Thomas was ultra-quick with the ball and, at any moment, could pull up for a deadly jump shot. Refusing to back down because youre afraid of being put on a poster is a good thing, not a bad thing. Players Stats: 12.6 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 8.7 APG, 1.9 SPG, 0.3 BPG, Honors: 10x All-Star, 6x All-NBA Selection, 1994-1995 Rookie of the Year, 9x All-Defensive Team Selection, Hall of Famer. Probably the most versatile point guard in NBA history, and perhaps a tad underrated given that the focus on his assists overshadowed how valuable his defense was. He has the most assists and steals of any player in NBA history and is a master of the pick & roll. Last season, when Rose was healthy early on, they gave up the thirdmost, 16.3 points. They must also be able to adapt to what the defense is allowing and must control the pace of the game. Chris Paul had the awkward situation this year of being smarter than his head coach, Vinny Del Negro. By taking the total number of plays and the total number of minutes (regular and postseason combined, because Synergy just throws it all together) we can determine how many times per 36 minutes a player was the initial defender on the play. Jrue Holiday is not fast so much as he is quick. His lateral movement and reaction time are exceptional, and thats indicated by his isolation defense. These point guard rankings will be the first of five articles. Stockton was a member of two gold medal teams and twice reached the NBA finals during his remarkable career. Hes led the league in steals per game five times in the last six years. In all, Wade was a three-time All-Defensive Team selection (all on the 2nd team), his 1620 steals rank 31st all-time and hes had six seasons where he ranked top-20 in steals per game. His net defensive rating of 4.2 is an indication of both a lack of his helping and asking for help. Sportbrief has published an article about James Harden's age: stats, contract, family, dating, net worth in 2022 and more. He joined the NBA in 1960 and quickly established himself, averaging 30.5 points per game and winning Rookie of the Year. He was the league's Rookie of the Year in 1966-67 and was named to the All-NBA First Team twice and the Second Team once, and he appeared in seven NBA All-Star Games. For each player, I watched between one and two hours of footage of defense, taking account of specific things and grading them in five different areas. The problem is that sometimes players are so inept, they skew the stats of other players. If theres a weakness, though, its that when he comes up against the elite offensive point guards, he will get beaten in isolation. This is where everything focuses on Westbrook. If it gives up fewer points, thats good. Even though he normally does, he shouldnt have to and wouldnt if he were playing smarter. That said, here are the five best defensive NBA point guards of all time, based on their DWS. He uses quickness to capably guard the perimeter, but thats in large part because hes not always defending the elite point guards. You cant build a house first, and then pour the foundation underneath it. He appears to communicate the wisdom hes accrued to his teammates. To absolutely nobodys surprise, Michael Jordan is the best defensive shooting guard in NBA history. Hes just unable able to get high enough to legitimately challenge the shot. Injuries robbed Rose of the opportunity to become one of the games top five point guards. -- Peterson, A menace on both ends of the court, Frazier was at his best in the 1970 NBA Finals when tallied 36 points, 19 assists, 7 rebounds in a title-clinching Game 7. Allen Iverson 11. Having above-average size (height, muscle) is considered advantageous, although size is secondary to situational awareness, speed, quickness, and ball handling skills. The point guard was always capable of scoring the ball at the . Ranking 50 Greatest Point Guards in NBA History Photo Gallery | NBA.com Teams G League WNBA BAL NBA 2K NBA Store NBA League Pass Tickets Schedule Team News Gameday Youth Basketball Shop. This proves problematic, especially in isolation, where Williams usually just backs up. Defensive rebounds are generally undervalued, although its also true that all defensive rebounds arent the same. While most of these stats are adjusted for minutes, the problem surfaces that bench players, playing fewer minutes, can appear to be better than they are. After the All-Star break, when Rose hardly played, that number fell to 17.8 and the Bulls dropped to ninth. It might not seem like much, but for most players, this covered around 30-40 games' worth of defense. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google. By NBA standards, he jumps like an elephant and runs like a turtle (and not one of those fast turtles youve heard tell of eithera slow turtle). MVP (1956-57), 13-time All-Star, 12-time All-NBA selection, Hall of Fame, Championships Players Stats: 23.2 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 8.3 APG, 1.8 SPG, 0.3 BPG, Honors: 2016-2017 MVP, 9x All-Star, 8x All-NBA Selection, 2x Scoring Champion. Even though hes been injured a lot, Paul is averaging over two steals a game for his career. Even though he was 38 years old when he won his first NBA championship with the Mavericks, he had two trips to the NBA Finals with the Nets. He has a barrel chest, broad shoulders and 20 pounds on most point guards, so he gives the appearance of dwarfing players that are technically as tall as he is. At 5ft 3in (1.60m) the shortest player in NBA history, Muggsy Bogues enjoyed 889 games in a 14-year career as a point guard. Some players with tremendous athleticism just dont apply it on both ends of the court. Lowry just seems to be lost on defense much of the time. Lin plays with consistent effort on defense, but hes stuck in fourth gear. The only thing keeping Thomas off this list is his brief career by star standards. You also can follow along @ESPNNBA and on Facebook. Williams tends to play defense, but he only seems to do the minimum. The five best defensive point guards of all time Jarrod Castillo Dec 16, 2019; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Chris Paul (3) directs his team during a play against the. This can cause other players to become disinvolved in the offense. The best way to track how effective a player is on the defensive end is by looking at their cumulative defensive win shares. With the increased emphasis on the deep three, point guards account for a large portion of the league's top scorers. 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 Even though hes been injured a lot, Paul is averaging over two steals a game for his career. All rights reserved. Why did you choose such a weird number scale? Take, for example, Carlos Boozer in 2012. James Harden's age: stats, contract, family, dating, net worth in 2022 and more. The strength of this is that it shows what the other player does offensively. Sometimes that happens, but not all that often. Jordans inclusion as the best defensive shooting guard isnt surprising considering his relentless attitude to winning. John Stockton 6. Later in his career, he even improved as an outside shooter, which contributed significantly to his longevity. Thats the advantage of the scouting portion. Del Negro just worried about the matchup without ever developing a true defensive system or identity with the Clippers. He was also an outstanding playmaker and a solid scorer with a strong mid-range game. -- Pelton, Perhaps the most incredible part of the Big O's triple-double season is that he finished third in MVP voting (behind winner Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, who averaged 50.4 PPG). He thinks hes the biggest man on the court. Since elite offensive players tend to have a higher usage rate, players that guard elite offensive players should also have more defensive plays. It seems to be down to less than once a game. The players are ranked according to their WAMS. Opponents dont have much success getting around him. Bucks: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, Rockets vs. Spurs: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, Hawks vs. Heat: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, Pistons vs. Cavaliers: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, Raptors vs. Wizards: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, Russell Westbrook still wants Sixth Man of Year award from time with Lakers, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Does he make stupid fouls or smart fouls? All-Time #NBArank continues with a countdown of the best shooting guards in NBA history. Williams needs to do a better job of forcing opponents out of the middle and into the strong side of his defense, but he tends to fall straight back instead, letting them into the lane, which allows for easy scores. So I saddled up my workhorse, Synergy, and watched an hour or two of each of the top 15 WAM scores playing defense. After all, as his name implies, Billups was known for taking and making huge shots in order to help his team win. In all, Jordans 64.1 DWS rank him 21st all-time. He does get a bit of a bump here for his rebounding. He could create at an elite level while also scoring off the dribble from the midrange. Who are the best defensive point guards in the NBA, and how are they determined? In the history of the combine, only nine players have recorded better sprint and agility scores, and of those, only three had a better vertical than his 37.5 inches. He does those things; he just doesnt do them very hard. MVP (1963-64), 12-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA selection, Rookie of the Year (1960-61), Hall of Fame, Career stats Hes not as horrible as some people would make it sound. The official cause of death of Flashdance singer Irene Cara has been determined. Emailed daily. Cousy, in many respects, was the Celtics spirit at the moment. This is not so common anymore, as most coaches are now solely specialized in coaching and are non-players. 43 views, 0 likes, 0 loves, 0 comments, 0 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from BabyYo: NRG VS KOI Highlights. Dennis Johnson. Whatever else you want to say about Brandon Knight, just dont say he never tries. The Glove was a nine-time All-Defensive Team selection, making the First Team all nine times. His 48.8 DWS is 48th all-time and the fourth most by a point guard. Gary Payton, widely regarded as one of the best defensive point guards in NBA history, saw a similar decline in his defensive abilities after the age of 35. He led the league in total steals this year and did so without playing a lot of gambling defense. With the increased emphasis on the deep three, point guards account for a large portion of the league's top scorers. Thats when you see him start to do things like not close out on shooters, merely waving his hand in the air instead. His on-court coaching and leadership is probably the biggest reason the Clippers had the eighth most-efficient defense in the NBA last year. 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. Hes listed at 62 which seems about right, and hes broad-shouldered and strong for his height, but he also seems to have shorter limbs, although I cant find his wingspan listed on Draft Express. There is no doubt about it: Steph Curry is the second-best in the top 10 point guards of all time. Not everything about a players value can be seen even through advanced stats, or even while hes on the court. However, when the game is on the line, he makes the right decision. According to Hoops Stats, in his MVP season, the Bulls gave up the fewest points to opposing point guards. Players Stats: 14.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 5.0 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.6 BPG, Honors: 1978-1979 Finals MVP, 5x All-Star, 9x All-Defense Selection, 2x All-NBA Team Selection, Hall of Famer. He could be better than he is, but its hard to blame only him. Exciting feature: Check out news exactly for YOU find "Recommended for you" block and enjoy! The list of the best defensive NBA point guards for 2022-23 starts off with two of the elite perimeter defenders overall. Total Defensive Plays per 36 Minutes, or TDP/36 is simply the total number of defensive rebounds, steals and blocks a player accrues every 36 minutes. Trail Blazers playoff failures have been a major blemish on both his game and his career so far. He bulls through picks well and is not afraid to go over them. 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. He is entirely too aggressive. In his rookie year, he was already averaging 2 steals per game with 0.2 blocks. On top of that, when Parkers man slips past him, he has one of the best defenders in the history of the universe, Tim Duncan, to help him out. The game has been graced by several incredible players whose names live on even after they retire. -- Adande, Teams SHOCKING one of the best defensive point guards of all time played great defense on a 20 year project old player. -- Doolittle, The great Knicks ball-movement offense started with him. What are you crying about lmfao 03 Mar 2023 00:55:09 Paul is just listed at just 60, and that might be generous. Right now, Westbrook's 11.2 assists and 47.5% assist rate leads the league this season. Adapting your system to every opponent and knowing their nuances is understandable. This is what I mean by ubiquity. The Miami HEATs best player in franchise history, Dwyane Wade was an offensive maestro. Jack gets beat and bailed out frequently by his teammates. That said, hes 61st all-time in steals with 1392 and he had six seasons in the top-20 in steals. In his first season, he specialized in defense and could stop almost every point guard in the league on a regular basis. Broadly speaking, over 7,000 pieces of data on 226 players, in 16 different categories, were compiled into a database. He just cant do anything about it. 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. Also with both, theyve shown more success utilizing their physical attributes on the offensive end than the defensive end. Jrue Holiday. Even the fastest point guards tend to get bottled up. He has a high basketball IQ, and he has that veteran savvy thing going for him, too. However, the other side of the ball cant be overlooked because as the saying goes: defense wins championships.. Even his athletic scores dont indicate greatness. A point guard should know when and how to instigate a fast break and when and how to initiate the more deliberate sets. In fact, no drafted guard has ever measured a worse sprint, vertical and agility test. Many times, the point guard is referred to by announcers, as a "coach on the floor" or a "floor general". The Clippers never quite seemed to have a true defensive identity, even if they were improved. Hes controlled in how he plays hard. His helter-skelter wizziness has him flying around the court, and sometimes its good. Photos: Top 10 NBA Point Guards Of All Time. -- Adande, Possessed incredible court vision and creativity, all while orchestrating the frenetic game pace of his era. This is one of those cases where scouting helps. Paul was able to keep you at bay on one side of the court while dominating the other with his scoring and passing abilities. 25.7 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 9.5 APG, .485 FG%, The player He falls into his rotations smoothly. A point guard should always look out for teammates and be able to pass well. Some players defined their positions. Between his height, lack of real effort on closing out and taking too long to figure out where hes supposed to be (if he ever figures it out all), he becomes the perfect storm for easy pickins. Bledsoe repeatedly got beatenmuch more frequently than Paulyet Odom consistently had his back, blocking or altering shots. Furthermore, he is a legend for the Phoenix Suns and one of the teams finest players. Parker has a hefty 1.05 points per play against defending the jumper, even though he typically gets there and challenges shots. His Synergy numbers compared to some of his team numbers validate that. He spent his entire NBA career (19842003) as a point guard for the Utah Jazz, and the team made the playoffs in each of his 19 seasons. Honors: 1978-1979 Finals MVP, 5x All-Star, 9x All-Defense Selection, 2x All-NBA Team Selection, Hall of Famer. During each of his five NBA championship rings, he was one of the finest players in the league. Therefore, its a Theoretically Asked Questions, or TAQ. -- Pelton, So precise with his passes and timely with his shots. To say he gets pushed around would be generous. But hes slightly built, and that raises some issues, especially when hes caught a fraction of a second behind a play. Rose is arguably the most athletic point guard in the league, though Russell Westbrook could present a challenge. Chauncey Billups, or Mr. FOXSports.com - Best all-time point guards at the Wayback Machine (archived July 12, 2005), accessed 2008-02-09 This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 