBA.

post makes no sense

in clutch situations...Lebron James has opted to guard pg Derrick Rose..and guard Tony Parker..to great results

get off the bull about man 2 man defense not meaning anything...it means less now that nba has legalized zones and poor defenders can be hidden (in spots)...but ultimately...it comes down to player x having to be able to contain or slow down player y.........lot of perimeter stars in the league and teams that advance in playoffs can send someone to slow down, contain, r reroute these stars



team defense stuff is copping pleas for guys who can't stay in front of anybody

[jimmy77x]

Worst:

Boozer
Harden
Ben Gordon
David Lee
Bargnani
Melo
Parker
Nash
Jamison
CP3

SMH.

fixed

[Young X]

^ Mad.

[jimmy77x]

^^You like to bash Melo but Ya boy never making it out the 2nd round, stay mad :lol

[get these NETS]

think you have to consider that lebron is the one person in the league with lateral quickness/footspeed/lower body strength/upper body strength to guard from 1-5

the one player who is not at a disadvantage on any pick and roll or temporary switch involving ANY other player

tony allen and tyson chandler are elite defenders as well

[travelingman]

Thanks to YoungX and KobesFinger for the suggestions. First post updated accordingly.

[DuMa]

Shump is a good defender. MWP is not. he is just living on reputation now.

[KobesFinger]

I'm trying to fit Durant and Rose in there too. Durant's length definitely bothers opposing players and he gets a lot of steals and blocks but he's not elite or good, he's in between as a man defender IMO. Not sure where he is as a team defender. In H2H, D-Rose is statistically great on D but the eye test (from what I remember) was mainly funneling into Noah. Though he is very quick and very strong with great stamina so he can wear players down.

[travelingman]

Putting Durant in the AVERAGE category and Rose in the GOOD category (fringy) for the time being.

[Xsatyr]

Beverley is emerging as one of the best on the ball defenders for pgs.

[TaLvsCuaL]

Rubio should be in the good list at least. He is amazing team defender and pretty good individual defender.

[INDI]

I'm trying to compile a list of the best and worst defenders in the NBA. I'll try to update this post according to the input brought about by you guys. Submit a player name and where you think they fit in (what category). I'm conducting this as sort of a poll, so I'll keep my own thoughts on who belongs where out of this post.

--Elite--
Tony Allen
Avery Bradley
Tyson Chandler
Tim Duncan
Kevin Garnett
Dwight Howard
LeBron James
Joakim Noah

--Good--
Harrison Barnes
Patrick Beverley
Chris Bosh
Jimmy Butler
Anthony Davis
Paul George
Kawhi Leonard
MWP
Derrick Rose
Iman Shumpert

--Average--
Kobe Bryant
Stephen Curry
Kevin Durant
Joe Johnson
Tony Parker

--Bad/Below Average--
Carmelo Anthony
Blake Griffin
Deron Williams

--Horrendous--
Andrea Bargnani
Carlos Boozer
Ben Gordon
James Harden
Kyrie Irving
Antawn Jamison
David Lee
Steve Nash


Serge ibaka imo is the best m2m defender in the league and got robbed of atleast 1 dpoy because he is not as popular

[Young X]

Eric Bledsoe should be in the elite category even as a PG. He's amazing defensively.

[Locked_Up_Tonight]

Shawn Marion is an elite defender. Just in the 2011 playoffs he guarded Kobe/Durant/LeBron and did a great job on each.

One of the few players in the league that can defend point guards all the way to power forwards.

[JimmyMcAdocious]

I feel like there should be something between elite and good.

[crunk-juice]

George and Hibbert are not elite defenders?

[dzav323]

Jrue Holiday says hi

[crunk-juice]

Jrue Holiday says hi

sup

[plowking]

Harrison Barnes is elite. He just hasn't had enough exposure.

Dwyane Wade is a good defender.

[crunk-juice]

Harrison Barnes is elite. He just hasn't had enough exposure.


don't worry, he'll be exposed quite soon.







not really, just wanted to make the quip

[aj1987]

Wade is a good defender. He does slack off a bit, but when the team needs him, he's incredible.

[wally_world]

Chris Bosh :lol

[East_Stone_Ya]

Boozer

[Trentknicks]

Melo held the players he guarded to a PER of 12.7 last season, the league average is 15. . .

It's an occasional lack of effort that gets him in people's bad books, but when he's committed he is a legitimate good defender. Did any of the naysayers in this thread watch him much, if at all lately?

[travelingman]

Updated the first post based on responses. Thanks to all who have given input and contributed to this thread. On another note, kinda surprised nobody has mentioned Larry Sanders yet...

[aj1987]

Updated the first post based on responses. Thanks to all who have given input and contributed to this thread. On another note, kinda surprised nobody has mentioned Larry Sanders yet...

I thought you had him in the elite section.



http://wagesofwins.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Kirk_interior_defense.png



Anyways, KG and Marion are not elite anymore. You should move them out of there. MWP at his best is going to be an average defender this season. Rose is average, KD should be moved to good. TP is a bad defender. The guys idea of defense is flopping.

[travelingman]

Chris Bosh :lol
:confusedshrug:

[OmniStrife]

2 more from PHX

Goran Dragic - average-good
P.J. Tucker - good

[Mr Exlax]

Not trolling, but isn't D Rose a bad defender? Didn't Chicago's defense get better when he sat in previous years?

[RagaZ]

Where the hell is Marc Gasol?

[Young X]

Anyways, KG and Marion are not elite anymore.
What? He's one of the best defenders in the league. Nobody had more defensive impact than KG last year.

[salwan]

Not sure about george > kawhi, butler.
they are about on the same level or kawhi is even better than the other two.

I feel like bradley's D is a bit overrated.
I would put Rondo in the good category.

[KyrieTheFuture]

Kobe not being below average is criminal. He's not good at defense anymore, he's legitimately awful

[IncarceratedBob]

Superstars who can't defend at all are Rose and Wade. Just terrible.

[FatComputerNerd]

No Vaj?

[aj1987]

What? He's one of the best defenders in the league. Nobody had more defensive impact than KG last year.
He's still a good defender, but not 'one of the best'. At least in the games that I've seen him play, he was good, but not elite.

[greymatter]

Jameer Nelson deserves to go under horrendous.

[1rkrage]

No Asik?

Gibson?

[travelingman]

Where do you think Amare Stoudemire should be at?

[LONGTIME]

No love for Thabo Sefolosha smh