best defensive point guards of all time

The official cause of death of Flashdance singer Irene Cara has been determined. After the opponent scores, it is typically the point guard who brings the ball down the court to begin an offensive play. Hes still learning to apply that tremendous athleticism on the defensive end of the court, though. 1987 Lakers are often seen as one of the greatest teams ever. Boston Celtics (1950-1963), Cincinnati Royals (1969-70), Honors Robertson's offensive ability transformed the point guard stereotype from a passer and floor general to a scorer and offensive weapon. When the game is on the line, you like to see players find fifth, but Lin never does. (I know, but it is a part of defense these days.) But will he listen enough to a player he was just playing against to make that shift? Hes like a runner trying to run a mile by alternating between walking and sprinting 100 yards at a time. He does get a bit of a bump here for his rebounding. His length is better; he has a 65.75 wingspan. Hes not just ordinary quick, either; hes pesky-quick, with fast hands that dart in and take the ball out of the ball-handler's dribble with alarming frequency. If the team gives up more points while hes on the court, thats bad. Many consider Bob Cousy to be a passionate athlete who was the first All-Star and dominating player for the Boston Celtics squad that included legends like Bill Russell and Kevin Collier. Exceptions were made for Derrick Rose, Danny Granger, Andrew Bynum and Kevin Love because they have all been All-Star players, and all are still, at least by age, in their prime. Perhaps if hes in shoes and standing on a milk crate filled with milk, thats true. Of course having book smarts doesnt preclude you from knowing what youre doing on the court either. Triple Double was so far ahead of his time in terms of size, speed, strength and stats. Hes a learning player, and his extensive time sitting last year may have helped his grasp of defense as well as offense. Penny Hardaway was well recognized for his relationship with Shaquille ONeal when he was only a kid. As a result, he has received numerous awards, including the 'NBA Most Valuable Player' (MVP) award and the "PAC Player of the Year." He was born on March 23, 1973. The five best defensive point guards of all time | Yardbarker -- Peterson, He was the forerunner of Magic Johnson and LeBron James, and it's telling that both of those stars revere the Big O. The values for the various metrics which comprised the WAM score and scouting scores are also available on each slide. Whenever anyone imagines a point guard, chances are theyre thinking of Utah Jazz legend John Stockton. Hell frequent the area at the top of the key, just above the free-throw line, and when a shooter starts to shoot, hell close out quickly to challenge the shot, regardless of where it is coming from. Pun intended. That said, here are the five best defensive NBA point guards of all time, based on their DWS. Stockton was a member of two gold medal teams and twice reached the NBA finals during his remarkable career. That would make sense, but there are two reasons to choose the unconventional scale. Above all, the point guard must understand and accept their coach's game plan; in this way, the position can be compared to a quarterback in American football. -- Tom Haberstroh, NBA writer, No guard in NBA history pulled down more rebounds than Kidd, who finished with more career rebounds than Willis Reed and Alonzo Mourning, among others. Defensively, Stockton had 3,265 steals the most all time during his 19-year. They are available for those who want to know where they fit, and it doesn'thurt anyone to include them. The Miami HEATs best player in franchise history, Dwyane Wade was an offensive maestro. Players like Deron Williams, Kyrie Irving and John Wall blew by him fairly consistently. Chris Paul is widely considered to be one of the best point guards of the 2010s. It might not seem like much, but for most players, this covered around 30-40 games' worth of defense. Thats when you see him start to do things like not close out on shooters, merely waving his hand in the air instead. As one of the elite point guards in the NBA, you would expect him to have elite athleticism, but he actually doesnt. Magic Johnson. Players like Rose, Russell Westbrook and Kyrie Irving consistently cross him over and get past him. Defense is one of the more oft-overlooked aspects of basketball because it isnt as pretty as what happens on the offensive end. Defensively, Stockton had 3,265 steals the most all time during his 19-year career, helping him get 64.9 DWS. Photos: Top 10 NBA Point Guards Of All Time. Its amusing that some people say Rose doesnt apply himself on defense. He just doesnt have the physical tools to play at an elite level. Synergy tracks every play of every game of the season and, when possible (as it is not always possible), they assign an initial defender on a play. You cant build a house first, and then pour the foundation underneath it. He gets easily overpowered when bigger point guards post him up. Although Wade had an accomplished resume, if he had played one more season, he wouldve easily overtaken the next player on the list. Hes incredibly focused while on the court, but hes always working things out in his head; they dont come automatically, and that costs him time. He yields a whopping 41.5 three-point percentage on the spot-up, which is just not good. Chris is also a