3 of the greatest defenders of all time

[tpols]

Ben Wallace, Rodman, and Draymond Green.


undrafted
2nd round no. 27
2nd round no. 35


How were they so undervalued in the draft?

[MrFonzworth]

Defense is hard to gauge in a kid. Funny thing is I doubt either of them would be as good taken in the lottery. They all had something to prove every night. These guys had the Kobe mentality without the talent.

[Phoenix]

Defense has always been undervalued relative to offence. Tmac went into the hall on his first year of eligibility, as an offensive star who couldn't get out of the first round. Ben Wallace anchored the defense for a championship, won 2 rebounding titles, 4 time DPOY, blocks title, 5 time all-nba, 6 time all defense. HOF? Crickets so far. The voters should be publicly tarred and feathered for the oversight.

[Jasper]

my 3 (Dennis Rodman , a nameless hard working Detroit Center named Ben , and Ariza)

I picked Ariza cause when he played in Houston , he redefined his game)

[tpols]

Defense has always been undervalued relative to offence. Tmac went into the hall on his first year of eligibility, as an offensive star who couldn't get out of the first round. Ben Wallace anchored the defense for a championship, won 2 rebounding titles, 4 time DPOY, blocks title, 5 time all-nba, 6 time all defense. HOF? Crickets so far. The voters should be publicly tarred and feathered for the oversight.

it's even more shocking that he went undrafted.

[Kblaze8855]

Some of them didnt play the way they played in the nba...in college. Rodman was scoring like 26 a game in college. Ben Wallace was a tweener forward the Celtics tried to make a 3. Draymond was a small forward before he was a big. Scouts probably saw them as shitty wings with a physical advantage in college whos skills wouldnt translate and not as the super mobile bigs they grew into. Especially Rodman. Rodman was like 25 as a rookie. A grown ass man playing kids in a low level conference? I can see how scouts would overlook that and assume he has little potential. He was just an athlete beating up on 18 yearolds to them I bet.

[tpols]

Ben Wallace was also mentored from a young age by charles oakley.

that makes sense.

[Whoah10115]

Draymond never made sense to me. I don't really watch college sports, like almost at all, but was clear to me he was legit. Tho the SF thing I get.

[oldtimer28]

it's even more shocking that he went undrafted.

I remember him for Boston............

[Patrick Chewing]

Bruce Bowen needs some consideration. That man was like glue.

[guy]

Defense and rebounding has a lot more to do with energy and effort than other aspects. I assume it’s hard to gauge how well that transfers from college to the pros.

[imdaman99]

All have elite level motors. I guess that's hard to gauge in college.

[Pointguard]

You have to embrace the identity of a greatest defender of all time, that its your bread and butter. You have to claim it. Hard to do before you are 25 as its a man's stance. You aren't going to see it early if ever. As Imdaman99 says, its about the motor. KG is the only one I seen embrace it around 22 years old. But a large part of that was he had offense too.

[tpols]

Hard to do before you are 25 as its a man's stance

that's true and touches on kblaze's post.

there are many brilliant offensive players at a young age but to be the same way defensively you need to know your opponents tendencies and habits. To effectively counter.

Being older means you have that experience.

[Cyrus334]

I forgot who said it but they basically said that defense is all about heart and effort. And all those guys you mentioned are the very definition of heart and passion when it comes to defending.