best defensive point guards of all time

That makes sense since Parker has assumed the primary responsibility on offense and theres no reason to wear himself out playing defense. -- Pelton, Today's children will ask, "Who was the Steph Curry before Steph Curry?" As a result, hes 17th all-time with 1944 and had six seasons in the top-20 in steals. Many times, the point guard is referred to by announcers, as a "coach on the floor" or a "floor general". A point guard should always look out for teammates and be able to pass well. I like to compare it to the relationship between a foundation and a house. He always picks up on the switch. Robertson's offensive ability transformed the point guard stereotype from a passer and floor general to a scorer and offensive weapon. Big O is widely regarded as one of the best offensive point guards of all time. He tends to use that speed and athleticism well when hes in position, too. Rob Peterson is an NBA editor for ESPN.com. The other thing thats surprising about Rondo with his size is how well he fights over picks. He was the primary defender on 1,127 plays last year in all, surpassed only by Stephen Curry among point guards. 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. He benefits tremendously from help defense as previously mentioned, but that doesnt mean he doesnt also provide help defense. Even point guards who are not given this much freedom, however, are still extensions of their coach on the floor and must display good leadership skills. In his single season with the Wizards, the former NBA MVP averaged a triple-double (again), and he was a big reason why Washington made the playoffs after a rough start to the season. (As an aside, in the slides, you will only see the original metric value, not the weighted number to determine the WAM. Like last time, these shooting guards are ranked based on the cumulative defensive win shares (DWS). When we watch basketball, we get general impressions of defense, but the storyline is whats happening with the ball. It might not seem like much, but for most players, this covered around 30-40 games' worth of defense. As one of the elite point guards in the NBA, you would expect him to have elite athleticism, but he actually doesnt. Knight doesnt always recognize the help situations, but when he does, he is usually effective. It is akin to the blind men and the elephant in the Indian fable adapted to a poem by John Godfrey Saxe. When he lets it go, though, it seems calculated. Jumping ability, body control and agility were all considered as well. After watching Paul play defense for a while, what stands out over everything else is that he just never stops movingliterally. There arent many point guards who can do it all, but Kidd is one of them. (I know, but it is a part of defense these days.) For his time with the Phoenix Suns, Johnson is most known for his role alongside Charles Barkley. People that just do their job dont usually pitch in and help their co-workers. So I saddled up my workhorse, Synergy, and watched an hour or two of each of the top 15 WAM scores playing defense. Even when he has to go under the pick, which is most of the time, hes so fast that hes able to close the distance before the ball-handler has time to do something with it. J.A. 43 views, 0 likes, 0 loves, 0 comments, 0 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from BabyYo: NRG VS KOI Highlights. He appears to communicate the wisdom hes accrued to his teammates. Were shooters able to shoot over them? Conley looked away from Billups and was pointing vehemently to Paul, trying to tell Allen to get over there and cover him. In his rookie year, he was already averaging 2 steals per game with 0.2 blocks. Taj Gibson, his backup, is a tremendous defensive player, which only amplified the effect of Boozers shortcomings. It probably tells the accurate story here. The Clippers never quite seemed to have a true defensive identity, even if they were improved. A point guard needs always to have in mind the times on the shot clock and the game clock, the score, the numbers of remaining timeouts for both teams, etc. This is one of those cases where scouting helps. His ability to score and create plays made him an NBA superstar. Photos: Top 10 NBA Point Guards Of All Time. There is no doubt about it: Steph Curry is the second-best in the top 10 point guards of all time. The 25 greatest point guards of all time | Yardbarker The five best defensive point guards of all time | Yardbarker He had the second-best defensive rating in the NBA. He actually plays his best games against his best opponents. That said, here are the NBAs five best defensive shooting guards of all-time, based on their DWS. On Detroits 2004 NBA championship squad, he led the likes of Rip Hamilton, Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace to victory over the LA Lakers superteam. For all the hammering Im doing on Chalmers, it remains true that the Heat are better with him on the court than off of it, but its questionable if thats because hes on it. His net defensive rating of 4.2 