NBA Power Rankings: Steve Nash and Each Team's Most Pitiful Defender
You all know the old adage, defense wins championships. They should add to that and make it say, defense wins championships, but offense gets endorsements.
In just about every sport, from basketball to baseball, hockey and football people know the offensive players best, and give them way more love than the defensive stalwarts.
Take Shane Battier for example. He is easily one of the best defenders in the NBA, but he made just over $7 million this year. Meanwhile, a guy like Drew Gooden, who is one of the most useless players in the NBA is raking in nearly that amount, coming in at just under $6 million.
Defensive specialists just don't get the love they deserve, so I'm going to go ahead and call out some of the guys that do no work on the defensive end of the floor.
Here I have the most useless defender on each team in the NBA.
Atlanta Hawks, Jamal Crawford
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Jamal Crawford is one of the most unmotivated players in the NBA when it comes to defense.
He shows off lateral quickness and length on offense, but when it comes to defense he shies away from sliding in front of players driving to the rim and taking contact.
Crawford also refuses to play tight on his man, and is almost always standing up straight when he is one-on-one, allowing his man to get an extra step on him and beat him to the rim.
Crawford is one of the most disappointing players in the league for me, as he has so much potential to be a great player on both ends of the floor, but settles for being a great offensive player and a lazy defender.
Boston Celtics, Troy Murphy
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Troy Murphy is without a doubt a first-ballot, No-Defense Hall of Famer. His terrible defense is almost legendary at this point.
The man is 6'11” and only has 272 blocks in 481 games.
He is constantly getting beat, he is slow-footed, soft and just unskilled in general.
Charlotte Bobcats, DJ Augustin
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A year ago, Raymond Felton was starting for the Charlotte Bobcats, who were one of the best defensive teams in the NBA.
Now, with DJ Augustin as their point guard (to go along with the loss of Gerald Wallace), they are nowhere near the level of last season.
Augustin legitimately tries, but he is too short, has short arms and is too weak to fight through screens.
Some people just weren't meant to be good defenders, but he gets an A for effort.
Chicago Bulls, Carlos Boozer
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There used to be a time, before Carlos Boozer screwed over a trusting blind man (Cleveland fans never forget when someone wrongs them) that he was actually physical on defense.
Now that everyone has realized what a good offensive player he is, it seems that he is trying to protect himself from injury on every defensive possession.
Aside from his lack of desire at this point in his career, his feet are slow and he is frequently overpowered in the post.
I think it is due to a lack of chest hair, he used to be a strong force down low when he was a visibly hairy man. Now, it's either shaved or hidden and he seems so much less physical.
Cleveland Cavaliers, Ryan Hollins
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He is tall and has long arms, that is about the nicest thing you can say about Ryan Hollins on defense.
Otherwise, Ryan Hollins is in the running for the softest player in the NBA, I mean the dude can't even foul an opponent to keep him from scoring.
Dallas Mavericks, Jason Terry
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Terry has stepped up his defensive effort this year, especially since Caron Butler went down earlier in the season, but he has a track record that does nothing to help him.
JET is quick on offense, and plays the passing lanes well from time to time, but when he is matched up man to man with a guy, he can't seem to stay in front of him.
He is over 30, so his defense probably isn't going to improve any, but he has shown the ability to be more tenacious.
Denver Nuggets, Al Harrington
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Al Harrington has never been known for his defense, and this year he is somehow even more not known for it (if that makes any sense).
Harrington played in 73 games this season and registered one tenth of a block per game.
Aside from his inability to turn back a shot (233 blocks in 873 games), he gets shredded on the glass and looks like a child when he is down low guarding someone.
Detroit Pistons, Charlie Villanueva
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There are three things that bother me about Charlie Villanueva defensively.
First, he put up a bunch of false numbers in Milwaukee, as they had nearly nobody else to rebound the ball for three years, leading to him averaging six a game (which still kind of sucks).
Second, he is a weak defender down low, constantly getting moved and pushed by other defenders, allowing them to go straight up and sink a short two-footer.
Third, he gets offended by trash talk. No matter how dirty talk gets, you should never tweet about it, it just shows that it effected you.
Golden State Warriors, Monta Ellis
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If he were a starting point guard, at least he would have a size advantage on his opponent, but with him at the two-spot, he is utterly terrible.
