Kblazes long boring post on defense.

[Cali Syndicate]

If you wrote a book, I would buy it.

[Jailblazers7]

Love is odd. The rare crazy rebounding 4 who somehow manages to play soft at times. He really doesnt seem to try very hard on that side of the ball outside of rebounding. But ive only seen him once this year.

Yeah, sometimes his rotations can be downright bad. There were a couple times last night that really stood out where Denver was just straight up getting lay-ups because Minny's bigs were glued to their man.

I just think people mysteriously forget about his rebounding when they say he is a terrible defender. Might not play the best man principles sometimes but he makes up for a lot of it with his rebounding.

[Pointguard]

I dont know about that, but KG certainly has an argument as the best defender of the Modern Era:

http://asubstituteforwar.wordpress.c...es-no-garnett/

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=308314

On Celtics it meant they had Top1 defense when he played, and by far the worst defense in NBA when he didnt (33 points allowed difference!). The way he communicates and holds everyone accountable is uncanny. Even star players who were never known for their defense were inspired to play D. How many All-time players can claim that? Russell, KG, and...?

Good post and great links.

If KG had a coach that worked with his strengths - he only had Thibes for that 1 healthy year and won it all immediately - he would have been known as the best defensive player. Teams always uncomfortably went to plan three against that Celtics team. Great penetrators didn't even think about going hard to the rim. That was masterful.

[Kblaze8855]

With that kick to Pauls I think its safe to make Tony Allen down with a #11.

[steve]

Two guys I'm surprised aren't being mentioned in here more (one of whom I'm surprised KBlaze didn't mention in his post...unless I glanced over him) are Bill Walton and Ben Wallace.

[LA Lakers]

Excellent post. I would say Scottie Pippen embodies most of the qualities that you listed for various reasons. Perhaps not as versatile outside of his lockdown perimeter defense and lightning quick ability to get back in transition after picking a passing lane or double teaming some unlucky guy with some help from Jordan, Pippen was the defender of the decade. And he was more importantly a defensive anchor on a team of defensive anchors.
Coop has been acknowledged by no less a player than Larry Bird as the best defender he went up against. Coop had extremely long arms and i think his length and intelligence on keeping up with Larry Birds and Dr. Js and other exceptional players footwork allowed for that swarming trap defense we saw from Showtime and that we see from so many successful Pat Riley teams. Gary Payton gets an honorable mention because I have never seen a better perimeter pg defender. It wasnt just his full court pressure, he wouldnt let you get past him. You didnt need help defense with Gary Payton. His man wasnt getting past him and it was that simple. Bruce Bowen gets a shoutout for trying to guard Kobe Bryant and occasionally being a major pesk.
Bill Laimbeer has to be acknowledged. He was the ultimate bully and the fact that he was willing to hurt you bad, physically I think played into the fear and fight that a team had to go thru if it wanted to win against the Bad Boys. Hakeem Olajuwon and Tim Duncan arent getting any mentions or credit for their incredible athletic ability to defend the high pick n roll and protect the basket, playing man to man, anchoring their teams defense etc etc etc. Hakeem and Duncan are beyond equal. Obviously KG and Battier have been able to stretch out there careers I would argue that Battier isnt able to effectively guard most 4's as well as KBLAZE makes out, if Miami meets a Clippers or Grizzlies in the finals, it will be a hard task getting Battier to guard a Blake Griffin or ZBO for stretches... But I digress, another shout out, someone mentioned 72 Wilt earlier, which I find strange because to my knowledge and speaking with people who watched those Lakers teams, I always heard Wilt was passed his prime at that point... Bill Russells stats and 11 Championships speak for themselves, we know Russell's legacy of winning was built upon his work on blocking/altering shots and grabbing boards. So yeah, this is a great discussion.

[LA Lakers]

I forgot to mention Mutumbo for rim protection and intimidation. Other than that, its the usual suspects: Rodman, Oakley, Ewing etc etc etc