(Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
Writer's note: I must apologize for the confusion this article has caused. This is the first of a three-part series on the NBA's best defenders. Hence, of course, the "Pt. 1" in the headline. There are no point guards or big men on this list because they will be subjects of separate pieces. I thought it would be too cumbersome and verbose to cram three different lists into one article. Glad I could clear that up.
Several writers have published 'top 10 defensive players' lists in the last month, so I decided to join the discussion with my own.
This is not a top 10 list, nor should anyone view it as a definitive ranking. Defense is as much about a team's rotations as one individual's work.
However, these stalwarts deserve special recognition for their attention to detail and ability to make life miserable for the league's top scorers.
How does one gauge both individual and team defense? Quit looking at the box score and start watching games.
Too often, average spectators, and some basketball analysts, are wooed by meaningless statistics in the box score.
How else could Marcus Camby, the most overrated defender this decade, win multiple Defensive Player of the Year awards?
With useless stats like these:
Blocked Shots
A majority of voting writers loved that Camby blocked a career-high four shots per game a few seasons ago, so they handed him an award he never deserved.
Myth: A recorded block means the opposing team did not score a basket on that possession.
In reality Camby often obliterated shots into the first row as a Denver Nugget (with at least 10-15 seconds left on the clock) only to have the man he was guarding catch the ensuing inbounds pass and waltz in for a layup.
You don't see that in the raw box score. All you see is four blocks.
What you should watch for is the player's decision-making skills.
When does the player attempt to block shots? Does he merely hack at the ball and rack up fouls and allow easy layups and dunks? Do his swats come from athletic bursts from the weak side?
If he does get the block, does he keep the ball in play or is he more concerned about emphasizing that he just swatted someone's shot?
Steals
Allen Iverson built a reputation as a crafty defender based solely on his remarkable tally of ball thefts when such incessant gambling, in fact, perpetuated his lazy habits.
His latest jaunt with the Detroit Pistons has proven Iverson to be the ultimate defensive fraud.
Fact: A steal is a gamble.
Therefore, the best on-ball defenders know how to play the passing lanes while also contesting shots and resisting penetration. In Iverson's case, a failed steal attempt usually becomes a forced foul, a layup, or an open jumpshot.
Steals are useful statistics when placed in context with the rest of a player's defense because they require active hands. A steal that leads to a layup or secures a critical stop merits celebration.
However, a defense based solely on steals is doomed to commit silly fouls and allow uncontested layups and easy perimeter buckets.
Rebounds
Not all great rebounders are adequate defenders. A player's ability to secure a loose ball or a miss often has little to do with his ability to cover a scorer in a one-on-one situation.
The best example of this is David Lee, the New York hustle hound who trails only Dwight Howard in double-doubles this season.
Lee is a spectacular four-space rebounder. His hops and his quick hands allow him to work the glass on both ends of the floor.
However, his post and man-to-man defense is far from adequate. He lacks the strength or the instinct to react to complicated screen/rolls or flashes of quickness.
Any player with agility or a marginally effective ball fake can blow past Lee for an easy score.
He also plays in a Mike D'Antoni system that inflates his value. Haven't we seen this before...with Steve Nash?
A player's rebound totals should only be used as defensive barometers when weighed against his position defense.
How many easy shots did his opponent muster in the game? How many of his rebounds came from tough shots he forced and how many were secured after superior defense from a teammate?
Is the player simply benefiting from a high volume of shots in a fast-paced game where the law of averages says someone will eventually miss?
Conclusion
Most who idolize defensive statistics do so because they do not have the time or expertise to become detail-oriented analysts in the span of a 48-minute game
It is much easier to look at how many shots a guy blocked versus examining the difficulty of every score against him in the contest.
Stats alone give us the facile, superficial answers we should not want.
I was inspired to write this after watching the Spurs' Ime Udoka defend the Hawks' Joe Johnson in a 102-92 San Antonio win over the Atlanta on Wednesday night.
Udoka's suffocating defense allowed the Spurs to pull away on the second night of a back-to-back with Tim Duncan in street clothes.
If Tony Parker provided the necessary offense (42 PTS, 12 AST), Udoka forced Johnson into a bevy of one-on-five shots in the fourth quarter. The box score shows Johnson drilled 13-of-23 shots.
That does not tell an adequate story.
The Atlanta guard's ridiculous makes included a stepback trey with Udoka covering his face, a contested runner, and a fall-away jumper.
Even the Hawks broadcast crew, which includes Dominique Wilkins, had to admit that Johnson was bagging some tough shots.
"Wow, that shot was remarkable. Udoka could not have defended that any better," Wilkins said.
Great defenders cannot always stop great offensive players, but they know how to play the numbers.
The guy pictured above has lost more than a few battles with Kobe Bryant, including a heartbreaker in January, but there are few others you would want on the league's best player in the closing moments of a game.
The top center on the next list gets dunked on and has committed more than a few three-point play fouls.
These players deserve recognition because they study scouting reports endlessly. If a player scores on them, they have the fortitude to concentrate on how they will stop that guy the next trip down the floor.
So, with that in mind, I offer this list of supreme perimeter defensive players. Look for the list of post/rim defenders and point guards in parts 2 and 3.
Shane Battier
Why He earns High Marks:
The Rockets lost 105-100 to the Lakers after Bryant drilled a clutch trey with Battier flossing Kobe's teeth in a January contest. Better offense beat tremendous defense.
That shot was Bryant's 32nd of the game, and it shows Battier's prowess.
Only a few in a several hundred-player league can hit that shot and Bryant is one of them. What matters is that Battier knows Bryant will miss that shot far more than he will make it.
Of all the shots you could give to Bryant at the end of the game, is there a lower percentage one than that? Had he missed and the Rockets won, Battier would be lauded as the game's hero.
Battier did not give up a dunk or send the reigning MVP to the free throw line. He forced Bryant to make the shot he had missed three other times in the game.
A defender should aim to force his opponent to jack up more shots than points scored. Bryant needed 32 shots to tally 33 points.
When a transcendent player nails a bucket like that, you shake his hand.
If the Rockets had to do that defensive possession 100 times, they would take what Battier did on every one of them.
What He Does Best:
As demonstrated in the January heartbreaker, Battier knows how to destroy an elite scorer's efficiency. He uses his smarts and lateral quickness to stymie penetration and face-guard perimeter heaves—and they are heaves, not open looks.
If stronger guards and forwards leave him vulnerable in the post, he makes up for it by making it tough for them to get there.
He takes brutal charges.
Most of all, he spends the time other players don't making each night's scouting report his Bible. He knows that a failure to heed its cautions can make any game long and tumultuous.
We're going to send you the most entertaining NBA articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
38 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete