I have been thinking about this topic for a while now and would like to hear some opinions on who the best defender in the league is. Ben Wallace, Ron Artest, and Bruce Bowen are the first three who come to mind. Ben Wallace is more of a team defender while Ron Artest and Bruce Bowen can shut almost anyone down at will.Bruce Bown?? Bruce Bowen totally shut down Dirk Nowitzki during the NBA playoffs even though Bowen is six inches shorter than Dirk. Bowen can guard anyone in the league at any position and he can do it very well. In my opinion he is the best man to man defender in the league.Ben Wallace?? Big Ben proved to be a total machine rebounding the ball, blocking, and he led the league in steals as a center. Ben Wallace seems to always be a presence on the defensive end and he limits what the opposing team can work with. Ben Wallace is always a factor on the defensive side and seems to always do the little things right and is the best overall defensive player in the league and can do everything very well.Ron Artest?? Artest can get inside player's heads like the depancing of Paul Pierce incident(I know I know, Pierce still hit the shot) but Artest is a scrappy defender and uses his body to defend the opposition. He always guards the opposing team's best player and does everything(like Ben Wallace) right on the defensive end.Andrei Kirilenko?? AK47 is the best shot blocker in the league and with his long and lean arms really bothers his man. He plays his man very well and can reject the ball at will. When you look at the guy you don't see him as a good defensive player but true NBA fans know that AK47 is one of the best in the league.So this leaves my answer unanswered, who is the best defender in the league??
:g: in my opinion, it's between bruce and ron..........especially the way they've been calling these games today..........it's way harder to stop a perimeter player than a post player. Not saying that big ben doesn't defend well..........u know what i mean, good post btw.
Kirelenko is very good but too injury prone. Ben Wallace isn't good man-to-man but a good shot blocker which is going to be going away soon with his hops since he's over 30 now. I also think it's between Bowen and Artest. They can both shut down their opponent and it is tougher to guard a perimeter player. I will pick Artest because he is younger and just as good as Bowen but gets twice as many steals and blocks.
Yeah I don't think there are many shut down defenders in the league. Bowen after last year still proved he's got it on defense so I'm going with him. Maybe next year Artest will be the best defender. Ben Wallace is overrated defensively now. He hasn't been the same player as in the past.
The best defenders in my books are:Anderi KirilenkoBen WallaceAlonzo MourningRon ArtestBruce BowenTayshaun PrinceMarcus Camby (when healthy)Shawn MarionGerald WallaceKevin GarnettTim DuncanI'm probably missing some. Those are the great ones that come to mind.
Ben Wallace is especially overrated as a defender. All the dude does is block weak-side shots, I dont see how he's a great defender just by doing that. Tayshaun is an okay defender, I dont really think he's great at defense, because he got burned by LeBron and Wade this year in the playoffs. But thats just how LeBron and Wade are, so I dunno.. My list:1. Ron Artest2. Bruce Bowen3. Shawn Marion4. Andrei Kirilenko5. Gerald WallaceThe last three guys can do just about everything on D, get steals, blocks, def. rebounds, etc. The first two guys however mainly focus on shutting down the opposing player, man-to-man defense.
as long as he's not trying to pull paul pierce's pants down, artest is good1. Artest2. Marion3. Bowen4. Kirilenko
Ron Artest is the obvious choice, he can defend perimeter guys and post guys because he's 6'7" 250 plus pounds. Amazing defense. Post defense is too hard to figure out.
Ron Artest, he's a complete beast defensively. He can guard basically everyone and anyone on the court outside of Centers. He's strong enough to guard in the post, and quick enough to guard on the perimeter. It's really no question in my mind Artest is the best.
If I had to give a list of the top defensive players for this upcoming season it would look like this:1. Ron Artest2. Andrei Kirilenko3. Ben Wallace4. Gerald Wallace5. Bruce BowenHonerable mentions: Tayshaun Prince and Shawn Marion.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Michael Bryant @ Aug 13 2006, 09:34 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Bruce Bowen. Hands down, it isn't even close.</div>Not even close? I think you could also arguably add Artest and Big Ben in this.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Something-To-Say @ Aug 14 2006, 12:40 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Big Ben is an off the ball defender. On the ball, probably Ron Ron. I'd definitely put Marion top 5</div> :worthy: Something to Say ????? :winkglasses:...........that was a clean BLOCK on barbosa.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Zards @ Aug 12 2006, 03:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Ben Wallace is especially overrated as a defender. All the dude does is block weak-side shots, I dont see how he's a great defender just by doing that.</div>He is one of the leagues best rebounders, and a underrated stealer. The best defensive center in the league, with Camby second.