is an indication of both a lack of his helping and asking for help. But will he listen enough to a player he was just playing against to make that shift? It is a testament to Jarrett Jack that he makes this list. No one was a better passer than him. Chalmers will fail at things, but not because he isnt trying. It tracks the production of a players counterpart while he is on the court. He seems to get frustrated easily. Over the last decade, the best point guards such as Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, and others have dominated the position. With Doc Rivers in charge, things should turn around shortly, and next year his WAM score will be among the best in the league. He arguably powers through picks better than any point guard in the league. 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. Players Stats: 15.2 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 5.0 APG, 1.6 SPG, 0.4 BPG, Honors: 4x All-Star, 3x All-NBA Selection. When he tries, Lowry can be a solid defensive player, but that whole when he tries qualifier is pretty significant. Holiday wouldnt just go under the pick; he would go too far under the pick. The average score by point guards was 16.1. 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. Parker applies himself defensively in bursts, and this appears to be by design. 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. 25. 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. We have listed down 25 of the finest point guards, so lets see who makes it to the top 10 point guards of all time. He owes his charitable demeanour to a group of elementary school parents. First, a range of 18 to 22 makes it easier to arrive at the eventual score of 100the baseline everything was weighted to. See the criteria for scouting on the next slide. As a point guard, Frazier was one of the greatest in NBA history. You probably cant say right away, because you watched the storyline, not how Harvey dressed. When the pick gets set, he just hurls into it and uses the momentum of the bounce to send him in the right direction. It doesnt help to be fast if you dont use it, so Bledsoes score here is lower than you might expect. Some will just hang around waiting for the play to end, but Jack keeps track of his man and also helps if its needed. Brandon Knight has exceptional speed and quickness. One aspect of Roses year-long absence that gets lost is how much the team suffered defensively without him. Copyright 2023 YB Media, LLC. The NBA is flush with dominant point guards. 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. Two-time MVP (2004-05, 2005-06), eight-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, Career stats Players Stats: 16.5 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 6.7 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.2 BPG. A point guard primarily defends on the perimeter, just as they primarily play on the perimeter on offense. On those, there is no link available. James Harden's age: stats, contract, family, dating, net worth in 2022. 5-on-5: Will Curry pass Magic as best PG ever? The weakness is that it also includes some of what the other player does defensively, (e.g.. blocks, steals, and defensive rebounds). 18.7 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 9.9 APG, 2.3 SPG, The player Nash is a top-ten point guard without a question. Its hard to notice his effort, though, because of the consistency with which he gets destroyed. During each of his five NBA championship rings, he was one of the finest players in the league. The classic definition of a point guard, orchestrating offense and shooting when necessary. Players Stats: 18.4 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 7.5 APG, 0.0 SPG, 0.0 BPG, Honors: 1956-1957 MVP, 13x All-Star, 12x All-NBA Selection, Hall of Famer. He falls into his rotations smoothly. 5 (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988), Career stats If it gives up fewer points, thats good. His foot speed is as good as anyone's in the league, and you cant measure that. 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. Additionally, the 10-time All-Star and Hall of Famer was an impressive defensive player in his own right. The 3 Best NBA Defenders At Every Position For The 2022-23 Season You cant say that Westbrook doesnt try on defense, but you can say he doesnt show consistent effort on defense. He has above-average size and strength, but he doesnt play like it. While hes not going to get a lot of those at his size, regardless of what he does, he could probably do more to try and recover. The game has been graced by several incredible players whose names live on even after they retire. Hes controlled in how he plays hard. For a position that was highly valued at the time, he brought a lot of sparkle, style, scoring, and domination to the court. Nash is the answer. Thats a difference of almost five points a game given up to point guards. I suspect that some of this might be by design, as Holiday bore a leading part of the burden on both ends of the court for his team, so its understandable to a point, but not to the extent I saw. Lin is a mixed bag when it comes to help defense. 