leader on the defensive end of the court, having been named to nine All-Defensive Teams. The result is our all-time NBA Top 100. Curry has won three NBA championships and cemented his status as the finest shooter in NBA history since becoming a superstar and two-time MVP. Oscar is the first triple-double king and is one of the greatest NBA players of all time, no matter what position he is playing. Three-time MVP (1986-87, 1988-89, 1989-90), three-time Finals MVP, 12-time All-Star, 10-time All-NBA selection, Hall of Fame, Championships 43 views, 0 likes, 0 loves, 0 comments, 0 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from BabyYo: NRG VS KOI Highlights. He may be the finest defensive guard ever because of his awareness and abilities on the defensive end. As a result, he rarely gets tangled up with the pick-setter. Its safe to say that Kidd is one of the greatest guards to ever play on the basketball floor. My guess is that it has something to do with that. Lin is a mixed bag when it comes to help defense. The Cleveland Cavaliers relied heavily on Kyrie Irving to take and hit huge shots, even when he was partnered with LeBron James. Despite the fact that he was unable to win an NBA championship, his charisma and dribbling prowess will never be forgotten. Why did you choose such a weird number scale? Johnsons style of play made him especially successful since he was noted for tip-ins and post play around the rim. On the one hand, he doesnt seem cogent enough of his surroundings most of the time to really offer any. Therefore, a lower score is superior. By: HoopsHype. Coming off one of the best offensive seasons in NBA history, Curry takes the top spot on our list of the league's best point guards, followed closely by 22-year-old wunderkind Luka Doncic, who may . -- Peterson. . Magic had unparalleled vision; he could see players get open and deliver the ball before they even realized they were open. He averages 1.8 steals per game. Its got to be annoying, but its also disruptive, and being disruptive is positive on defense. Eric Bledsoe has a reputation as being both quick and fast, even for a point guard, but he rarely shows it on defense. Because they each feel a different thing, an argument arises as to who is right. After ball-handling, the most important areas of the game for a point guard are passing and scoring. Conley also has crazy hops, measuring a 40.5-inch vertical at the combine, and he is one of the quickest point guards in the league. An indication of this is the fact that hes had only nine dunks in his career, the last of which was over seven years ago. Watts Van Lier Frazier Price Ward Bing White Buckner Walker Kidd Hollins Williams Cleamons Bibby Porter Buse Snow McMillan Tinsley Armstrong Knight Carter 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 97.4 97.6 98.1 99.6 99.9 100.4 100.9 101.1 101.5 101 . Perhaps the most unstoppable offensive player in NBA history, Jordan decimated and demoralized his foes on the defensive end. He led the league in total steals this year and did so without playing a lot of gambling defense. Hes the closest thing in the world to Kevin Garnetts Mini-Me. Either way he chases the ball until he catches it. However, despite Chris Paul and Jason Kidds prominence, Steve Nash became a two-time MVP who had no weaknesses on the offensive end. He has trouble compensating for his lack of size when challenging jump shots. 13.1 PPG, 10.5 APG, 2.2 SPG, .384 3P%, The player There's no way Stockton & Curry are better than Isiah. While hes not going to get a lot of those at his size, regardless of what he does, he could probably do more to try and recover. His ability to score and create plays made him an NBA superstar. Just because someone gets past him doesnt mean theyre going to score. When the team is winning or the game is close, he puts in real effort, but if they are down, he shows noticeably less energy. Hes fearless, and no matter how large the big setting the pick is, he wont back down. The list of the best defensive NBA point guards for 2022-23 starts off with two of the elite perimeter defenders overall. Previously, Id had the impression that Rondo was beaten more often than he actually is and that Kevin Garnett just constantly bailed him out, which made his numbers look better than they are. For example, there was a play in which he was switched up against the Clippers, and he was put on Chauncey Billups, while Tony Allen was on Chris Paul. Thats the difference between what I call work intelligence and natural intelligence. Some people just have to work to pick things up. While he was doing that, Billups, who actually had the ball the whole time, just stepped back behind the three-point line and drained the three. There are times where he makes a bone-headed gamble and loses, trying to get the extra steal, but thats about the only flaw there is with him mentally. But his lack of any vertical leap kills him on the jump shot. -- Adams, He could hurt defenses in so many ways: Controlling tempo was one, and he was a hell of a defender, too. One conundrum has always been how to account for who is guarding the best player on the other team. Probably no point guard in the league does a better job of recovering defensively than Rose does. His offensive style has been revamped to incorporate a powerful mid-range jumper along with some range as well. It probably tells the accurate story here. His huge hands allowed him to pass as effectively with one hand as most could with two. Derrick Rose 15. Having above-average size (height, muscle) is considered advantageous, although size is secondary to situational awareness, speed, quickness, and ball handling skills. He joined the NBA in 1960 and quickly established himself, averaging 30.5 points per game and winning Rookie of the Year. His issues related to intelligence, detailed later, compound this problem. Young players who are relatively short are now developing the scoring aspects of their skill-sets, whereas previously these players would find it difficult to enter the NBA without true point guard skills. 