How many players in NBA history could guard 1-5 Effectively?

[TheWinningFam]

Lebron and scottie pippen ofcourse, but who else tho?

[G-train]

Lebron and scottie pippen ofcourse, but who else tho?

Lebron and Pippen could not guard a decent 5 sorry.

Kevin Garnett would be closest I would say.

[TheWinningFam]

Lebron and Pippen could not guard a decent 5 sorry.

Kevin Garnett would be closest I would say.

It depends, Whats your definition of ''decent'' is the question


Lebron guarded top 10 duncan in the finals from time to time and even blocked him. Some say he's a pf but hes really a center.

[Cali Syndicate]

Rodman.

[G-train]

I've seen Nate Robinson block Ming, it's irrelevant to the discussion.

Prime Duncan would drop 70 points on Lebron one on one all game.

There are a handful of games that can win a battle on a switch occasionally, but I'm talking guarding them head to head consistently.

[ClipperRevival]

Rodman.

Pip is overrated in terms of his versatility. He seldom guarded elite 1's (job for MJ) and seldom guarded 5s. Almost never actually. He was great guarding wing players but guarding 1s and 5s? Please.

Rodman is a guy who TRULY guarded 1-5 over his career. Early in his career, when he was uber athletic, he played the 3 and guarded the opposition's best wing player. Later in his career, he guarded 4's and 5's.

[G-train]

Rodman.

Detroit Rodman couldn't guard a centre I would say, and Spurs/Bulls Rodman couldnt cant a point guard. Not consistently anyway.

Bulls Rodman was mostly suited to 4's, and he got a lot of help on 5's from the wing.

Pistons Rodman was very light, mostly guarded 3's and 4's, he could switch on to guards but it was rare. He never guarded centres consistently.

[Kblaze8855]

Shawn Marion was guarding Tmac and Yao ming for extended stretches of the same game. Ive also seen him put on points.

Ive seen Pippen guard Zo and Tim Hardaway.

A lot of great defensive 3s can guard most of the league. What is realistically gonna happen if 2004 Artest guards the vast majority of centers? hes 250-270 pounds of muscle with a passion for defense and physical play. But he was also defending guards. Rockets Shane battier guarded points and power forwards.

If Lebron is a nobody....and walks out on the floor as a 6'8''ish 260 pound power forward and starts guarding bigmen...you wouldnt think anything of it. You would probably assume he couldnt guard a point...because you wouldnt know hes guarded the likes of Derrick Rose well.


A lot of this is just assumption based on what we think we know would happen....and usually its just unrealistic. And even that is usually based on what people think would happen in a rare matchup.

The issue of if Lebron...or Marion...or whoever...can guard a center? Demarcus Cousins doesnt determine it. The 19 centers who wouldnt do anything worth mentioning do.

You dont decide if someone is capable of something at all....by asking if they can do the hardest possible thing. You look into a realistic situation. And in the real world...

65-70 games a season Lebron guarding them wouldnt justify any exceptional number of shots from the opposing center. Robin Lopez guarded by Lebron is gonna probably have a good rebounding night and not score any more than usual a couple extra putbacks aside.


We have to stop pretending its 1995.

In 2016 anyone over 6'7'' and 240 not afraid to get physical can guard most centers.

Pippen as of 94 could guard every point in todays NBA and every center too. He couldnt lock up Demarcus Cousins if he made a point of trying to score. But he would play him twice a year.

90% of the time the other guy is not about to start posting up and begging for the ball.

Pippen wouldnt be an easily exploited mismatch vs more than 2-3 centers.

And most of them are a mismatch vs other centers too.

Its like asking if Lebron or Pippen could guard Hakeem.

He gave Mutombo 50....whored Drob....

If he drops 50 on Lebron or Pippen does that mean they cant guard centers? No.

It means hes Hakeem.

Superstars arent the measure. They are the few. The average guys are who you judge.

And the average center could be guarded by most anyone in the usual big forward size range without a problem.

Stick Antawn Jamison...today...on Asik? Hes not dropping 40.

The problem matchups are few.

This question got a lot easier the last 20 years.

[Sarcastic]

Kevin Love can guard c/pf and pgs.

[G-train]

Pure bullshit kblaze... that why there are positions.

If you isolated any 7 foot centre on Kawhi Leonard, by far the best defensive forward, he would drop 30 at least.
He could not stop Asik in the low post one on one. Please. And Asik shouldnt be in NBA. But fact remains, he would seal him 5 feet from basket EASILY, take one power dribble and lay it in.
And that's the worst centre in the NBA.

Scottie Pippen, arguably the greatest defensive small forward, would not stop friggin Festus Ezeli one on one the majority of the time. The sheer size discrepancy is huge.

Holy crap what a horse shit post.

