The top 10 best defenders of the last decade

lol... garnett at one? and i don't think heinrich should be there at all..
 
Why not Garnett at one? He lays out how he worked them out and then lists them. it's not a stats based list (even thou KG's stats are pretty good). I'd've thought Doug Christie mighta got a mention, Zo although he is well past his prime - he was downright giddy 10 years ago defensively....
I know Chad will probably put a plug in for Perk too!!
 
so garnett over battier, bowen, artest and the good shot blockers of the early 2000s, wallace, camby, mutombo? If garnett wasn't such a big all-star caliber type of player and he was stuck in min, I don't think he'd be in the top 3-4 spots.
 
Yep - Battier, Bowen etc can't cover virtually everyone on the floor with their versatility, height. KG can guard most centres, PF, sf's and also shut off penetration from most PG's - Notice I don't say all, as he can't stop Shaq and would struggle to stay with Kobe.... Camby and Mutombo were either not top 5 or not on the list because of the way they defend on ball or the pick and roll.
TMac said KG defends him better than anyone.
I don't get your point about Minny - if he was there he WOULDN'T be in the top 10? So he doesn't deserve to be because he's in Boston? Because he's an allstar?
That was EXACTLY the author's point - he had 2 stls, 2 blks and 13 boards a game for ages in Minny and defended the opponents best player - it was only once he went to Boston his defensive efforts got more press, won DPY etc....
 
i meant to say that if he wasn't in boston, nobody would notice his defense enough to say he's the best defender in the last decade.. imo, the hardest to defend is the 3 position because the best offensive players are there, kobe lbj tmac.. and artest and battier can do that to an extent no one else can or the center position because you've got major size to contend with.

You don't need to be versatile to be the best defensive player.. you just have to be the best at defending your position. coz if kg is #1 due to versatility (can guard most 3-4-5) then that automatically makes it hard for guards or centers to be the best defensive presence because of limited size and/or mobility? does that make sense?

I just feel KG shouldn't be in the top 3-4. He's an amazing defender but not the best defender.. If you're facing kobe or lebron, you'd rather have battier in there or artest. If you're facing dwight or shaq or even TD, i don't think kg is enough. And most of the time, teams face the problems at the 3 or 5 more than other positions.. especially the 4.
 
As a pure defender, I rate Ben Wallace way above Garnett. Battier and Artest too. Sure Garnett can drop down a weight to defend a SF and then body up a Centre, but I never saw him play any of those positions better than the above-mentioned played theirs.

Jack of all trades, and master of none.
 
Fair comment, I agree KG can't guard those elite 3 guys (basically I'm saying Lebron, Kobe here), he man's up against Duncan as good as anyone....Shaq is too big for him but he took him on last season!!!
If u were starting a team from scratch though and wanted a defensive stopper/organiser KG would be my pick every time - doesn't hurt what he brings offensively either...
Good debate and to be honest I think the guy drew up a good list....

---------- Post added at 04:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:49 PM ----------

As a pure defender, I rate Ben Wallace way above Garnett. Battier and Artest too. Sure Garnett can drop down a weight to defend a SF and then body up a Centre, but I never saw him play any of those positions better than the above-mentioned played theirs.

Jack of all trades, and master of none.
Really? Who couldn't he guard at the 4? Duncan possibly but tbh no one can - he's the best PF of all time.

Also why do u rate Wallace way above?
 
Fair comment, I agree KG can't guard those elite 3 guys (basically I'm saying Lebron, Kobe here), he man's up against Duncan as good as anyone....Shaq is too big for him but he took him on last season!!!
If u were starting a team from scratch though and wanted a defensive stopper/organiser KG would be my pick every time - doesn't hurt what he brings offensively either...
Good debate and to be honest I think the guy drew up a good list....

---------- Post added at 04:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:49 PM ----------


Really? Who couldn't he guard at the 4? Duncan possibly but tbh no one can - he's the best PF of all time.

Also why do u rate Wallace way above?

I meant for the 5 down to the 3 spot, mate.

As for Wallace, he was an absolute beast on defence if you're going back 5-6 years. Would play incredibly hard-nosed one-on-one defence and not require help defence at most stages. He is a 4-time DPOY. KG got it once, on a brilliant team (as if that didn't help) averaging only 1.1 BPG and 10 or so boards. Every one of Wallace's DPOY years was better defensively than that. Wallace even averaged more steals than he did in his DPOY year.

Don't get me wrong - KG is a great player, but rating him at #1 is a great disservice to a guy who was all about defence for so many years, and, quite frankly, was better at it.
 
Wow!! I think that the photo of Ben Wallace defending Mourning is confusing. I think he meant Mourning, not Ben Wallace. Eventough Wallace is a GREAT defender:thumbsup:. IMO
Of course I am biased since I am a Mourning fan:D
 
I meant for the 5 down to the 3 spot, mate.

As for Wallace, he was an absolute beast on defence if you're going back 5-6 years. Would play incredibly hard-nosed one-on-one defence and not require help defence at most stages. He is a 4-time DPOY. KG got it once, on a brilliant team (as if that didn't help) averaging only 1.1 BPG and 10 or so boards. Every one of Wallace's DPOY years was better defensively than that. Wallace even averaged more steals than he did in his DPOY year.

Don't get me wrong - KG is a great player, but rating him at #1 is a great disservice to a guy who was all about defence for so many years, and, quite frankly, was better at it.

Good points all of them. This is for the whole decade though and you'd be hard pushed to say Wallace has been a better defender for the whole time. KG was a great defender in 99 and he's a great defender now. Wallace may well have been a better 1-1 defender from say 03-06 but he's nowhere near that now. As u yourself said he was a beast going back 5 -6 years - I'll give u that but correct me if I'm wrong he was a bit player at the start of the decade and is becoming one again now because he can't score.
 
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