21.6 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 6.9 APG, .441 3P%, We counted down the greatest players in NBA history. The same applies to any decent basketball argument (or any other kind, for that matter). He bulls through picks well and is not afraid to go over them. Even though injuries caught up with him toward the end of his illustrious career, Bryant still battled as a defender when needed. He probably can even tell you where the hot dog vendor and mascot are. Oscar Robertson was one of the NBA's greatest players in history. He did it not once, not twice, but three times. He is entirely too aggressive. His score represents the average of trying hard and not trying at all once the ball gets past him. In fact, a player may have great individual numbers precisely because he is actually detrimental to his team. This mans achievements are indisputable, and the prospect of him winning a second NBA championship just adds to his greatness. Watching specifically for this, I found only three instances in 50 plays where Garnett bailed out Rondo on isolation plays, a rate which is lower than most point guards receiving help. Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum top NBA quotes of the week. He leaves talented shooters alone to go double-team bad shooters. On and off the court, Dave Bing was an excellent high-scoring NBA point guard who achieved greatness. 19.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 11.2 APG, .520 FG%, The player Hes one of the slower point guards in the league now, but in spite of that, hes almost ubiquitous at times. He does so by using positioning, skillful footwork and what lateral quickness he does have (which is a liberal use of the word "quickness") to minimize the damage. As Kyrie Irving showed in the decisive Game 7 versus the Warriors when he beat Stephen Curry to the game-winning jumper, Kyrie Irving is also one of the finest guards in NBA history, and he possesses some of the best hands of all time. (As an aside, in the slides, you will only see the original metric value, not the weighted number to determine the WAM. The bulk of his thefts came by stealing the dribble, not by shooting the passing lanes. Jrue Holiday. -- Rob Peterson, One can only imagine how impressive his career totals might have been if not for the HIV virus. Lennys passing and leadership on the floor were solid, but he also had a few great scoring years on the court. There arent many point guards who can do it all, but Kidd is one of them. Meanwhile, we are presenting the top 10 by position. The relative value between players was not affected; they were merely weighted so that the metrics could be combined without any one metric dominating the others. Conley is generously listed at 61 and 180 pounds. Scouting isnt the same as just watching games. He tends to rely on his speed to compensate for his lack of mass. A point guard that has enough ball-handling skill and quickness to be able to drive to the basket in a half-court set is also very valuable and considered by some to be a must for a successful offense. Hes just over 60" without shoes but has a wingspan of 67.5. Only four players in the history of the combine are as short or shorter and have at least that kind of reach. Greatest NBA point guards of all-time: Where Russell - Sportsnaut One of the most famous point guards of all time, Jason Kidd, could make a dazzling pass or a simple play with the finest in the game while also adoring to hightail it in transition to wear opponents down. In the NBA, Isiah Thomas is an amazing leader and is truly the most competitive force on the court that we have seen from a tiny guy. Magic Johnson 2. On the other hand, no matter how solid the foundation is, you cant move into it. Holiday knows what to do, but he doesnt always do it. They tried just as hard as the valedictorian, but all they got were Bs. However, he tends to play soft at times against the pick-and-roll, tending to rely on his quickness when he could muscle through a pick quicker. He could play any spot on the court as well. For that reason, subjective analysis was also included. For his time with the Phoenix Suns, Johnson is most known for his role alongside Charles Barkley. What is the difference between WAM and WAMS? Then again, the limited number of plays may be, in part, due to the fact that hes so hard to post up. That had the effect of distorting Pauls on/off numbers. While it does keep the opponent in front of him, it defeats the purpose if the opponent is still getting to the basket. This article first appeared on Sportsnaut and was syndicated with permission. Then, when players pull up and shoot, he doesnt use his length to close and get a hand in the face of the shooter. In the 13 seasons in which he played more than 60 games, mostly with the Chicago Bulls, the 1988 Defensive Player of the Year was a nine-time All-Defensive Team selection all