best defensive point guards of all time

Bledsoe runs through his rotations, but he rounds them off or overruns them. In his heyday, Parker could score 25 points a night and seldom made poor choices with the ball. The biggest reason appears to be a fundamental one. He yields a whopping 41.5 three-point percentage on the spot-up, which is just not good. Although Wilkens is best known as a head coach, he was once an outstanding athlete. For his time with the Phoenix Suns, Johnson is most known for his role alongside Charles Barkley. 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). Even though injuries caught up with him toward the end of his illustrious career, Bryant still battled as a defender when needed. -- Brad Doolittle, Robertson's averaging a triple-double in 1961-62 is probably overrated because it was a product of the fast-paced play in the 1960s, but his role in the Milwaukee Bucks' early '70s championship run is probably underrated. Needless to say, you dont see a lot of LeBron-Jamesian-chase-down blocks from Conley. Does he know when to help and not to help? His issues related to intelligence, detailed later, compound this problem. Watching video on Lin gave me one impression that stood out above everything else: his awareness of where he was on the court and where he needed to be. What he offers goes beyond the court. 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. Phoenix Suns (1996-98, 2004-12), Dallas Mavericks (1998-2004), Los Angeles Lakers (2012-15), Honors Johnson will go down as one of the top 25 all-time point guards because of his defensive presence. 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. Whats remarkable is how quickly he gets to the shooter and gets a hand in his face, even if its all the way to the corner three and the shooter is setting when Rose takes off. Both figures can be obtained by going to any players team page and then clicking on the appropriate name. The players are ranked according to their WAMS. 10-time All-Star, six-time All-NBA selection, nine-time All-D selection, co-Rookie of the Year (1994-95), Career stats Humility can often be a sign of intelligence at work, and it is with Hinrich. It just feels like there should be another notch where pride kicks in, he gets passionateor even angryand he hits another level. Im cheating a little here. Mario Chalmers lacks the speed and athleticism of most point guards in the league, and as a result, he usually gets the best seat in the arena to see various point guards blowing by on the way to the rim. Hes one of the most prolific players in the game. Adapting your system to every opponent and knowing their nuances is understandable. Scottie Pippen 5. However, he doesnt appear to have the same strength they do. There's no way Stockton & Curry are better than Isiah. Players Stats: 17.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 9.1 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.2 BPG, Honors: 3x All-Star, 5x All-NBA Selection, 1988-1989 Most Improved Player. Considering his challenges with speed, he did reasonably well with the pick-and-roll, again because of his size and strength to fight through picks. Players like Rose, Russell Westbrook and Kyrie Irving consistently cross him over and get past him. He is easily one of the physically weaker players in the league, even for his position. Gary Payton 9. He lacks the strength to effectively go over screens consistently, so he has to go under them. Why did you choose such a weird number scale? The Miami HEATs best player in franchise history, Dwyane Wade was an offensive maestro. Starter from the VCT lockin. He was transcendent. -- Rob Peterson, One can only imagine how impressive his career totals might have been if not for the HIV virus. There arent a lot of players that could lock down Michael Jordan, the greatest player of all time. Its not uncommon to see him challenge shots with both feet on the floor. You never have to question his effort or commitment. He simply doesnt have the same ability as the elite point guards to get up in the air, and that hinders his ability to defend the jump shot. 25. He benefits tremendously from help defense as previously mentioned, but that doesnt mean he doesnt also provide help defense. Dubs' Curry (leg) could return as soon as Sun. He uses his feet and body well, steering his man into the help defense when he knows hes not able to keep up. Dikembe Mutombo 7. Thats largely true. Hes led the league in steals per game five times in the last six years. The only thing is that the Bulls actually gave up 8.6 more points while he was on the court. Not Paul. You need to build something on it. -- Adande, Teams 6 (1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963), Career stats At 64, hes big enough to guard shooting guards, as well as point guards. Tim Duncan Strictly speaking, he should have a score closer to 20, but because of all the help he is in the locker room and practice, he gets a little leeway. It only looks at the data. That all-around game made Kidd one of the league's top point guards for nearly 20 years. Among the greatest point guards of all time, Tiny is among the finest ever. He thinks hes the biggest man on the court. If he tends to be the helped, he gets a worse score. Trail Blazers playoff failures have been a major blemish on both his game and his career so far. Brandon Knight has work intelligence. 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. Kevin Durant, surprisingly, also bails out his co-star a lot. The Glove was a nine-time All-Defensive Team selection, making the First Team all nine times. All pre-draft measurements were obtained from the database hosted on Draft Express. With the increased emphasis on the deep three, point guards account for a large portion of the league's top scorers. His length is better; he has a 65.75 wingspan. These combo point guards can surprise defenses. How much a player understands his role in the defense is measured here. It doesnt help to be fast if you dont use it, so Bledsoes score here is lower than you might expect. -- Doolittle, Over the past season and a half, Curry has played point guard as well as anyone else in NBA history. Some players defined their positions. Six blind men all go to see an elephant which they'venever encountered before. Wayne Gretzky on the court, Nash could hurt opponents by getting rid of the ball quickly or by holding on to it for so long that the defense finally made a mistake. He doesnt have overwhelming effort that blows you away, but he has earnest effort. Chris is also a leader on the defensive end of the court, having been named to nine All-Defensive Teams. During his career, he was selected to nine All-NBA Defensive Teams and five All-Star teams. Adande, Brad Doolittle, Tom Haberstroh and Kevin Pelton are NBA writers for ESPN.com. The perimeter player gets rewarded statistically for what the center did, even though he actually played shoddy defense. What are you crying about lmfao 03 Mar 2023 00:55:09 Chauncey Billups, or Mr. Take, for example, Carlos Boozer in 2012. Cousy, in many respects, was the Celtics spirit at the moment. Did they get pushed around easily? Rondos lack of a need for help defense allows Garnett to help more elsewhere. All-Time #NBArank continues with a countdown of the best shooting guards in NBA history. He might physically play below the rim, but few can touch how he plays above the neck. James Harden's age: stats, contract, family, dating, net worth in 2022 and more. He could be better than he is, but its hard to blame only him. It seems to be down to less than once a game. On Wednesday, we will have the top 10 shooting guards of all time, followed by small forwards, power forwards and centers. 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. Hes fearless, and no matter how large the big setting the pick is, he wont back down. His most notable awards include five NBA championships, three Finals MVPs, three MVPs, nine All-NBA First Team selections, and 12 All-Star appearances. The NBA is flush with dominant point guards. His on-court coaching and leadership is probably the biggest reason the Clippers had the eighth most-efficient defense in the NBA last year. His Synergy numbers tell the story. The bulk of his thefts came by stealing the dribble, not by shooting the passing lanes. The strength of this is that it shows what the other player does offensively. That being said, Joakim Noah was frequently required to bail him out of trouble. 18.7 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 9.9 APG, 2.3 SPG, The player Whether this is a result of his reputation being undeserved or him not putting forth the effort isnt hard to determine. Bledsoes defensive numbers would be far worse if he werent getting helped out by Odom all the time. Players Stats: 18.8 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 7.4 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.1 BPG, Honors: 6x All-Star, 5x All-NBA Selection, 1972-1973 Scoring Champion, Hall of Famer. Rose is arguably the most athletic point guard in the league, though Russell Westbrook could present a challenge. MVP (2014-15), two-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA selection, Career stats They work harder, and they get things eventually, but not quite as well. 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. The players listed below are our picks for the best point guards in NBA history. After the opponent scores, it is typically the point guard who brings the ball down the court to begin an offensive play. 10-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA selection, five-time All-D selection, Hall of Fame, Career stats Jack is one of those players that a lot of people dont know what he brings to a team in the locker room. Neither of those is really a criticism of Parker, but its a reality. There are a number of different types of metrics available from various websites. 7-time All-Star, 6-time All-NBA selection, 7-time All-D selection, Hall of Fame, Career stats Also with both, theyve shown more success utilizing their physical attributes on the offensive end than the defensive end. In essence, hes athletic enough to do a respectable job of what hes asked to do. That makes him eligible for inclusion on this list of best point guards. He has two ways of guarding the isopray for help or flop. Still, hes one of the best point guards of all time, and his stats show that hes a deserved All-Star. This is what I mean by ubiquity. Kyle Lowry has exceptional speed and athleticism. Curry has developed into much more than a 3-point specialist. Some of this is hard to know whether to ascribe to Bledsoe or to his former coach, Vinny Del Negro, who hones his X's and O's skills by playing tic-tac-toe online. The .72 points per play he gives up in isolation is elite-level defense. Interpreted as: best defensive rating with a minimum of 10000 minutes played point guards in NBA history. To say he gets pushed around would be generous. Additionally, Stockton was a fantastic shooter and defender, almost possessing no weaknesses on the floor at all. The foundation (the facts or stats) needs to be laid first, and then the house (opinions about how, or why, something is) is built on top of it. 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. Over 90 percent of the time, the ball-handler gets by him. Dr. A's weekly risers and fallers: Jeremy Sochan, Christian Wood make the list, NBA Power Rankings: Kevin Durant's return could rock the West, What NBA Finals runs from LeBron, Giannis can teach Jayson Tatum, They said it! Then our ESPN expert panel voted on thousands of head-to-head matchups, with voting based on both peak performance and career value. Thats helped him amass 47.3 DWS, 56th overall. Over the last decade, the best point guards such as Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, and others have dominated the position. Let's see who has made it to the top 10 best point guards of all time. A lot has been made of how an explosive offense is the way to captivate fans. His score represents the average of trying hard and not trying at all once the ball gets past him. Best Point Guard Defensive Rating 2022 | StatMuse Luka Doncic had the lowest defensive rating by a point guard in 2021-22, with a 106.5 rating. He has trouble compensating for his lack of size when challenging jump shots. Despite the fact that hes just 35, he has a limited amount of time left. However, who are the all-time top point guards? Players Stats: 24.0 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 6.5 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.3 BPG, Honors: 5x All-Stars, 4x All-NBA Selection, 2012-2013 Rookie of the Year. He affected the paradigm for overseas guards trying to break into the NBA. Its amazing he doesnt get punched sometimes. Additionally, the 10-time All-Star and Hall of Famer was an impressive defensive player in his own right. Hes not looking at the ball-handler's chest, which makes him susceptible to fakes, so when his opponent breaks, Rose is momentarily frozen. J.A. Paul, who was born on May 6, 1985, has long been regarded as one of the game's greatest point guards, a fact reinforced by his selection to the 75th Anniversary Team. As previously discussed, it is true that purely objective analysis does not, and cannot, tell the whole story, especially when it comes to something as dynamic as defense. -- Adams, Thomas was as tough as they come, could score with the best of them (such a sweet stroke) and, make no mistake, was the baddest of the Bad Boys. You can find him juggling the ball every Sunday on the field, with FIFA on his PlayStation as the night drill. To recap, Jason Kidd was the best defensive point guard, Michael Jordan skied above other shooting guards, John Havlicek paced all small forwards - for the time being - and the "Mailman . Jacks presence on a team is one of those things. There are some serious contenders in Steve Nash and Walter Frazier, so hell have to settle for fourth place in the race. Coming over as a 25-year-old rookie, Ginobili only had two seasons where he had fewer than one steal per game and he averaged 1.3 steals for his career. Defense is one of the more oft-overlooked aspects of basketball because it isnt as pretty as what happens on the offensive end. At 63, with a wingspan of almost 68, he has decent size. If he's not on the slide and he played 1,200 minutes, he should be on this list somewhere. Mr. The American former professional basketball player was born on August 9, 1928, and played point guard for the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1963 and shortly for the Cincinnati Royals during the 196970 season. Therefore, with a few exceptions, players were only considered if they played at least 1,200 minutes last season (which comes out to around 30 percent of possible minutes). When they do, he gets tangled up pretty badly; it happens so rarely, though, youd think he had eyes in the back of his head. Another major evaluation factor is the assist-to-turnover ratio, which reflects the decision-making skills of the player. In recent years, the sport's shift from a fundamental style of play to a more athletic, scoring-oriented game resulted in the proliferation of so-called combo guards at the point guard position. Some contend its not his fault that hes short, but its not Jarrett Jacks fault that hes slow either. All that was due to Bryant emulating Jordans relentless drive to win on both sides of the floor. Stephen Curry 4. This typically involves setting up plays on the court, getting the ball to the teammate in the best position to score, and controlling the tempo of the game. Taj Gibson, his backup, is a tremendous defensive player, which only amplified the effect of Boozers shortcomings. In the NBA, point guards generally range from 6ft 1in (1.85m) to 6ft 4in (1.93m) whereas in the WNBA, point guards are usually 5ft 9in (1.75m) or shorter. 