best defensive point guards of all time best defensive point guards of all time

He never stops moving. You probably cant say right away, because you watched the storyline, not how Harvey dressed. Over the last decade, the best point guards such as Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, and others have dominated the position. Point guards must be able to maintain possession of the ball in crowded spaces and in traffic and be able to advance the ball quickly. A defensive point guard will also pressure opponents in passing lanes in an attempt to generate steals and scoring opportunities for their own team. Im cheating a little here. The corresponding WAM or WAMS scores indicate how many points a group of like-skilled players on the court would theoretically give up in 100 possessions. So the problem isnt a lack of speed; its a lack of applying it. Chauncey Billups, or Mr. Notable point guards of the WNBA include five-time champion Sue Bird, her Olympic teammate Diana Taurasi (the only two basketball players of either gender to earn five Olympic gold medals for basketball[1]) and Courtney Vandersloot. In terms of career statistics and postseason accomplishments, he ranks as the NBAs fourth-best point guard of all time. Players Stats: 17.7 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 8.2 APG, 1.6 SPG, 0.1 BPG, Honors: 5x All-Star, 5x All-NBA Selection. Notably, several modern point guards have used a successful style of post play, a tactic usually practiced by much larger centers and forwards. -- Peterson, He was the forerunner of Magic Johnson and LeBron James, and it's telling that both of those stars revere the Big O. He affected the paradigm for overseas guards trying to break into the NBA. If it gives up fewer points, thats good. He does an air-tight job of keeping players out of the perimeter. Golden State Warriors (2009-present), Honors The players are ranked according to their WAMS. Six blind men all go to see an elephant which they'venever encountered before. He lacks the strength to effectively go over screens consistently, so he has to go under them. 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. WAMS includes scouting. OPER is the Opponents Player Efficiency Rating and has been tracked by 82games.com since 2008. Some players get caught out of place, but they know theyre out of place. David Robinson 6. As a result, hes been a member of the All-Defensive 1st Team four times and a member of the All-Defensive 2nd Team five times. Nash was never known as a strong defender, but he was capable of bothering opposing point guards to some extent. Here he is. Knight gets almost no help whatsoever from help defense. He might physically play below the rim, but few can touch how he plays above the neck. Even when picks are set behind his back, he instinctively knows they are there and just steps over them seamlessly. His foot speed is as good as anyone's in the league, and you cant measure that. Bledsoe is not a great help defender, in spite of boasting a -4.9 net defensive rating. Magic had unparalleled vision; he could see players get open and deliver the ball before they even realized they were open. Hes like a runner trying to run a mile by alternating between walking and sprinting 100 yards at a time. In fact, its probably the most important thing. But hes slightly built, and that raises some issues, especially when hes caught a fraction of a second behind a play. In addition to the traditional role of the point guard, modern teams have found new ways to utilize the position. Paradoxically tough on the court and flashy off of it, Frazier epitomized the '70s-era backcourt style in which roles were less defined. And his athleticism gives him a leg up, which helps him dominate. He leaves talented shooters alone to go double-team bad shooters. The same applies to any decent basketball argument (or any other kind, for that matter). Chasing down balls, hell reach from behind and disrupt the dribble. All that was due to Bryant emulating Jordans relentless drive to win on both sides of the floor. Players Stats: 16.5 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 6.7 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.2 BPG. 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. Similarly, while each of the advanced and/or traditional metrics has value, each also misses something. Since elite offensive players tend to have a higher usage rate, players that guard elite offensive players should also have more defensive plays. The more often he is the primary defender, the more likely he is to be responsible for guarding the player who is getting the most plays offensively. He has the speed to get there, but not the length to disrupt the shot once he does. He surpassed the achievements of every other guard in NBA history, except Russell Westbrooks achievements. Perhaps next year the Raptors will see better times, and well see less of that kind of behavior, but its a harmful habit to have picked up. The reason teams run so much pick-and-roll is that it works. Simply put, defensive win shares (DWS) are defined by how many wins a player produces based on his defensive ability. In other words, giving up 15 points to Russell Westbrook is much more impressive than giving up 14 to Derek Fisher, but the raw stats dont tell you who was guarding whom. His 48.8 DWS is 48th all-time and the fourth most by a point guard. Hes one of the most prolific players in the game. The five-time All-Star and four-time All-NBA selection has averaged more than 24 points per game since being drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers in 2012. Hes fearless, and no matter how large the big setting the pick is, he wont back down. He just cant do anything about it. At 64, hes big enough to guard shooting guards, as well as point guards. Gary Payton was born on July 23, 1968, and is widely regarded as one of the best defensive point guards of all time. He never leaves his man to help a defender that doesnt need help, but he always seems to be there when help is needed. You cant build a house first, and then pour the foundation underneath it. His quickness and slim frame allow him to slip through gaps in the defence and create more opportunities for himself. Players Stats: 15.2 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 5.4 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.2 BPG, Honors: 2003-2004 Finals MVP, 5x All-Star, 3x All-NBA Selection, 2x All-Defensive Team Selection. He gave up just .87 points defending the spot-up (making him one of the few players to defend the spot-up better than the iso). In the MVP vote for the 1967-1968 season, he finished second behind the unstoppable Wilt Chamberlain. The .72 points per play he gives up in isolation is elite-level defense. In his heyday, Parker could score 25 points a night and seldom made poor choices with the ball. 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. Were shooters able to shoot over them? Kyrie Irving is unquestionably one of the greatest point guards of all time. 76ers vs. However, hes not the slowest point guard in the league either, and when hes not biting on the crossovers, hes able to do a decent job of staying in front of most average point guards. Additionally, Stockton was a fantastic shooter and defender, almost possessing no weaknesses on the floor at all. He did it not once, not twice, but three times. Thats helped him amass 47.3 DWS, 56th overall. 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. Los Angeles Lakers (1979-91, 1995-96), Honors For that reason, subjective analysis was also included. In his 20 seasons, Bryant averaged 2.5 DWS and 1.4 steals per year. 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. They say that defense is mostly about effort. The seven-time All-Star was one of the best two-way guards of his time, and his performance in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA FInals remains one for the ages. It will be interesting to see if his new coach, Jason Kidd, can help him to work on this, as Kidd was a terrific help defender. Stockton is one of the greatest assist players in NBA history, if not the greatest. 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. Eventually, that learning has to become instinct, though. Thats largely true. The Clippers never quite seemed to have a true defensive identity, even if they were improved. 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. It doesnt help to be fast if you dont use it, so Bledsoes score here is lower than you might expect. While Rose is slightly faster, Westbrook is slightly bigger. One of the greatest rebounding guards of all time. With the increased emphasis on the deep three, point guards account for a large portion of the league's top scorers. 7-time All-Star, 6-time All-NBA selection, 7-time All-D selection, Hall of Fame, Career stats It is startling to see the regularity with which opponents blow past Deron Williams. Magic Johnson won the National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player Award three times in his career. When going against point guards who have a respectable jump shot, that becomes problematic. The Cleveland Cavaliers relied heavily on Kyrie Irving to take and hit huge shots, even when he was partnered with LeBron James. 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. When we watch basketball, we get general impressions of defense, but the storyline is whats happening with the ball. He sometimes gets tangled up and left hopelessly out of the play. While no one always guards the best player, some players are much more likely to be guarding the other teams elite players, which makes them appear weaker defensively. 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. Jrue Holiday is making . Hinrich always had a high basketball IQ. There's no way Stockton & Curry are better than Isiah. He actually plays his best games against his best opponents. Seemingly overhauling your system for every opponent is not. He bulls through picks well and is not afraid to go over them. 24. His Synergy numbers compared to some of his team numbers validate that. Then, when players pull up and shoot, he doesnt use his length to close and get a hand in the face of the shooter. Either way he chases the ball until he catches it. In all, Jordans 64.1 DWS rank him 21st all-time. If you dont want to consider them, then dont. He also plays through to the end of the play when his man doesnt have the ball, which is not something you see all point guards do. One of the great conundrums in rating defense is that teammates factor into it. That said, here are the NBAs five best defensive shooting guards of all-time, based on their DWS. 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. This is where everything focuses on Westbrook. 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. A point guard primarily defends on the perimeter, just as they primarily play on the perimeter on offense. However, when the game is on the line, he makes the right decision. Although Wilkens is best known as a head coach, he was once an outstanding athlete. If someone goes past him, hell usually just wave goodbye. Thats rarely going to be because of a mental error, though. This proves problematic, especially in isolation, where Williams usually just backs up. Finals MVP, 12-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA selection, Hall of Fame, Career stats I like to compare it to the relationship between a foundation and a house. Since I always get asked "Where's ___________?" His quick feet give him tremendous lateral movement. He doesnt cheat in either direction, though. 