http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AsvW...n&type=lgns <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>5. Kobe Bryant , Lakers/LeBron James, Cavaliers. These two could be the best, but they just don’t always give the necessary effort. Of course, it’s more important for them to score than to defend, but that’s a difference between them and Michael Jordan. He was expected to score, too, but even during the regular season, he would flat-out lock guys down every night it was necessary. I don’t see that same focus from these two.</div> IMO, Kobe really should be at # 5 and Lebron shouldn't even be on the list... How could he even say that "both" Kobe and Lebron dont focus on D? Why the hell did kobe get in the defensive 1st team anyway if he didnt focus on D? LOL He's right about 1 thing though, its more important for kobe to score than to defend but he occasionally does both Thoughts?
Most of the time I don't see Kobe as a great defender, just because he floats around and doesn't really seem to put much effort into it. However when he puts his full energy into it, he is great. AI had 49 points or something in 3 quarters, and was practically shut down in the 4th with Kobe on him. Both of them shouldn't be on the list, unless it's talking about potentially great defenders if they gave their all on most possessions.
James doesn't deserve to be anywhere near this list. Kobe is generally a good defender, hes great when he wants to be but that isn't that often. That being said, they should both be bumped off because this dude majorly slighted Artest and Battier. Even Stephen Jackson (who is insanely underrated defensively IMO) is more deserving than Posey, James, and maybe even Kobe. My list would be; 1. Bruce Bowen- flat out the best perimeter defender I've ever seen. Cheap, maybe, but hes a force to be reckoned with for opposing players one on one. 2. Ron Artest- Like Bowen but a much more significant threat to steal the ball. I never trust anyone dribbling against him because hes such a good pick pocket. This takes away from his stopping ability slightly but hes still an amazing defender. I love how he plays defense offensively; its like hes attacking the ball handler instead of the other way around. 3. Raja Bell- just a pest in general. Another guy who may or may not be cheap but gets the job done. Hes a clear step down from the aforementioned two though. 4. Shane Battier- Just a hard working guy with great defensive instincts. Draws a lot of charges and does well defending his man. 5. Stephen Jackson- Versatility on defense. Dude can lock up most SGs, SFs, and even a lot of PFs who weight 240 or less and some slower PGs. He doesn't get a lot of recognition on this side of the ball but hes one of the most intelligent players in the league defensively. Fantastic footwork, rarely leaves his feet on fakes. Hes a legit 6'8 with a very big wingspan and his positional defense is great. Really underrated. 6. Andres Nocioni- Tenacious but seems to have lost some of that shutdown ability in the last season or two. Maybe I just don't watch enough of him but hes another guy who is a major pest and has great instincts. Tayshuan Prince- I think hes not an elite defender, he can shut down certain guys but seems to get owned by others. Hes just not that consistent on this side of the ball. 7. Kobe- I have him so low because IMO he doesn't play his best on defense 100% of the time, which I don't blame him for. Most of the other guys here are specialists or really made it in the league by defending and their offense came later. 85% of the time hes just a very, very good defender, 15% of the time hes as good as anyone in the league. Other guys who come to mind- Posey, Iguodala, Josh Howard, Pierce can be when he wants to be, Baron Davis can be great when he wants to be, Gerald Wallace isn't really a shut down guy but solid and gets lots of steals and blocks.
Worst list ever. 1. Shane Battier 2. Tayshaun Prince 3. I just took a long ass nap, and can't think straight.
I generally agree with Run, not sure about the order but he seems to have the gist right. People always seem to forget about Battier, and he's not even a bad person or anything.
Battier should have been DPOY. Kobe has the ability to be DPOY. I think if he deferred to Gasol (and Bynum when he gets healthy) for offense, he could save his energy to play lockdown defense. Artest is a bulldog, and probably the best man-to-man defender in the league. His team defense is nothing special. Bowen is slowing down, right now he is 3rd.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (igotask8board @ May 23 2008, 09:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Battier should have been DPOY. Kobe has the ability to be DPOY. I think if he deferred to Gasol (and Bynum when he gets healthy) for offense, he could save his energy to play lockdown defense. Artest is a bulldog, and probably the best man-to-man defender in the league. His team defense is nothing special. Bowen is slowing down, right now he is 3rd.</div> Agreed. Bowen isn't as good as he once was, when on top of his defensive game. I hate how people continue to say he's the best defender...just based on his history. That's like saying Shaq is still the most dominant player in the NBA.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (pegs @ May 23 2008, 08:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (igotask8board @ May 23 2008, 09:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Battier should have been DPOY. Kobe has the ability to be DPOY. I think if he deferred to Gasol (and Bynum when he gets healthy) for offense, he could save his energy to play lockdown defense. Artest is a bulldog, and probably the best man-to-man defender in the league. His team defense is nothing special. Bowen is slowing down, right now he is 3rd.</div> Agreed. Bowen isn't as good as he once was, when on top of his defensive game. I hate how people continue to say he's the best defender...just based on his history. That's like saying Shaq is still the most dominant player in the NBA. </div> To be honest I used to think he was slipping a lot too but watching him in the post season this year I think hes still the best there is. That just says how good he used to be. Hes slowing down but he was never a good athlete. Hes just got fantastic drive, footwork, hes always got a hand up in the guys face, on his hip, on their jersey, etc. He knows every trick in the book and hes extremely intelligent. Hes a guy you forget about during the regular season but during the post season hes invaluable. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>People always seem to forget about Battier, and he's not even a bad person or anything.</div> I'm thinking thats exactly why people forget about him. The media constantly covers Artests' antics, Bowen's cheap shots, Raja getting into it with Kobe and others (plus he plays on the Suns), Tayshaun is constantly mentioned when the Pistons are on national TV, obviously no one is forgetting about Kobe Bryant. Battier is so low key that people never give him any love. You have to be involved in some drama or be a highlight reel player to be mentioned on national TV.