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. When defending the isolation play, he gives up a nauseating .94 points per play, a strong indication of that. Being big and strong doesnt mean players automatically got higher scores, though. He has become one of the hardest working point guards in the league on both ends. He doesnt cheat in either direction, though. He never stops moving. The reason teams run so much pick-and-roll is that it works. (As an aside, in the slides, you will only see the original metric value, not the weighted number to determine the WAM. 18.9 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 6.1 APG, .490 FG%, The player That said, here are the five best defensive NBA point guards of all time, based on their DWS. He has been improving in that regard, but its taken a while, and there are still some maddening things. John Stockton 6. This can cause other players to become disinvolved in the offense. Pun intended. Parker has a hefty 1.05 points per play against defending the jumper, even though he typically gets there and challenges shots. He also uses his quick hands to steal the dribble, and he does so without taking risks. He fights through picks, going over them when he can and under them when he cant. Generally speaking, the point guard is the player in possession of the ball for the most time during a game and is responsible for maintaining possession of the ball for their team in the face of any pressure from the opponents. Later in his career, he even improved as an outside shooter, which contributed significantly to his longevity. His record and effect on the game, particularly offensively, are legendary, and its easy to see why. 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. He surpassed the achievements of every other guard in NBA history, except Russell Westbrooks achievements. Jrue Holiday. Anyways, we hope you enjoyed going through the rankings with Magic Johnson securing first place in the Top 10 NBA point guards of all time. Hes not going to get beaten back, and he doesnt give up in transition. Ultimately, Johnson's unselfishness earned him the title of greatest point guard of all time. Others with less physical prowess can dominate defensively simply because they pour everything into it. Offense is so much more than just scoring. Bob Cousey 8. Point guards are expected to be vocal floor leaders. It looked like teams designed plays counting on him being lazy. His 47.4 DWS is 54th overall, good for an average of 2.963 DWS per season, slightly edging Wade. He finished the game with the most career postseason points and the highest average in a playoff series. Emailed daily. But what kind of suit was he wearing on the last episode? Finals MVP, 12-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA selection, Hall of Fame, Career stats Triple Double and for good reason: hes fourth all-time in triple-doubles with 107. Follow Sports Brief on Twitter for more trending and breaking news! It is the same with his mental engagement in the game. Several sites track this, each in its slightly unique way, depending on its formula to calculate possessions. The point guard was always capable of scoring the ball at the . On the other, he so rarely allows his opponent to get past him that he doesnt need to rely on it either. He never leaves his man to help a defender that doesnt need help, but he always seems to be there when help is needed. If you are a basketball freak, you might be interested in knowing about NBA and other Best Basketball Leagues in the World. So I saddled up my workhorse, Synergy, and watched an hour or two of each of the top 15 WAM scores playing defense. Some would look at Conleys frontcourt and assumenot entirely incorrectlythat having Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol to back him up pads his stats. The most pure and one of the best point guards and playmakers in NBA History is John Stockton. Pauls been an All-Defensive Team selection nine times, being selected to the First Team seven times and the Second Team twice. Theres nothing wrong with knowing when you need it. It is a testament to Jarrett Jack that he makes this list. You can almost rate Chalmers improving basketball intelligence by how many times per game he gets yelled at by his superstar teammates. Thats the difference between what I call work intelligence and natural intelligence. Some people just have to work to pick things up. -- Pelton. Average players struggled, though. They tried just as hard as the valedictorian, but all they got were Bs. 