Prime MJ was the greatest perimeter defender of all time

[3ball]

when they needed him the most... and people have to understand that stuff like that makes him the goat. MJ that is.




Damn. 5 seconds left in the game. Can you imagine watching that live?

After MJ knocked the ball loose from Xavier the first time, MJ anticipated where the loose ball would land, so he was there before the ball even got there, just like he does here against Tom Chambers - GOAT instincts for the ball:





Simply the greatest defensive skills of any non-big man.
.

[SHAQisGOAT]

Definitely in the clutch. Westbrook reminded me of MJ last year in the playoffs when they needed him the most. It was so MJ like, and people have to understand that stuff like that makes him the goat. MJ that is.




Damn. 5 seconds left in the game. Can you imagine watching that live?

Great, clutch steal/dunk... Bulls were already up by 5 though...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhNJN2RyRd0

[Dro]

When locked in and focused its lebron. No way could Mj do a good job at guarding 4 positions. He wasnt big enough to guard a guy like melo or pau; but lebron is, Yet Ive also seen him shut down quick guys such as parker and mvp rose

Neither is Lebron. Lebron is not stopping any true PF, yeah maybe these stretch 4's but he's not stopping a true PF like Zack Randolph, Tim Duncan, Aldridge, Griffin, etc....Lebron was awesome though in his prime, Ill give him that. I'm not sure if MJ is the greatest perimeter defender ever, thats a tough group.

[ArbitraryWater]

He's up there with Bron

[jzek]

Pippen was.

[jstern]

1 through 5. - means THROUGH. / means out of.





Etched in my brain forever.

For some reason this play didn't pop my mind. But perfect clutch example of why MJ is the GOAT. It's just his mind, goes into this extreme clutch focus.

After MJ knocked the ball loose from Xavier the first time, MJ anticipated where the loose ball would land, so he was there before the ball even got there, just like he does here against Tom Chambers - GOAT instincts for the ball:





Simply the greatest defensive skills of any non-big man.
.

There's this other play where he anticipated a pass, almost as if he was telepathic and knew exactly where his opponent was going to pass it, I just can't even remember it. But it was very, very impressive. Should be a gif.

LOL, I did. This was the first Bulls game I ever watched.

Great 1st game.

[SHAQisGOAT]

After MJ knocked the ball loose from Xavier the first time, MJ anticipated where the loose ball would land, so he was there before the ball even got there, just like he does here against Tom Chambers - GOAT instincts for the ball:





Simply the greatest defensive skills of any non-big man.
.

Jordan had 4 steals and 2 blocks on that one; Bulls won the game, while MJ scored 39 points (on 11-29 shooting though), to go along with 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 0 TO's... Dale Ellis scored 34 points on 58% from the field though...
Point being that Jordan always had major defensive impact (what we're discussing here) but it wasn't like he was always shutting down his man left and right; plus Michael was obviously much needed for offense.

For example, adding to my first post here, for the 1985 EC 1st round, Moncrief "contained" Jordan better than the other way around. Not overlooking that MJ was a rookie and had worse teammates/coach. Still...
-> Jordan went from 28.2/6.5/5.9 on 51.5% from the field with 3.5 TO's in the RS to 29.3/5.8/8.5 on 43.6% FG, with 3.8 TO's, in 4 more minutes in the Playoffs
-> Moncrief went from 21.7/5.4/5.3 on 48.3/27.3 with 2.5 TO's in the regular-season to 26.5/4.5/4.8 on 54.9/40.0, with only 1.8 TO's, in 4.5 more minutes in the PS
...
Bulls lost 3-1, and also adding to my previous post Michael had a considerably bigger amount of steals/blocks than Sidney.

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=312018

Anyways, MJ was just a great off-ball defender, while also great on-ball... Making him one of the very best guard/perimeter defenders ever.
One could make a great case about him being the GOAT perimeter defender... Although I won't say that.

[TheMan]

I say MJ is the worst perimeter defender ever. Prove me wrong

87 DPOY

Yes MJ was a GOAT defender to go along with his GOAT offensive skill set but OP, serious question, can you lay off the MJ jockriding shtick a couple of months, until after the Finals, for example? This coming from an MJ fan, enjoy the '15 Bulls run to the Finals, get in the championship cruise, dawg.

[Dro]

?

It's easy to be called a great defender when you hardly get called for PF.

MJ's breakout season was 87-88 where he was called for 3.3 fouls per game. After that season, PF called against MJ went down every year except for 1993 and 96' when he was called for 2.4PF per game each year.

Just shows that Stern made sure the refs kept his cash cow on the floor and not in foul trouble to where he would be benched.

Now tell me how many fouls per game Lebron averages...I haven't even looked but you strategically left that out........Actually just looked it up, Lebron averages 1.9 fpg for his career...Guess he's an overrated defender too right?

[3ball]

There's this other play where he anticipated a pass, almost as if he was telepathic and knew exactly where his opponent was going to pass it, I just can't even remember it. But it was very, very impressive. Should be a gif.

Not sure exactly what one you are talking about - it might be one of the plays in these two three-minute clips that show defensive highlights in succession.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCbp-e7e100&t=33m08s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gCMWuCdsGQ&t=15m46s


btw, mj was probably the best blocker of center's shots... he blocked shaq, hakeem, robinson, ewing SOOOO many times.. that's why he's one of the best shot-blocking wing players ever - the only player to ever record 200 steals and 100 blocks in a season.. he averaged 1.5 and 1.6 blocks in 87' and 88'.

[Jacks3]

He was so good the Bulls replaced him with Pete Myers and got better defensively.

Then he returned in 1995 and the Bulls defensive rating went from 105.0 without him to 105.3 in the games he played, and a terrible 111.3 DRTG in the postseason.

Truly amazing impact.

[Spurs5Rings2014]

He was so good the Bulls replaced him with Pete Myers and got better defensively.

Then he returned in 1995 and the Bulls defensive rating went from 105.0 without him to 105.3 in the games he played, and a terrible 111.3 DRTG in the postseason.

Truly amazing impact.

[bizil]

U could certainly argue MJ as the GOAT perimeter defender. But for me, the most UNIQUE perimeter defenders are the ones like Pippen, Rodman, Bobby Jones, Kirilenko, and Lebron. Those are the guys that could defend damn near any position on the court. So even though MJ was obviously a lockdown defender and arguably the best, I might lean to Pippen on this one. The versatility aspects of defending swing it Pip's way.

[G0ATbe]

He was so good the Bulls replaced him with Pete Myers and got better defensively.

Then he returned in 1995 and the Bulls defensive rating went from 105.0 without him to 105.3 in the games he played, and a terrible 111.3 DRTG in the postseason.

Truly amazing impact.

GOAT gonna GOAT...

[oarabbus]

Boris Diaw is better and it's not close tbh