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These guys put some D in the NBA

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Charley Rosen

Charley Rosen is FOXSports.com's NBA analyst and author of 17 sports books, the current ones being Bullpen Diaries: Mariano Rivera, Bronx Dreams, Pinstripe Legends, and the Future of the New York Yankees and Crazy Basketball: A Life In and Out of Bounds.

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Updated Aug 13, 2009 2:46 PM ET
     
 
Several readers have complained that virtually every player I mention is a poor defender, which certainly isn't my fault.
It should be noted, however, that in order to survive in the NBA, even the most prolific scorer must be able to play a modicum of defense. Indeed, if everybody played inferior defense, teams would average 150 points per game. Conversely, numerous other readers — the most recent being Stephen Feetham from Columbia, S.C. — have asked me to compile a list of the players who, in my opinion, actually can and do play outstanding defense. So it's my distinct pleasure to first turn the spotlight on the NBA's most diligent man-to-man defenders. Ron Artest has lost a step laterally but can still bang with anybody and has great hands around the ball. If his team defense leaves much to be desired, the refs let him grab and hold and thereby distinguish himself as a genuine stopper. Trevor Ariza is a pickpocket defender who relies strictly on quickness and anticipation. Shane Battier plays outstanding position defense and excellent team defense. Additionally, Battier is Houston's traffic cop on the defensive end — the best one, in fact, since the halcyon days of Scottie Pippen. Raja Bell's belligerent, persistent hounding can be counted on to frustrate everybody he guards. Keith Bogans never backs down and has worked hard to become a significant defender. Ryan Bowen's defense is the only part of his game that keeps him in the league. DeSagana Diop can't shoot to save his life, but if he were allowed to commit 10 fouls per game without being disqualified, he'd be the best defensive center in the league. Jeff Foster rarely makes mistakes on defense. Kevin Garnett plays defense with more energy than any of his peers. Plus, his length and quickness offer so much help to his teammates that it often seems as though the Celtics have six defenders on the court. Udonis Haslem has the length, quickness, skills and desire to at least control even the most dynamic scorers he faces. And Haslem does all the Heat's behind-the-scenes dirty work on defense. Chuck Hayes makes up for his lack of size — 6-foot-6, 242 pounds — with his incredible physicality and rough-and-ready, post-up defense is his specialty. Royal Ivey can stay in front of even the quickest point guards and also stay in touch with shooting guards. Richard Jefferson is branded by his peers as just another stuck-up player from Arizona, but when he puts his nose to the grindstone, he's a down-and-almost-dirty defender. Dahntay Jones was only interested in scoring when he played in Memphis. But his game plan has evolved to the point where he now plays adhesive defense with a chip stuck to his shoulder. Andrei Kirilenko can easily be out-muscled, but his extraordinary length and quickness can also shut down scorers who mostly rely on finesse. In addition, even the league's most muscular scorers always dread going up against AK-47. Eduardo Najera is an extremely physical defender, but only when all of his body parts are fully functional. Anthony Parker is a solid, if unspectacular, player on the uphill end of the court. Kendrick Perkins is rapidly becoming a space-eating, body-bumping defensive force in the shadow of the basket. Mickael Pietrus has the kind of tensile strength, excellent reactions and sheer willfulness to make his opponents have to labor mightily just to launch a decent shot. James Posey is sufficiently talented and mean-spirited to be able to put anybody's offense in an escape-proof cage. Tayshaun Prince's wingspan enables him to cover more ground on defense then a pair of normal-sized players. Joel Przybilla knows all the tricks and the leverage points while also having the power and athleticism to bother even the league's dreadnaught centers. Brian Skinner plays full-contact defense and plays it well. Kurt Thomas still has enough junk left in his trunk to be an outstanding post-up defender. Dwyane Wade must necessarily assume such a dominant role in the Heat's offense that the mighty effort he expends on defense is laudatory. Indeed, he has the potential to become the best — and most consistent — two-way player since the glory days of Michael Jordan. Gerald Wallace is the rare NBA performer who always plays all-out on both offense and defense. Rasheed Wallace can still force opponents to be continually aware of his presence whenever they're looking to score in his neighborhood. Delonte West is perhaps the most nasty-minded defender in the league. And that's a compliment of huge proportions. While I'm on the subject of defense, the following players are not very good straight-up defenders but do provide excellent weak-side defensive help: Chris Andersen, Marcus Camby, Tim Duncan, Josh Smith, Samuel Dalembert, Amare Stoudemire, Chris Kaman, Anderson Varejao and Yao Ming. Also, these guys are capable of playing top-notch defense but do so only periodically: Kobe Bryant, Baron Davis and Chris Paul. And finally ... Yes, yes, I realize that Dwight Howard and LeBron James were the top vote-getters in the balloting for last season's Defensive Player of the Year. But I beg to differ with this result, and here's why:
Dwight Howard does block shots, but in his eagerness to do so, smart teams (like the Lakers) can run their offense in such a way that he's lured out of shot-blocking position. Plus, opposing centers who are able to face up and go can usually find a driveable lane. I seem to recall that Pau Gasol ate Howard's lunch in June. Why, then, was Howard selected as the NBA's best defender? For the same reason that Larry Hughes was named to the First All-Defensive team in 2005. Numbers. In truth, even though Hughes led the league in steals that season (2.89 per game), he was strictly a reckless, feckless gambler and lost more gambles than he won. By the same token, Howard's leading the NBA in blocks is by no means indicative of his true defensive value. As an example of how misleading blocked shots stats really are, I always cite Dave DeBusschere, who — by my lights — was the best defensive power forward ever. DeBusschere was still at the top of his game when he retired after the 1973-74 season, during which he averaged 18.1 points per game (second-best mark of his career). That season also marked the first time that blocked shots became an official statistic, and he was only credited with 0.55 swats per game. So while Howard is proficient at one aspect of defense, he has a long way to go in other areas. LeBron James has made it a practice of dramatically chasing down and blocking opponents' breakaway layup attempts. And he's also big and strong enough to occupy a large, forbidding space in front of some opponents. Still, his balance is slightly off-kilter, so he can be turned by opponents who have super-duper fakes and extra-quick first steps. Moreover, LBJ is simply too big to successfully navigate his way through or around high screen-and-rolls. It should be noted, though, that he's certainly paying more attention to playing defense than he ever has, and his improvement is significant.
Tagged: Baron Davis, Kobe Bryant, Josh Smith, Chris Paul, Hawks, 76ers, Celtics, Hornets, Cavaliers, Marcus Camby, Samuel Dalembert, Spurs, Chris Andersen, Anderson Varejao, Tim Duncan, Chris Kaman, Clippers, Lakers

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