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. The same applies to any decent basketball argument (or any other kind, for that matter). -- Peterson, Thomas' willingness to share the spotlight helped make the Bad Boy Pistons incredible, and he had a consistent ability to step up his game in the postseason during Detroit's title runs (and near miss in 1988). -- Doolittle, Cousy was an And-1 mix tape in black-and-white. In addition to the traditional role of the point guard, modern teams have found new ways to utilize the position. Smart people recognize their limitations. Teams When Gibson played with the starters, the Bulls gave up 10 fewer points per 100 possessions. Its hard to notice his effort, though, because of the consistency with which he gets destroyed. Speed is important; a speedy point guard is better able to create separation and space off the dribble, giving themselves room to work. When going against point guards who have a respectable jump shot, that becomes problematic. If youre not interested in that, feel free to skip ahead. You think, He cant be trying hard enough, but then you realize he is. Eight-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, seven-time All-D selection, Rookie of the Year (2005-06), Career stats Each touches a different part of the elephant, one an ear, another the torso and so on. One aspect of Roses year-long absence that gets lost is how much the team suffered defensively without him. The defensive stats arent a good way to determine the totality of defense, but they are a factor and shouldnt be ignored. In fact, its probably the most important thing. He has the speed to get there, but not the length to disrupt the shot once he does. Michael Cooper was a great defensive guard, evident when he won the Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) award in 1987, and James Worthy is a top-ten Small Forward of all-time and was one of the . As a result, the picks work extremely well. He tends to be beaten off the dribble more often than he should be, considering his physical advantages, but he also uses his physical ability to recover when he is beaten. Moncrief is well known for his defensive prowess. 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. Since the first time a professional basketball player dribbled a ball, weve seen some of the greatest point guards in history. 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. Nevertheless, its just as important. If it gives up fewer points, thats good. WAMS includes scouting. His net defensive rating is fairly close to even, and slightly above average for point guards. Hed also be more willing to provide it. Its amusing that some people say Rose doesnt apply himself on defense. I gave Paul the highest possible score here to offset the total ineptness of the coaching staff, and the frontcourt help he got last season, but he would have a high score regardless. Furthermore, he is a legend for the Phoenix Suns and one of the teams finest players. Why not a normal scale of one to 10? Hinrich has a bit more going for him in terms of size. What color was his tie? He has all the tools to be one: great reflexes and speed, and those long arms with big mitts on the end. You just dont see him make the wrong plays. Its probably no coincidence that Stephen Currys defense took a giant step forward this season playing alongside Jack, and you might see a similar progression from Kyrie Irving next year. He gets crossed over pretty easily, and not just by the Associations elite point guards. 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. He has above-average size and strength, but he doesnt play like it. Aside from his offensive prowess, Johnson had the ability to hit for power and lead the offense at a high level. He arguably makes more plays on his feet, both offensively and defensively, than anyone else. 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. Alex Caruso. While Rose was fairly criticized for not playing hard defensively prior to Thibodeau, that criticism is no longer accurate. His Synergy numbers compared to some of his team numbers validate that. You probably cant say right away, because you watched the storyline, not how Harvey dressed. Holiday knows what to do, but he doesnt always do it. He also shows poor awareness at times, getting surprised by picks as if the setter had just popped up from out of the floor like a Whac-A-Mole. After ball-handling, the most important areas of the game for a point guard are passing and scoring. Theres a running debate over the relative importance of stats versus watching. Stats tell you what happened, but you cant know why it happened unless you watch. Lillard has been one of the NBA's most dangerous scorers, capable of striking shots from anywhere on the floor. Archibald was the first player in league history to lead the league in both points scored and assists, making him a one-man offense. One of the great conundrums in rating defense is that teammates factor into it. 43 views, 0 likes, 0 loves, 0 comments, 0 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from BabyYo: NRG VS KOI Highlights. Pass-first points of the past have given way to dynamic creators who can score as well as set up teammates. 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.

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best defensive point guards of all time