Kleeman's Jumphook: The NBA's Best Defenders, Pt. 1

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.

Ron Artest

Why He Earns High Marks:

Artest has teamed with Battier to make the Rockets one of the best perimeter defensive squads in the league.

Sometimes his trash talk can prove damning, as it did in another home loss to the Lakers in early March. He mouthed off to Bryant, who proceeded to pour in 18 fourth-quarter points and will his team to a win.

Still, what Artest did to LeBron James a few weeks earlier proves he can be the ultimate pest.

In a 93-74 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, their most lopsided loss of the season, James failed to record an assist for the first time in his career and shot 7-for-21.

When Artest sticks to the game plan, he can be the maniacal menace no one wants to face. Bryant begged Lakers management to sign Artest a few years ago, and the mercurial forward's stance against the explosive James as a Rocket should show why.

On one particular play in that Cleveland game, Artest stayed down after an upfake and harangued James into an 20-foot airball. LBJ missed so badly, I checked for signs of a windstorm or to see if he was wearing a blindfold.

What He Does Best:

If Battier is the smarter, more disciplined defender, Artest is stronger and more unyielding. He uses his NFL linebacker-esque frame to bump, grind, and shove opponents into nights of visible and audible frustration.

His arms invade opponents' spaces like a buzzsaw. The only thing missing is the blood and gore.

His gritty, gamer attitude and physical toughness have added a new dimension to an already defense-savvy Rockets team. When he can control his urges to stray from the plan or open his loud mouth, he's as exceptional as any stalwart in the league.

Trevor Ariza

What He Does Best:

Ariza plays the passing lanes like an AIG executive: He steals what he wants and throws away the leftovers.

His spectacular domination of any passing lane in any game allows the Lakers to score easy points in transition. If there's a ball anywhere near him to be had, he'll get it.

A healthy Ariza has greatly improved the Lakers' shoddy defense. If he cannot bottle up a perimeter weapon like Battier, he still puts his length to good use.

When an opponent sets a screen to free up a scorer, Ariza usually makes the right decision. He is not strong, but he is sturdy.

When at full strength, he also possesses that most important characteristic: lateral quickness.

Simply put, Ariza has done far more for the Lakers' title hopes than any statistic could encapsulate.

Now, onto the "lost a step, but still damn good" club:

James Posey

Surely, if Posey still played for the Boston Celtics, his defensive work would garner the proper recognition.

But, because he plays for a New Orleans team that has not matched preseason expectations, routinely gives up over 100 points, and loses to bottom feeders like the Knicks, he receives less praise than last year.

Posey's best asset has been his ability face-guard without fouling, a trait he still boasts in a more limited capacity.

In two tight fourth quarters against the Lakers at Staples Center, one of those a Hornets win, Posey coaxed Bryant into a series of wild shots that barely drew iron.

He demonstrated restraint in his single coverage without losing the necessary edge.

That's another notable about his performance in those two contests: He was able to defend Bryant one-on-one, which allowed his teammates to stay home on the other scorers.

Any player who can do most of his work sans the aid of double teams deserves kudos.

Bruce Bowen

Bowen's minutes have plummeted with the emergence of Roger Mason Jr. and George Hill, and Ime Udoka's re-insertion into the rotation.

Though each of the above three have signature defensive performances to their name, Bowen is still San Antonio's best situational defender.

The league's signature pest, the 38-year-old Bowen can still take elite wing scorers out of their comfort zones.

His best work?  Harassing Dwyane Wade into an inefficient 10-for-26 night in a win over the Heat.

Honorable mention:Andrei Kirilenko, Raja Bell, Mickael Pietrus, Travis Outlaw. I would put Tayshaun Prince on the fringe of this list.

These guys play on horrendous defensive teams but have demonstrated a propensity for above average man-to-man defense: Jared Jefferies, Corey Brewer, Shawn Marion (who has declined noticeably in athletic ability).

Three standout defenders among rookie perimeter players: George Hill, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Nicolas Batum.

Hey, What About the Superstars?

It should be noted that Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Paul Pierce, and Dwyane Wade have each developed a reputation as stoppers in crunch time.

That such marvelous offensive talents often ask to take the other team's best wing scorer with the game in the balance shows you why they are special.

I may devote a separate article to their own defensive developments. Even if I do not, I did not forget them.