first-team honors and a three-time steals champion. Rondo may not be big, but he doesnt know that. Golden State Warriors (2009-present), Honors Hinrich has a bit more going for him in terms of size. He has two ways of guarding the isopray for help or flop. Though he had a relatively short career he only played 13 seasons his 50.4 DWS is 44th overall. That has more to do with the second-string frontcourt, led by Lamar Odom, backing him up than it does his team defense. Damian Lillard (2013-Present) AP Images. A point guard needs always to have in mind the times on the shot clock and the game clock, the score, the numbers of remaining timeouts for both teams, etc. A point guard often controls the offense and they also control who gets the ball and who doesn't, as this type of controlling style of play is necessary to control the tempo of a game. Miami Heat and Dwyane Wade won the NBA championship in 2006 with him as a member of the Seattle SuperSonics. Payton is one of two point guards to have ever won the Defensive Player of the Year, and his stats show it. If youre a fan of the TV show Suits, you might agree that Harvey Specter dresses well. Jordans inclusion as the best defensive shooting guard isnt surprising considering his relentless attitude to winning. Its more than that. The Best NBA Point Guards Of All Time - The Delite Sometimes that works, such as his quick darts under picks. For example, the Spurs absolutely ate him alive in the playoffs with Tony Parker, who averaged 24.5 points for the series. Players Stats: 18.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 5.6 APG, 0.8 SPG, 0.3 BPG, Honors: 2010-2011 MVP, 3x All-Star, 1x All-NBA Selection, 2008-2009 Rookie of the Year. They work harder, and they get things eventually, but not quite as well. Coaches are responsible for developing young players, and it would have been fun to watch him grow under Doc Rivers. If it tends to fall in the middle, he gets a 20. In fact, hes probably as adept as anyone at this, and his Synergy numbers, .68 points per play against the pick-and-roll, certainly back it up. Allen Iverson 11. If you want to get involved in the discussion or just follow along, #NBArank is the Twitter hashtag to use. It is one thing to be able to recognize the player that is in a tactically advantageous position, but it is another thing entirely to be able to deliver the ball to that player. David Robinson 6. Hes not looking at the ball-handler's chest, which makes him susceptible to fakes, so when his opponent breaks, Rose is momentarily frozen. Curry has developed into much more than a 3-point specialist. Frequently, teams would set the screen, and the point guard would just step behind the three-point line while Holiday was still underneath it (often all the way into the center of the lane) and drain wide-open treys. On the other hand, hes not tremendously athletic. 14.3 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 8.5 APG, .428 3P%, The player Second, having a five-point range on a 22-point scale prevents any one statistic from overly dominating the others. Hes a key component in Tom Thibodeaus defense, and frankly, with Thibs, you just dont stay on the court if youre not putting in the effort on the defensive end. The perimeter player gets rewarded statistically for what the center did, even though he actually played shoddy defense. Do players go under picks when they should go over them? That concludes the WAP portion of our programming schedule. In his rookie year, he was already averaging 2 steals per game with 0.2 blocks. Players Stats: 14.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 5.0 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.6 BPG. In his heyday, Parker could score 25 points a night and seldom made poor choices with the ball. Exploiting the fact that the opposing point guard is often an undersized player with limited strength, several modern point guards have developed games close to the basket that include being able to utilize the drop step, spin move, and fade away jump shot. He manages to defend the pick-and-roll reasonably well by doing something I can only call bouncing over picks. Top 50 Point Guards of All-Time: Magic, The Big O and Curry top the List By Jeff McDaniel | Jul 16, 2020, 5:35pm 1. 2. Top 5 Defensive Point Guards in NBA History - Basketball Articles Lowry looks around like he just woke up from a nap in a foreign city, and hes trying to figure out where hes supposed to be. The only point guard to win Defensive Player of the Year, Payton was a defensive nightmare and he never had a DWS lower than 1.2 during his 17-year career. A 12-time All-Defensive Team selection, a nine-time 1st team All-Defense and three-time 2nd team All-Defense, Bryant's 50.6 DWS ranks him 43rd overall. We compiled a list of the top 15 point guards of all time using wholly subjective metrics from the list of active players and a few other legends. -- Peterson, Teams As a result, hes been a member of the All-Defensive First Team four times and a member of the All-Defensive Second Team five times. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 13. He can be stagnant when his man doesnt have the ball. He has all the tools to be one: great reflexes and speed, and those long arms with big mitts on the end. Conley is inconsistent in how he applies effort on the court. Top NBA point guards for 2022-23: Ranking all 30 starters | Sporting News TMGNNS LEBRON Sun, 4:30p DEN CLE 2/23, 4:00p BOS IND 2/23, 4:00p DET ORL 2/23, 4:00p MEM PHI 2/23, 4:30p NOP TOR. Follow Sports Brief on Twitter for more trending and breaking news! Defensive Rating (DRtg) is the average number of points per 100 possessions a players team surrenders while he is on the court. Despite making it to the Western Conference Finals last season, he is yet to make an appearance in the NBA Finals. He doesnt make stupid mistakes, but he doesnt anticipate plays either. He doesnt have overwhelming effort that blows you away, but he has earnest effort. -- Pelton. Furthermore, he is a legend for the Phoenix Suns and one of the teams finest players. Also, he was disliked for flopping feigning a foul to get the ball back, yet he proved to be a key ingredient to the Spurs championship-winning formula. His Synergy numbers tell the story. Some would look at Conleys frontcourt and assumenot entirely incorrectlythat having Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol to back him up pads his stats. There was always that kid in high school or college who tried so hard to get decent grades. He is easily one of the physically weaker players in the league, even for his position. Now hes in Phoenix, and well see how both he and Jeff Hornacek develop in their new roles. When going against point guards who have a respectable jump shot, that becomes problematic. With the increased emphasis on the deep three, point guards account for a large portion of the league's top scorers. You also can follow along @ESPNNBA and on Facebook. Stats dont make a good argument, they make a good foundation for a good argument. Chalmers will fail at things, but not because he isnt trying. Later in his career, he even improved as an outside shooter, which contributed significantly to his longevity. If he had just a little more strength and could get through the screens just a tad bit quicker, then that ground could be eaten up ever so fractionally sooner, and he would be able to have that smidgen of success needed to effectively challenge those three-point shots. When Gibson played with the starters, the Bulls gave up 10 fewer points per 100 possessions. Aside from the centre, having the best point guard is critical to improving your game because every play starts with him. His 48.8 DWS is 48th all-time and the fourth most by a point guard. An adamant multi-disciplinary journalist, Brian possesses the instincts that are comfortably intrigued by covering and writing the details as minor as the size of Kawhi Leonards hands and as significant as the Trends to watch out for in 2022. Fairly straightforward, this takes into account height, length and strength. If you want the perfect picture of what Hinrich brings to the defensive end of the court, think of him tackling the runaway freight train, otherwise known as LeBron James, in the game which stopped the Miami Heats streak. In case you missed it, Jason Kidd was tops on the list with 75.1 DWS, good for 11th all-time. His score would be much worse if it werent for help defense from Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Chris Andersen frequently coming to his aid. He only gave up .66 points per play in isolation, but he yielded .86 to the ball-handler on the pick-and-roll. Their primary job is to facilitate scoring opportunities for their team, or sometimes for themselves. That being said, Joakim Noah was frequently required to bail him out of trouble. The undisputed first great point guard, Cousy remains the only guard in NBA history to be named First-Team All-NBA in 10 straight seasons. WAMS includes scouting. Hes able to stay in front of all but the quickest point guards in the league. He weighs in at only 175 pounds. That earned him the nickname Mr. This is what I mean by ubiquity. Does he know when to help and not to help? He has no All-Defensive team accolades, because those werent introduced until the 1968-1969 season. Back in the 80s and 90s as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets, Clyde The Glide Drexler and Michael Jordan constantly battled for the title of best shooting guard. In order to claim that title, both players had to play defense as well. Nash was never known as a strong defender, but he was capable of bothering opposing point guards to some extent. Born on July 15, 1990, Damian is an American professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association. Our booby prize winner is pictured above. Bledsoe just doesnt bring much energy to the defensive side of the court, which is a shame, because if he did, hed be a ball hawk. Thats a strong indication that Rose was not relying on help defense because that same help was there for C.J. The debate over whether it should have been a flagrant is mootclearly that got into James head because he was talking about it after the game. His career averages of 27 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 7.0 APG were arguably the best ever put up by a point guard when he retired in 1974. Knight doesnt always recognize the help situations, but when he does, he is usually effective. Bledsoes defensive numbers would be far worse if he werent getting helped out by Odom all the time. Gary Payton is one of the best ever. In terms of point guards, Magic is the finest there has ever been. Since the first time a professional basketball player dribbled a ball, weve seen some of the greatest point guards in history. He was an All-Star every year of his career and led the Lakers to nine NBA Finals appearances.

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