17:58 . Its like someone took a normal-sized person and stretched out the arms and hands to make him. Defense is one of the more oft-overlooked aspects of basketball because it isnt as pretty as what happens on the offensive end. He led the NBA in scoring in only his second season, 1967-68, with 27.1 points per game. Lillard has been one of the NBA's most dangerous scorers, capable of striking shots from anywhere on the floor. Defensive Rating (DRtg) is the average number of points per 100 possessions a players team surrenders while he is on the court. Its not uncommon to see him challenge shots with both feet on the floor. He tends to rely on his speed to compensate for his lack of mass. Players Stats: 14.3 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 8.5 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.1 BPG, Honors: 2x MVP, 8x All-Stars, 7x All-NBA Selection, Hall of Famer. -- Adande, He led the NBA in assists nine straight seasons from 1987 to 1996. He had unusual strength for his size, quick feet, elite hands, and timing to help him hold down opponents one-on-one and rack up steals. Hes one of the slower point guards in the league now, but in spite of that, hes almost ubiquitous at times. His 48.8 DWS is 48th all-time and the fourth most by a point guard. Averaging 1.5 steals per game, Wade could block transition shots as well with the best of them. Im cheating a little here. You can be the best shooter in the world, but you can't score if you don't get the ball. Hes only 63, which is relatively good size for a point guard, but he just seems bigger. He plays longer than he actually is. What color was his tie? Scroll below to see where Stephen Curry ranks among the best point guards in the NBA. If it tends to fall in the middle, he gets a 20. James is well-known for his incredible skill and ability to score big points, which frequently help his team win crucial games. As one of the elite point guards in the NBA, you would expect him to have elite athleticism, but he actually doesnt. Perhaps he just grew weary of Doug Collins' act. For this reason, a small penalty was exacted for every minute under 30 minutes, and a small bonus was provided over 30 minutes. He tends to use that speed and athleticism well when hes in position, too. If you just look at his measurables, Chris Paul is not impressive. In nine seasons with the Detroit Pistons, plus two with the Washington Bullets and one with the Boston Celtics, Bing gathered 18,327 points in 901 competitions (20.3 ppg). Whether this is a result of his reputation being undeserved or him not putting forth the effort isnt hard to determine. It seems so much of Conley is either there or not there; you get it or you dont get it. He could play any spot on the court as well. But, there is one only shooting guard that leapfrogged over all others. Johnson had a knack for scoring against everyone and racked up impressive numbers throughout the course of his career. There arent a lot of players that could lock down Michael Jordan, the greatest player of all time. Pass-first points of the past have given way to dynamic creators who can score as well as set up teammates. Not to mention that he is an elite finisher around the rim, shooting 61.5 per cent on 5-foot attempts. His high rebound rate, while partly indicative of his speed is also a result of positioning, which relates to his IQ. 25. Pauls been an All-Defensive Team selection nine times, being selected to the First Team seven times and the Second Team twice. Hes still learning to apply that tremendous athleticism on the defensive end of the court, though. And his athleticism gives him a leg up, which helps him dominate. If hes on the court, hes moving at full speed. Point guards are expected to be vocal floor leaders. (Most defenders let the opponent by more than half the time. That makes sense since Parker has assumed the primary responsibility on offense and theres no reason to wear himself out playing defense. That Paul was able to keep the Clippers on track through much of the season with the ever-changing defensive schemes the team had is pretty miraculous. Top 10 Point Guards of All Time Best NBA Point Guards, NBA and other Best Basketball Leagues in the World, Facebook and Twitter takedown hackers targeting Ukraine political figures and military officials via fake accounts, Britney Spears called out Fans that She felt Sick to her stomach after Family plans Intervention, Stephen tWitch Boss passed away intestate, wife Allison Holker has filed Estate Control. Taj Gibson, his backup, is a tremendous defensive player, which only amplified the effect of Boozers shortcomings. When you combine that with his 40-inch vertical, you have a player that gets higher (139 inches) than any point guard in the leagueeven Russell Westbrook. The true driving force of his partnership with Karl Malone. -- Doolittle, Perhaps someday Paul will reach the conference finals and we can focus more on his incredible accomplishments as a scorer, distributor and defender and less on his teams' inability to turn them into deep playoff runs. He probably can even tell you where the hot dog vendor and mascot are. Its amazing he doesnt get punched sometimes. Gary Payton 12. Some contend its not his fault that hes short, but its not Jarrett Jacks fault that hes slow either. He tends to do the right thing, but then hell do something kind of stupid that makes you wonder what hes thinkingeven if what hes thinking is right. Conley looked away from Billups and was pointing vehemently to Paul, trying to tell Allen to get over there and cover him.

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best defensive point guards of all time