[G-train]

In 2016 anyone over 6'7'' and 240 not afraid to get physical can guard most centers.

Of which there is what, one or two small forwards that size? smh
And anyone else that size or bigger is a 4/5, so what the big deal about that?

[Smoke117]

Scottie Pippen...putting Lebron up there is a ****ing joke. Trying to compare one of the greatest defenders of all time to someone who was "pretty good" when he tried...lmfao. ****ing pathetic ish at it again.

[Smoke117]

Rodman.

Pip is overrated in terms of his versatility. He seldom guarded elite 1's (job for MJ) and seldom guarded 5s. Almost never actually. He was great guarding wing players but guarding 1s and 5s? Please.

Rodman is a guy who TRULY guarded 1-5 over his career. Early in his career, when he was uber athletic, he played the 3 and guarded the opposition's best wing player. Later in his career, he guarded 4's and 5's.

A jordan dick sucker thinks Pippen is overrated defensively...you don't say...lmfao trying to say Pippens versatality was overrated...he legit could guard 1-5 you ****ing dipshit. Stupid ****ing mutt.

[Kblaze8855]

Pure bullshit kblaze... that why there are positions.

If you isolated any 7 foot centre on Kawhi Leonard, by far the best defensive forward, he would drop 30 at least.
He could not stop Asik in the low post one on one. Please. And Asik shouldnt be in NBA. But fact remains, he would seal him 5 feet from basket EASILY, take one power dribble and lay it in.
And that's the worst centre in the NBA.

Scottie Pippen, arguably the greatest defensive small forward, would not stop friggin Festus Ezeli one on one the majority of the time. The sheer size discrepancy is huge.

Holy crap what a horse shit post.

It wouldnt matter what you think Asik can do one on one. hes not playing one on one. Hes on a team...with an offense. A 2016 offense. And the Pelicans are not about to take it back to 1975 and treat Asik like Bob Mcadoo and give him 60 touches because Leonard is on him. He took 10 shots in one game last season. One. And they lost by 35. But if Leonard is on him they dont just....take advantage of him not being on their actual scorers...and feed Asik in the post and watch him work? Be for real.

You think the Warriors last year would just put aside a 115 ppg offense and feed Festus one on one in the post because Scottie Pippen is on him?

They are gonna thank the basketball gods he isnt on Steph, Klay, or Green and run their offense around them with the biggest disruptive force wasted on a guy they arent giving the ball.

Think this out.

What these dudes might do in an empty gym one on one is irrelevant.

Scottie Pippen on Festus for a whole game actually trying to prevent his scoring would be a mistake....not because Festus is gonna light him up. It would be a mistake because the Warriors would play their normal game around him and let Festus score 4 points while they drop 122 and win.

Pippen on that dude would just roam and occasionally look his way...and try to disrupt the Warriors in general. Trying to shut down people who arent getting the ball anyway is just a waste.

Im not the one being unrealistic here. Dudes talking like scrubs are gonna be treated like Bob Lanier are.

15-20 centers arent getting the ball....with a Pippen or Leonard on them....because not having them elsewhere means you can run your normal offense without the disruptions the usually can cause.

Knicks arent gonna post up Joakim Noah 36 times because Leonard is guarding him. They are gonna let Melo run wild because Leonard ISNT guarding him.

You really trying to think this through at all?

NOTHING would happen if these guys defend todays bum ass centers but a few good rebounding nights.

Mahinmi wasnt gonna light you up last year because you put Leonard on him. Paul George was gonna light you up because Leonard is chilling on someone they dont plan to give the ball anyway.

The idea that these guys would start dropping buckets can only spring fro ma mind that has not thought it out.

Im not saying you are an idiot. Im saying you arent thinking about how an actual NBA game would be played under these circumstances.

KD and Steph would LOVE IT if Leonard had to defend Zaza. Not because they are about to feed him and watch him work....they would just know some combo of Parker, Manu, Mills, Anderson, and Green would be stuck on them all night and not the DPOY.

These scenarios you speak of where such and such cant be guarded just dont matter.

They would not get the ball anyway.

[Kblaze8855]

yeah that's nice... Now explain to me why the Rockets who hate to post up anyone are going to go away from their game plan to feed the post because Leonard is guarding the center.... instead of letting James Harden run wild.

explain to me the logic behind the Warriors not letting three of the ten best shooters ever go crazy on the mismatches they have because the best defender in the league is on a player they didn't plan to give the ball anyway.

just think about it and explain it to me. just try to picture an NBA game where the Warriors Rockets Knicks or whoever just stop playing modern basketball and dump it into a scrub so he can attempt to run wild two points at a time while some of the best players in the world watch him do it.

picture the Big 3 heat clearing out and letting Joel Anthony go one-on-one 20 or 30 times if you put Kevin Martin on him. Picture that in your head and tell me it feels realistic.