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. There are a number of different types of metrics available from various websites. He literally may be the least athletic guard in the Association. Players Stats: 20.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 6.0 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.2 BPG. Teams 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. In balance he was a plus, but his deficiencies cant be ignored. Having above-average size (height, muscle) is considered advantageous, although size is secondary to situational awareness, speed, quickness, and ball handling skills. Why not a normal scale of one to 10? Lin plays with consistent effort on defense, but hes stuck in fourth gear. These combo point guards can surprise defenses. Whatever else you want to say about Brandon Knight, just dont say he never tries. Of course, sometimes his opponent scored, too. 1987 Lakers are often seen as one of the greatest teams ever. Players Stats: 14.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 5.0 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.6 BPG. That had the effect of distorting Pauls on/off numbers. He finished the game with the most career postseason points and the highest average in a playoff series. On the other hand, he was frequently bailing out whoever was playing shooting guard on numerous occasions. These point guard rankings will be the first of five articles. Taj Gibson, his backup, is a tremendous defensive player, which only amplified the effect of Boozers shortcomings. ESPN ranked the Top 10 PGs of all time & they have @iamisiahthomas ranked 5th. His net defensive rating of 4.2 is an indication of both a lack of his helping and asking for help. He also has such superior court awareness that most picks dont catch him squarely, and he just glides over them. He averages 1.8 steals per game. Johnson is widely recognized as one of the all-time great point guards, particularly for his defense. -- Peterson, Teams Probably no point guard in the league does a better job of recovering defensively than Rose does. If you just look at his measurables, Chris Paul is not impressive. When he was at his peak, Rose was one of the greatest point guards of all time, and he merits a spot in the top 15. Several sites track this, each in its slightly unique way, depending on its formula to calculate possessions. 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. Neither of those is really a criticism of Parker, but its a reality. Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard, two of the better perimeter defenders in the league, often take up the responsibility for guarding the best point guards. (Note: Players chosen only if they have played as a shooting guard for most, if not all, of their career.). He stands third among the top 10 point guards of all time. Thomas was ultra-quick with the ball and, at any moment, could pull up for a deadly jump shot. Perhaps the most unstoppable offensive player in NBA history, Jordan decimated and demoralized his foes on the defensive end. The Top 100 will begin to roll out next week. On the one hand, he doesnt seem cogent enough of his surroundings most of the time to really offer any. The perimeter player gets rewarded statistically for what the center did, even though he actually played shoddy defense. The most pure and one of the best point guards and playmakers in NBA History is John Stockton. Players Stats: 25.7 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 9.5 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.1 BPG, Honors: 1963-1964 MVP, 12x All-Star, 11x All-NBA Selection, 1960-1961 Rookie of the Year, Hall of Famer. MVP (1963-64), 12-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA selection, Rookie of the Year (1960-61), Hall of Fame, Career stats 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. Although Jordan won that battle, theres nothing wrong with being named the third-best defensive player at his position and one of the best shooting guards of all time. He gave up 1.01 points per play on the spot-up last year. In his first season, he specialized in defense and could stop almost every point guard in the league on a regular basis. -- Adande, Teams In systems like the Grizzlies play, the point guard is the first line of defense. 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. Some would look at Conleys frontcourt and assumenot entirely incorrectlythat having Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol to back him up pads his stats. When he tries, Lowry can be a solid defensive player, but that whole when he tries qualifier is pretty significant. Rajon Rondo is probably the most athletic player in the league who plays most of his game below the rim. Pass-first points of the past have given way to dynamic creators who can score as well as set up teammates. He defends pick-and-rolls exceptionally well because hes able to shake off picks without much trouble, even pushing around stronger players like Carlos Boozer or Robin Lopez at times. Hes only 63, which is relatively good size for a point guard, but he just seems bigger. In 2021, Paul became the first player in NBA history to score over 20,000 points and dish out over 10,000 assists before LeBron James followed suit later in 2022. 