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. 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. His issues related to intelligence, detailed later, compound this problem. The Best NBA Point Guards Of All Time - The Delite On the other hand, he was frequently bailing out whoever was playing shooting guard on numerous occasions. That said, here are the five best defensive NBA point guards of all time, based on their DWS. READ ALSO: James Harden's age: stats, contract, family, dating, net worth in 2022 and more. That helps him to dominate games defensively without having to leave the ground. Once he had the ball on the fastbreak, The Flash was gone. He has a real grasp of the game, and he helps convey that to his teammates. On Wednesday, we will have the top 10 shooting guards of all time, followed by small forwards, power forwards and centers. Thats 20th all-time, with Kidd being the only other guard above him. He was second among point guards in defensive rebounds per 36 minutes. -- 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. His wingspan isnt much better at just 64. NBA History: Ranking the Greatest Guards Ever - Bleacher Report 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. -- 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). 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. 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. 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. He was the league's third player to reach 25,000 points (after Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson). The Big O's best statistical season came in 1961-62, when he averaged a triple-double for the entire season, a feat that has never been duplicated. And do they try and recover when they get beaten? And when hes on the bench, Eric Bledsoe, who is a 15th on this list, was with Odom. Still, hes one of the best point guards of all time, and his stats show that hes a deserved All-Star. Lets say a perimeter defender gets beaten and then his center blocks the shot. For the purpose of this study, 82games was used because the net defensive rating was also easily available and it made for consistency. The Glove was a nine-time All-Defensive Team selection, making the 1st team all nine times. Curry has developed into much more than a 3-point specialist. Dame is better than ever, but the Blazers are stuck in quicksand 19.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 11.2 APG, .520 FG%, The player By: HoopsHype. Players like Deron Williams, Kyrie Irving and John Wall blew by him fairly consistently. 11. As previously stated, he gets the help from Green and Leonard to guard the top point guards. It was just his second season when he led the league in scoring with an average of 27.1 points per game, despite some serious injury setbacks. When he applies it, he does so effectively, especially in isolation and the pick-and-roll. 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. 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. Apart from that, he seems to do what hes supposed to be doing when hes away from the ball. Rajon Rondo is probably the most athletic player in the league who plays most of his game below the rim. If he's not on the slide and he played 1,200 minutes, he should be on this list somewhere. 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. In his heyday, Parker could score 25 points a night and seldom made poor choices with the ball. Hes only 63, which is relatively good size for a point guard, but he just seems bigger. His MVP season, he had the second-best block total by a point guard in history (although John Wall exceeded that total last year.). Archibald was the first player in league history to lead the league in both points scored and assists, making him a one-man offense. The Cleveland Cavaliers relied heavily on Kyrie Irving to take and hit huge shots, even when he was partnered with LeBron James. In the 13 seasons in which he played more than 60 games, mostly with the Chicago Bulls, the 1988 Defensive Player of the Year was a nine-time All-Defensive Team selection all first-team honors and a three-time steals champion. With his athleticism and speed, there is no way that Rose should get beaten off the dribble as often as he does. Hes 63 with a 68 wingspan and an 83 standing reach. He spends too much time getting back into the defensive play because he ran himself out of it. Perhaps he just grew weary of Doug Collins' act. Lowry just seems to be lost on defense much of the time. 