He plays way too many minutes, which hinders him from giving a maximum effort on defense, usually saving it for the offensive end, where he is his team's main option.
His stance on defense is very rarely aggressive and he is easy to get off his feet on a pump fake.
Houston Rockets, Kevin Martin
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If Kevin Martin had to guard himself on defense, he would want to cry.
Kevin Martin is a tremendous player offensively, and is able to break down nearly any defender in the league one-on-one, which kind of hurts him on defense.
He is expected to do so much on offense that if he were to do the same on defense he would exhaust himself.
Indiana Pacers, Mike Dunleavy
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Back in the day (like five years ago), Shawn Bradley was famous for getting dunked on by anybody that drove to the lane. Well, I think Mike Dunleavy has become the Shawn Bradley of getting his ankles broken.
Dunleavy has never been a good defender, his job is to come in and hit a three from time-to-time, but he is slow footed, and you can actually see him think about what he is going to do making as he plays.
Los Angeles Clippers, Mo Williams
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Mo Williams has a reputation for doing two things, playing flaky, sub-par defense and collapsing in big moments.
Williams is slow for a point guard and has short arms for a guy his size, so he isn't great at covering opponents man-to-man or playing the passing lanes.
When he was in Cleveland he was masked by a stellar defense around him, as he was constantly helped by LeBron James, Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon, but in Los Angeles his problems are more on display.
Los Angeles Lakers, Pau Gasol
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Los Angeles is a good defensive team from top to bottom pretty much, so it is hard to find a player on their team with obvious, glaring weaknesses, but Pau Gasol does have a few.
First, Pau has the reputatiton of being a soft defender, which he is, but he has toughened up over the past year, so I have to give him his props for that.
Also, Gasol is a very questionable help defender, as he is a bit slow-footed to rotate around and stop a guard that has broke free from his man and pulled up for a ten-footer.
Memphis Grizzlies, Greivis Vasquez
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Picking the worst defender on the Grizzlies is like picking the biggest reason I hate The Jersey Shore.
When it all comes down to it though, I would have to pick Greivis Vasquez.
Vasquez isn't a bad defender by any means, but the other candidates, OJ Mayo, Mike Conley and Rudy Gay have all made huge improvements this season.
Vasquez is a bit slow laterally and he lacks the athleticism to guard some of the better guards in the NBA.
Miami Heat, Mike Bibby
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You could replace Mike Bibby with Terry Kiser and the two guys that dragged him around in Weekend at Bernie's and you would see almost the same defensive output.
Bibby is a three-point shooter and nothing more at this point, as he is slow, lacks the desire to give effort needed on defense and has lost any jumping ability he ever had.
Milwaukee Bucks, Drew Gooden
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The second worst thing about Drew Gooden is his hideous defense (the worst thing is that stupid duck tail he has from time-to-time).
On defense he's slow, lazy, unskilled, heavy-footed and clumsy.
Gooden has had a hideous career, allowing his opponents to rack up a PER of at leas 15 at each position he has played since 2003.
Minnesota Timberwolves, Johnny Flynn
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Johnny Flynn just had one of the worst seasons of basketball in my lifetime, boasting an offensive rating of 85 and a defensive rating of 114, posting a win share total of -1.4.
Flynn constantly cheats on defense, trying to knock the ball free or steal a pass, so he does get a few steals here and there, but it leads to him getting beat off the dribble.
New Jersey Nets, Jordan Farmar
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Jordan Farmar has a good basketball head on his shoulders, but he doesn't have the physical tools to be an all-around good defender.
Farmar is a bit slow, a bit weak and a bit long, so he has troubles getting around screens and staying in position.
He also tends to get lazy from time to time and gets caught napping, letting players around him or grab boards over him.
New Orleans Hornets, Marco Belinelli
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Marco Belinelli's defense was once dissed by Don Nelson, so yea, he's pretty bad.
Belinelli looks a bit like a matador on the court, never stepping in front of a driving dribbler to the degree that he might as well shout “ole” as he does it.
Aside from that, he seems to have no desire to improve on defense
New York Knicks, Mike D'Antoni
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There are quite a few players that I could point out on the Knicks as the worst defenders on the Knicks, but the biggest problem on the Knicks starts with their head coach.
For his entire NBA head coaching career, D'Antoni has run a run-and-gun, a seven-second shot or a seven-seconds-or-Shaq offense, all of which have been able to win a number of games, but a championship has not come with it.