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. Holiday has ample size for a point guard, standing a shade over 64 in shoes, and weighing in at 205 pounds. Interpreted as: best defensive rating with a minimum of 10000 minutes played point guards in NBA history. Dallas Mavericks (1994-96, 2008-12), Phoenix Suns (1996-2001), New Jersey Nets (2001-08), New York Knicks (2012-13), Honors I doubt its much beyond his height. Nixon played 6 seasons with the Lakers, making the All-Star Teams in 1982 and 1982 when he posted 17.6 PPG and 17.2 PPG respectively. 1. Marcus Smart. 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. If he tends to be the helped, he gets a worse score. Rose is arguably the most athletic point guard in the league, though Russell Westbrook could present a challenge. That said, here are the five best defensive NBA point guards of all time, based on their DWS. 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. Only two NBA championships would make him the second-best player in NBA history. Additionally, the 10-time All-Star and Hall of Famer was an impressive defensive player in his own right. Honors: 7x All-Star, 3x All-NBA Selection, 1966-1967 Rookie of the Year, 1967-1968 Scoring Champion, Hall of Famer. He does such a good job of it while the ball is in front of him, theres no reason he couldnt do it after the ball-handler gets past him. 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. 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. Perhaps the best word to describe his defense is lollygaggy.. 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. An All-Star in every full season that he played for the Boston Celtics, six-time NBA champion Bob Cousy was an all-around player: he averaged 18.4 points, 7.5 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game. 2. Does he make stupid fouls or smart fouls? A point guard should always look out for teammates and be able to pass well. 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. Whenever anyone imagines a point guard, chances are theyre thinking of Utah Jazz legend John Stockton. 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. His issues related to intelligence, detailed later, compound this problem. The classic definition of a point guard, orchestrating offense and shooting when necessary. The next three slides will tell how this particular sausage was made. Players Stats: 18.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 9.5 APG, 2.2 SPG, 0.1 BPG, Honors: 10x All-Stars, 8x All-NBA Selection, 2005-2006 Rookie of the Year, 9x All-Defensive Team Selection. One conundrum has always been how to account for who is guarding the best player on the other team. Among the greatest point guards of all time, Tiny is among the finest ever. Something was great about that play, but it was Knight showing the heart to challenge Jordan, not Jordan dunking on a man a foot shorter than himself. Jed Jacobsohn/AP Images. You dont get the sense in watching him that theres a point of pride in it. Over the next four weeks, well unveil the rankings for the other four positions. Some would argue that just because he went to Harvard, it doesnt mean he has a high basketball IQ, or that book intelligence isnt the same thing. Because he is the one who touches the basketball first on every possession, the NBAs point guard has long been considered its most vital position. 25.7 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 9.5 APG, .485 FG%, The player 19.2 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 9.3 APG, 1.9 SPG, The player He gets crossed over pretty easily, and not just by the Associations elite point guards. When he gets it going, hes unstoppable. 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). By the time he was done, he had racked up 10 All-Star appearances, nine All-Defense selections, six All-NBA . Injuries robbed Rose of the opportunity to become one of the games top five point guards. If you want to get involved in the discussion or just follow along, #NBArank is the Twitter hashtag to use. Archibald, who was just 61 tall, was able to consistently sink the ball despite his diminutive stature. 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. Therefore, its a Theoretically Asked Questions, or TAQ. And when hes on the bench, Eric Bledsoe, who is a 15th on this list, was with Odom. -- 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. Bledsoes defensive numbers would be far worse if he werent getting helped out by Odom all the time. Jason Kidd was the definition of a jack-of-all-trades point guard: he could pass, score and grab rebounds. Whenever anyone imagines a point guard, chances are theyre thinking of Utah Jazz legend John Stockton. Ben Wallace 12. Since the first time a professional basketball player dribbled a ball, weve seen some of the greatest point guards in history. If Williams had more pride in his defense, he would actually ask for, and depend on, help more than he does. Other stats were determined by using my trusty sidekick, MS Excel, loaded up with standard stats available on most websites. Normally this would be a list of FAQs, but no one has ever asked any questions (since no one has ever seen it). His net defensive rating of minus-7.7, combined with his lack of a defensively-solid backup big, is a strong indication of his value as a help defender. 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. There arent a lot of players that could lock down Michael Jordan, the greatest player 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. To read more, go here! Thats good for 14th all-time in NBA history and he also had 10 seasons in the top 20 for steals per game.