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. While Gregg Popovich and his brilliant system deserve a lot of the credit, Tony is a Finals MVP and is a multiple NBA champion who deserves to be recognised for his role in the legendary Spurs dynasty. It looked like teams designed plays counting on him being lazy. The Miami HEATs best player in franchise history, Dwyane Wade was an offensive maestro. His defensive usage was the highest of any player with at least 1,200 minutes. His 47.4 DWS is 54th overall, good for an average of 2.963 DWS per season, slightly edging Wade. Since I always get asked "Where's ___________?" Honors: 7x All-Star, 3x All-NBA Selection, 1966-1967 Rookie of the Year, 1967-1968 Scoring Champion, Hall of Famer. Thats when you see him start to do things like not close out on shooters, merely waving his hand in the air instead. He has the speed to get there, but not the length to disrupt the shot once he does. Kyle Lowry has exceptional speed and athleticism. Lin is 63 and 200 pounds, which is decent size for a point guard, in the neighborhood of Derrick Rose, Deron Williams and Russell Westbrook. The NBA is a point guard's paradise these days, so let's start All-Time #NBArank with our pantheon points. 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. -- 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. Hes one of the slower point guards in the league now, but in spite of that, hes almost ubiquitous at times. If someone goes past him, hell usually just wave goodbye. -- Pelton. When going against point guards who have a respectable jump shot, that becomes problematic. Holiday has ample size for a point guard, standing a shade over 64 in shoes, and weighing in at 205 pounds. Chris Paul fell into the same kind of trap last season. What he gives up at the point of attack, he makes up for with his team defense. Tim Duncan -- Adande, Nash is the only player in history to go 50-40-90 while averaging 10 assists per game. 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. Some players with tremendous athleticism just dont apply it on both ends of the court. Players Stats: 13.1 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 10.5 APG, 2.2 SPG, 0.2 BPG, Honors: 10x All-Star, 11x All-NBA Selection, 5x All-Defensive Team Selection, Hall of Famer. Adapting your system to every opponent and knowing their nuances is understandable. By my count, about 70 percent of the time, the ball-handler will get past him and get a shot off. Why did you choose such a weird number scale? He gets crossed over pretty easily, and not just by the Associations elite point guards. But his lack of any vertical leap kills him on the jump shot. -- Adams, For nine consecutive years, Nash's teams led the NBA in offensive rating. Broadly speaking, over 7,000 pieces of data on 226 players, in 16 different categories, were compiled into a database. Sometimes his teammates bailed him out; sometimes the shot just didnt go in. Most players will take a little on-court breather now and then. He does get a bit of a bump here for his rebounding. 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. Players Stats: 20.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 6.0 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.2 BPG. Top 20 best defensive midfielders in the world today: who are they? The best way to track how effective a player is on the defensive end is by looking at their cumulative defensive win shares. When he was off the ball, it was spectacular. He doesnt use his size exceptionally badly or incredibly well, though. The five best defensive centers of all time - Sportsnaut He has all the tools to be one: great reflexes and speed, and those long arms with big mitts on the end. Players have a difficult time getting past him. However, when he gets beaten,Serge Ibaka is a huge asset in help defense, altering the shots of many a shooter who has just blown past Westbrook. He also knew when he needed to score, as evidenced by his 42-point performance in Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals for a Lakers team missing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. When Gibson played with the starters, the Bulls gave up 10 fewer points per 100 possessions. You can be the best shooter in the world, but you can't score if you don't get the ball. When people think of NBA point guards, he set the mold. Among the greatest point guards of all time, Tiny is among the finest ever. He arguably makes more plays on his feet, both offensively and defensively, than anyone else. A point guard specializes in certain skills, like other player positions in basketball. Exploiting the fact that the opposing point guard is often an undersized player with limited strength, several modern point guards have developed games close to the basket that include being able to utilize the drop step, spin move, and fade away jump shot. The players are ranked according to their WAMS. Can they play bigger than they really are? Hinrich always had a high basketball IQ. MVP (2014-15), two-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA selection, Career stats Hes one of the most prolific players in the game. Here he is. #VCTLOCKIN #Valorant #valorantagents #valorantgaming. Sometimes that works, such as his quick darts under picks. Los Angeles Lakers (1979-91, 1995-96), Honors Hes a learning player, and his extensive time sitting last year may have helped his grasp of defense as well as offense. He compensates for his diminutive size by fighting hard and using that aforementioned