<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Yahoo Sports)</div><div class='quotemain'>According to an advance scout, no one does perimeter D better than these guys: 1. Bruce Bowen, Spurs. What separates him are intelligence and effort. He says he doesn’t watch a lot of video, but he’s reading scouting reports or something because he does a great job of knowing where his guy is supposed to get the ball. Some consider him a dirty player because of how shooters sometimes land on his feet, but I don’t agree. Bowen also has great versatility, able to guard anyone except centers. 2. Tayshaun Prince, Pistons. He might not be as good chasing guys around screens as Bowen is , but no one’s better at sticking with his man once he has the ball. That’s why he’ll block more shots than these other guys. 3. Raja Bell, Suns. He will get right up on his man and still make it difficult for him to get around him. What makes him different from these other guys is he’s tough and physical. For example, if Bowen gets tangled up with his man, he’s likely to flop. Bell is more likely to mix in an elbow. 4. James Posey, Celtics. He always puts that extra effort into closing out on shooters. He’s so long, and that helps him do a great job of contesting shots. When his man has the ball, Posey will try to keep a hand over it, not necessarily to reach in for it, but to make it more difficult for his man to go up for a shot. 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> Source 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?
battier > bell, kobe, and james for sure imo............kobe and james only do it during crucial stretches, and bell is kinda overrated imo....................Bowen and Prince are still tough.......and Posey is a great perimeter defender also.....my list would look like this 1.) Bowen 2.) Prince 3.) Battier 4.) Posey 5.) James/Kobe
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>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> and this is B.S.....Pippen and Ron Harper always guarded the other teams primary wing scorer during the bulls title days.........
Kobe and Lebron shouldn't be on the list, they don't put nearly as much effort into defense as most defensive-minded players and although they have the potential, they just choose to save their energy for the offensive end.
