Players being "In the Zone" defensively.

[Reggie43]

Basically an out of body experience wherein you do almost everything right defensively whether blocking a ton of shots and protecting the paint, hustling to every play/looseball/rebounds or just plain shutting down your man wherein you just play way better defensively than you normally do.

Mutombo controlling the paint and upsetting the Sonics in 94 is a good example of this as with Rodman dominating the boards and mind****ing his matchups in the 96 Finals.

Who are the other players who were in this type of zone? Would love to see some more examples whether in a single game or a whole playoff series.

[FKAri]

Maybe an unexpected name but Bird in g6 of the 86 finals

Full game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYV5T9Eldms

[SATAN]

[Reggie43]

Great examples especially the Bird one. Saw highlights of that game a few years back and was mesmerized on how good he was on both ends, outworking and outthinking bigger and more athletic players.

[mehyaM24]

4 steals which is great, but this is pippen putting the clamps on mark jackson. bullied and completely locked up.



tony allen holds durant to 22 points on 30% fg in back to back playoff games. durant might be the purest scorer in nba history, but i haven't seen another player make him uncomfortable like tony allen did here (how he fights through those picks for durant should be a standard in today's game). usually help defense is what makes a defender high impact but allen's on-ball defense is arguably the best ever. in fact, both durant and kobe have said he was the best perimeter defender they ever faced.

[Kblaze8855]

I love to see this from guys who don’t usually play defense. Like Peja. I saw Peja put the absolute clamps on a couple people and it was a serious head scratcher. Like he just decided 2 times a year to play defense and when he’d do it....he looked like a whole other player. Then for 80 other games he’s just chilling.

[Kblaze8855]

That said....Iman went crazy on D vs Wade one game and just couldn’t be driven on. I thought he was a way better defender than he was for a while after that. And Kirk Hinrich had games vs both Wade and Ray Allen that made you wonder why nobody could figure them out. Ray was raving one game about Kirk’s defense when he had a really unusually bad shooting night. Kirk beat him to all his spots and stayed in his jersey on ball and off.

[mehyaM24]

ya kirk was tenacious on defense. i remember when kobe was on his scoring binge circa 05-07, and everytime dude faced chicago he would look average. kirk was pesky and one of the few defenders that never gave kobe an inch.

[imdaman99]

I remember a few AK47 games where he was all over the place and it looked like he was in every passing lane and every help defender blocking shots. I don't have videos but I'm sure they are out there.

[HoopsNY]

Great thread. Love reading everyone's input, especially the bit about Tony Allen and Kirk Hinrich.

[ShawkFactory]

ya kirk was tenacious on defense. i remember when kobe was on his scoring binge circa 05-07, and everytime dude faced chicago he would look average. kirk was pesky and one of the few defenders that never gave kobe an inch.

Just looked it up. Wow

Had 43 once in the 05-06 season but in in the 5 other meetings during his 06-08 seasons he scored 23, 18, 19, 18, and 18. Didn't shoot over 37% in any of the other games either.

[Manny98]

LeBron in the 2016 finals

[mehyaM24]

Just looked it up. Wow

Had 43 once in the 05-06 season but in in the 5 other meetings during his 06-08 seasons he scored 23, 18, 19, 18, and 18. Didn't shoot over 37% in any of the other games either.

kirk was the real deal. watching back then i also remember thinking why most players didn't play kobe similar. chicago wasn't very good at the time though. kirk would have been great for a team like dallas in 06. the lakers in 08. or if his peak coincided with 11/12 chicago while battling miami.

but ya, it takes a great mind and someone passionate to make a name on that end. most of these dudes have big egos and don't want to be known as some defensive specialist. as a fan you don't have to respect it, but in a league where offense sells you do understand.

[PP34Deuce]

Avery bradley and tony allen.

Had moments where they stifled elite athlete scorers.

[Reggie43]

Tayshaun being a seldom used rookie being thrust into the spotlight and tasked into guarding peak Tmac in the playoffs. Prince had DNP's in two of the first four games and they were down 3-1 and when he was finally given significant mins he did a great job on Tmac which helped them overcome the huge deficit and win the series.

Long story short Tmac was killing the Pistons and out of pure desperation they used the rookie who has barely played and the rest is history.