When will Sasha Vujacic get more notice? He's done an amazing job on Manu Ginobili. Professional pest v. Professional pest I'd rank Shane Battier #1 for best perimeter defender. I find Raja Bell overrated on defense. Statistically he's always been terrible and I think his over glorified match ups with Kobe have given him a reputation he doesn't deserve for being a lock down defender. Another underrated defender is Stephen Jackson. LMAO at LeBron James being in the top 5, although he did have some moments in this year's playoffs.
LOL. You do realize Gino has a sprained ankle and his nail came off his thumb during Game 7 in NO, right? Gino's playing like crap, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Vujacic. He's capitalizing on Ginobili's injuries, not causing him to play worse. Dude, go watch a couple of highlights from the Phoenix series to see what Gino was doing before his injuries started taking a toll on him. My Top 5 would be... 1) Shane Battier 2) Bruce Bowen 3) Tayshaun Prince 4) Stephen Jackson 5) Kobe Bryant Raja Bell was never that good defensively. Kobe had a bad game against him once. Yay. James Posey is a little overrated. He's simply not quick enough to defend the perimeter well most of the time. Ron Artest is a terrific man defender, but his team defense leaves a LOT to be desired. I just can't put him anywhere near top10. LeBron James shouldn't be anywhere near this list. It's an effect of hype. He plays hard, but he's not a great defender by any means. Bowen is slowing down, but he's still an excellent defender because he's still quick in moving his feet, and he's extremely intelligent. Shane Battier is the total package. He's tough, quick, fast, young and very very smart. Tayshaun Prince has been slowly rising through the ranks of top defenders. He's been under the radar the past 2 or 3 seasons but he's improved as a defender every year. Next season he should be duking it out with Battier as the #1 man. Cpaw is right, Kenyon is a terrific perimeter defender... but he's simply not quick enough to defend a lot of guards man to man. If he was a little smaller and quicker, he'd be on the top 5 list without a doubt.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Astral @ May 24 2008, 12:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>LOL. You do realize Gino has a sprained ankle and his nail came off his thumb during Game 7 in NO, right? Gino's playing like crap, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Vujacic. He's capitalizing on Ginobili's injuries, not causing him to play worse. Dude, go watch a couple of highlights from the Phoenix series to see what Gino was doing before his injuries started taking a toll on him. My Top 5 would be... 1) Shane Battier 2) Bruce Bowen 3) Tayshaun Prince 4) Stephen Jackson 5) Kobe Bryant Raja Bell was never that good defensively. Kobe had a bad game against him once. Yay. James Posey is a little overrated. He's simply not quick enough to defend the perimeter well most of the time. Ron Artest is a terrific man defender, but his team defense leaves a LOT to be desired. I just can't put him anywhere near top10. LeBron James shouldn't be anywhere near this list. It's an effect of hype. He plays hard, but he's not a great defender by any means. Bowen is slowing down, but he's still an excellent defender because he's still quick in moving his feet, and he's extremely intelligent. Shane Battier is the total package. He's tough, quick, fast, young and very very smart. Tayshaun Prince has been slowly rising through the ranks of top defenders. He's been under the radar the past 2 or 3 seasons but he's improved as a defender every year. Next season he should be duking it out with Battier as the #1 man. Cpaw is right, Kenyon is a terrific perimeter defender... but he's simply not quick enough to defend a lot of guards man to man. If he was a little smaller and quicker, he'd be on the top 5 list without a doubt.</div> My Sasha post was a failed attempt at comedy. I forgot about Tayshaun, he's also an outstanding perimeter defender and one of the few guys who can defend the pick and roll.
yeah I don't know how Shane doesn't make the list....bowen even admitted to watching tapes of battier defending kobe, because he did such a good job...........
My post from the Cavs forum: This really surprises me, that a major site would post such an article. It's not that I don't rate LeBron's defensive abilities, I actually think they do rank among the best when he really needs to do it, it's just that the media are constantly on his back about his defense. In the first three quarters, LeBron tends to try to conserve his energy - i.e. do the minimum work possible to keep the Cavs in touch with their opponents before exploding in the 4th. What we hear about are LeBron's explosive performances on offense that kick-start amazing numbers of 4th Quarter comebacks, but it is as much his increased efforts on defense that help the Cavs make the comebacks. With his strength, speed and athleticism, he has all the tools to be the best defensive player in the league, but at the moment the Cavs rely on him too much on the offensive side of the floor for him to really dominate games defensively. If they can add another scorer, it is possible that we'll see more of LeBron's 4th Quarter defense throughout the game, and we'll really see his true ability. If you watch him play defense in the 4th, he is often suffocating and I seem to remember him managing the defend the unguardable Kobe Bryant earlier this season. He did fail to defend Paul Pierce in Game 7, but no-one else was performing on offense, while Pierce had James Posey and Kevin Garnett to help out on defense, so LeBron's effort was valiant. Of course, I have a slightly biased opinion, but what are your guys' opinions?