Until D'Antoni changes, I see no way the Knicks can win a title.
Oklahoma City Thunder, B.J. Mullens
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After leaving Ohio State, where he went by BJ, Mullens decided to go by his given name, Byron. I'm not sure if he was trying to sound tougher, but if he was it was a complete failure.
Mullens is one of the softest players in the NBA, evidenced by his complete lack of playing time, and when he does get in there it's just embarrassing.
Mullens is like a shorter Shawn Bradley with a far smaller basketball IQ and no nose for the basketball, so yea, he's pretty bad.
Orlando Magic, Hedo Turkoglu
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My least favorite thing about the NBA is when a player shows that he is capable of doing something, but chooses not to when they can.
Hedo Turkoglu has shown that he can defend some better players, like he did against Josh Smith in the first round of the playoffs, but usually he is a lazy, uninterested defender.
Otherwise, Turk is getting older, slower, fatter and weaker, and just a bad defender overall.
Philadelphia 76ers, Marreese Speights
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Marreese Speights has improved in the few years that he has been in the NBA, but he still has a long way to go before he is anywhere near a good defender.
Speights is a below-average shot-blocker, slow-footed, making him bad at rotating on defense and doesn't seem to have a very high basketball IQ.
Phoenix Suns, Steve Nash
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I've heard people call Steve Nash the most overrated player in the NBA, and I feel like that is a bit harsh.
Sure, he shouldn't have won back-to-back MVP Awards, and he is a shoddy defender, but the things he does for the Suns are amazing. With any other point guard, the Suns would have been the worst team in the NBA, there is no question in my mind about that.
However, Steve Nash is without a doubt a bad defender.
Nash doesn't force many turnovers, he is slower than the average point guard in the NBA and can easily be beat off the dribble.
Portland Trail Blazers, Andre Miller
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There once was a time when Andre Miller was one of the better defenders on the Cleveland Cavaliers, I remember it vividly how annoying he was to defenders.
A guy with limited athleticism can only keep that up for so long, however, and now that age has caught up with Miller he has lost quite a bit on defense.
It has gotten to the point where the Blazers take Miller out of the game near the end in order to boost their defense in crunch time.
Sacramento Kings, Marcus Thornton
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You know you're a bad defender when you openly admit that you have never had a coach that was that interested in teaching you defense.
When encountering a screen, Thronton looks more confused than a dog when he sees himself in a mirror. He can't decide whether to go over it or under it, and a lot of the time he will split the difference and go right through him, which is almost never a good idea.
Thornton routinely allows mediocre bench players to abuse him on defense.
San Antonio Spurs, Matt Bonner
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There is no question about The Red Rocket, he is on the court to stretch out the opposition's defense and drain the occasional three.
On defense he is borderline atrocious, averaging a third of a block a game for his career and just a few steals.
In the non-statistical categories, Bonner has so little hops that h almost gets shorter when he jumps, he is regularly soft on defense and he seems to be wearing lead shoes.
Toronto Raptors, Andrea Bargnani
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There are two things that easily show how good Andrea Bargnani is on the defensive end of the floor.
First, when asked about why he is such a bad rebounder, Bargnani famously responded, “It's called basketball, not rebound-ball.”
Second, a year ago on April first, NBA.com put out a list of their picks for the NBA All-Defensive Team with Bargnani listed as the center...as an April Fools joke.
Utah Jazz, Devon Harris
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Remember when Devin Harris was a good point guard? What, that was only two years ago? Insane.
Back when he was with Dallas, Harris was the best back-up point guard in the league and looked poised to be the next good point guard in the NBA.
He was traded to the Nets, had one transcendent and then fell apart.
Harris began giving little to no effort on defense and looked sloppy every time he played
Washington Wizards, Andray Blatche
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Let me get this straight right out of the gate. Andray Blatche is my least favorite player in the NBA. That may mean I have a grudge against him, but I still think he deserves to represent the Wizards in this opportunity.
Blatche is appalling on defense, regularly getting beat or outright ignoring his duties to help the perimeter defenders.
He is the biggest stat-hog in the NBA and gets lazy on defense in games that are even just slightly out of reach.
In short, Andray Blatche is everything that is wrong with the NBA balled up into one neat little package for me to hate.