quickness. Gary Payton. Nash was never known as a strong defender, but he was capable of bothering opposing point guards to some extent. Why John Stockton is the greatest NBA point guard of all-time - The Roar To create All-Time #NBArank, we put together a ballot with the 150 greatest players ever. Perhaps if hes in shoes and standing on a milk crate filled with milk, thats true. Johnson had a knack for scoring against everyone and racked up impressive numbers throughout the course of his career. Top 10 Point Guards of All Time - Point Guard Rankings - Observer Desk He just doesnt have the physical tools to play at an elite level. Thats the difference between what I call work intelligence and natural intelligence. Some people just have to work to pick things up. While he does benefit from help defense, its not as often as you might think. The problem is that sometimes players are so inept, they skew the stats of other players. Ultimately, Johnson's unselfishness earned him the title of greatest point guard of all time. Each of these has its own value, and those specifics will be discussed more on the next slide. His Synergy numbers compared to some of his team numbers validate that. However, despite Chris Paul and Jason Kidds prominence, Steve Nash became a two-time MVP who had no weaknesses on the offensive end. New York Knicks (1967-1977), Cleveland Cavaliers (1977-1980), Honors: A point guard will often use their ability to score in order to augment their effectiveness as a decision-maker and playmaker. Defensive Points per Play Synergy tracks every play of every game of the season and, when possible (as it is not always possible), they assign an. Hinrich has a bit more going for him in terms of size. However, who are the all-time top point guards? These combo point guards can surprise defenses. An adamant multi-disciplinary journalist, Brian possesses the instincts that are comfortably intrigued by covering and writing the details as minor as the size of Kawhi Leonards hands and as significant as the Trends to watch out for in 2022. David Robinson 6. Most of those come for one of two reasons: Either he bites on the fake and is too slow to recover, or the shooter shoots over him and he doesnt have the ups to challenge it. That being said, Joakim Noah was frequently required to bail him out of trouble. West became synonymous with brilliant basketball during his 14-year playing career with the Los Angeles Lakers. As a Golden State Warrior and Miami Heat legend, Tim Hardaway may have the best crossover in basketball history. Whatever else you want to say about Brandon Knight, just dont say he never tries. -- Doolittle, Over the past season and a half, Curry has played point guard as well as anyone else in NBA history. 25.7 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 9.5 APG, .485 FG%, The player Neither of those is really a criticism of Parker, but its a reality. With his record of successes and pioneering point guard talents, Magic is at the top of the list. 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. 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. -- Adande, Possessed incredible court vision and creativity, all while orchestrating the frenetic game pace of his era. Jrue Holiday is making . He can be stagnant when his man doesnt have the ball. Thats 20th all-time, with Kidd being the only other guard above him. He has trouble compensating for his lack of size when challenging jump shots. Parker has a hefty 1.05 points per play against defending the jumper, even though he typically gets there and challenges shots. His shot-making and defense made him a top-tier point guard throughout his career. Aside from his offensive prowess, Johnson had the ability to hit for power and lead the offense at a high level. 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. Lillard has been one of the NBA's most dangerous scorers, capable of striking shots from anywhere on the floor. His career averages of 27 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 7.0 APG were arguably the best ever put up by a point guard when he retired in 1974. Teams He lifted the Lakers, and transition basketball, to ethereal levels. Hes always looking where hes supposed to go, and moving in that direction, but he just takes his time getting there. How much a player understands his role in the defense is measured here. Jack is one of those players that a lot of people dont know what he brings to a team in the locker room. This article first appeared on Sportsnaut and was syndicated with permission. For his career, Jordan averaged 2.3 steals (third all-time) and 4.2 DWS per year. As a result, he rarely gets tangled up with the pick-setter. But Gary Payton did as a member of the Seattle Supersonics. -- Doolittle, Cousy was an And-1 mix tape in black-and-white. His Synergy scores are worse than expected, but that appears to be from players just shooting over him more than getting past him. Marcus Smart. -- Rob Peterson, One can only imagine how impressive his career totals might have been if not for the HIV virus.