best defensive point guards of all time

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. They must also be able to adapt to what the defense is allowing and must control the pace of the game. Passing skills, ball handling, and court vision are crucial. He was transcendent. Paul gets caught in a trap that WAM cant entirely avoid because it can only look at what happens, not why it happens. Its interesting that when he plays against elite point guards, or when he plays angrily, he plays much more of a physical game. He had the best peak for any point guard in NBA history, hands down. Hell go flying outside the play, right as his man catches the ball, and then hell not only have to make up that ground, but hell also have to fight through the pick. A point guard should know when and how to instigate a fast break and when and how to initiate the more deliberate sets. He has become one of the hardest working point guards in the league on both ends. He only gave up .66 points per play in isolation, but he yielded .86 to the ball-handler on the pick-and-roll. 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. In essence, hes athletic enough to do a respectable job of what hes asked to do. Many consider Bob Cousy to be a passionate athlete who was the first All-Star and dominating player for the Boston Celtics squad that included legends like Bill Russell and Kevin Collier. He also defends well against post-up plays, yielding just .54 points per play, although thats on an admittedly small 17-play sample size. He might have Silly Putty for a father. Although Stockton accumulated numerous All-NBA nods, he only made the All-Defensive Second Team five times. But hes slightly built, and that raises some issues, especially when hes caught a fraction of a second behind a play. He never stops moving. Nate Archibald 14. Hes 63 with a 68 wingspan and an 83 standing reach. He thinks hes the biggest man on the court. He gets a ton of help from his teammates and isnt asked to give a lot back. A point guard primarily defends on the perimeter, just as they primarily play on the perimeter on offense. Eight-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, seven-time All-D selection, Rookie of the Year (2005-06), Career stats Players have a difficult time getting past him. Hes not going to get beaten back, and he doesnt give up in transition. By my count, about 70 percent of the time, the ball-handler will get past him and get a shot off. I counted off over 20 plays, specifically watching to see if Chalmers would stop the ball-handler, and he only did once. 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. Thomas was ultra-quick with the ball and, at any moment, could pull up for a deadly jump shot. Lillard would likely be at the top of this list if measured as an offensive package as a whole. No question hell be inducted into the Hall of Fame, and hes one of the greatest rim-attacking players in NBA history. Many times, the point guard is referred to by announcers, as a "coach on the floor" or a "floor general". As a result, the picks work extremely well. Point guard - Wikipedia A decade of playing and a plethora of injuries havent helped him get any faster. As a result, hes been a member of the All-Defensive First Team four times and a member of the All-Defensive Second Team five times. This mans achievements are indisputable, and the prospect of him winning a second NBA championship just adds to his greatness. Having said that, he does play team defense, too, and he is part of the team. To read more, go here! Pauls been an All-Defensive Team selection nine times, being selected to the First Team seven times and the Second Team twice. The players listed below are our picks for the best point guards in NBA history. Dikembe Mutombo 7. This could be something that Monty Williams, a coach with outstanding player development skills, can work on in New Orleans now that Holiday is with the Pelicans. 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. Chalmers will fail at things, but not because he isnt trying. Los Angeles Lakers late legend Kobe Bryant is often considered the greatest Laker ever and with good reason: Bryant is first in many of the Lakers statistical categories. The strength of this is that it shows what the other player does offensively. Dame is better than ever, but the Blazers are stuck in quicksand In his 16-year career, Wade averaged 2.961 DWS per year and his 47.38 DWS is good for 55th overall. Penny Hardaway was well recognized for his relationship with Shaquille ONeal when he was only a kid. That all-around game made Kidd one of the league's top point guards for nearly 20 years. His defensive usage was the highest of any player with at least 1,200 minutes. -- 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. He is so athletic and so strong for his size that hes been able to get away without learning lessons he should have. It doesnt help to be fast if you dont use it, so Bledsoes score here is lower than you might expect. 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. His foot speed is as good as anyone's in the league, and you cant measure that. Of course, sometimes his opponent scored, too. Now hes in Phoenix, and well see how both he and Jeff Hornacek develop in their new roles. 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. The true driving force of his partnership with Karl Malone. He does those things; he just doesnt do them very hard. He surpassed the achievements of every other guard in NBA history, except Russell Westbrooks achievements. 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. -- Peterson, A menace on both ends of the court, Frazier was at his best in the 1970 NBA Finals when tallied 36 points, 19 assists, 7 rebounds in a title-clinching Game 7. In fact, hes a bit of a bull on the court and tries to intimidate his counterpart. -- Kevin Pelton, Teams In terms of career statistics and postseason accomplishments, he ranks as the NBAs fourth-best point guard of all time. At the very least, he could stab those quick hands of his at some more balls and disrupt the dribble from behind. He doesnt have to race around to get in position because hes almost never out of position. Chasing down balls, hell reach from behind and disrupt the dribble. You think, He cant be trying hard enough, but then you realize he is. There's no way Stockton & Curry are better than Isiah. Hes pouring out effort every minute hes on the court. NBA All-Time Player Rankings: Top 10 Point Guards If he tends to be the helped, he gets a worse score. 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. For the purpose of this study, 82games was used because the net defensive rating was also easily available and it made for consistency. Stockton is one of the greatest assist players in NBA history, if not the greatest. He always seems to know exactly where everyone is. Can they play bigger than they really are? Point guards are expected to run the team's offense by controlling the ball and making sure that it gets to the right player at the right time. When he gets it going, hes unstoppable. The Cleveland Cavaliers 2016 championship run would not have been possible without Kyrie Irving, who is a two-time NBA champion. -- Adams, An early ballhandling wizard, he was a point guard who was a focal point at a time when the game was dominated by big men. Oscar Robertson was one of the NBA's greatest players in history. After years of being sidelined by ailments, the grandeur that should have been his was snatched from him. He never leaves his man to help a defender that doesnt need help, but he always seems to be there when help is needed. (I know, but it is a part of defense these days.) On pick-and-rolls when hes not set, teams have learned to expect this. Other point guards who have been named NBA MVP include Bob Cousy, Oscar Robertson, Allen Iverson, Derrick Rose, and Russell Westbrook, and two-time winners Steve Nash and Stephen Curry. That said, here are the NBAs five best defensive shooting guards of all-time, based on their DWS. For a player who lacks lateral quickness and a player that has been in the league as long as he has, you would think Williams would have learned to do a better job of steering opponents into the help defense. He is easily one of the physically weaker players in the league, even for his position. -- Peterson, He was the forerunner of Magic Johnson and LeBron James, and it's telling that both of those stars revere the Big O. The average score by point guards was 16.1. In all, Wade was a three-time All-Defensive Team selection (all on the 2nd team), his 1620 steals rank 31st all-time and hes had six seasons where he ranked top-20 in steals per game. 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. Cousy, in many respects, was the Celtics spirit at the moment. And, there are also times when he does the bailing out. 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. Parker applies himself defensively in bursts, and this appears to be by design. John Stockton 6. The 3 Best NBA Defenders At Every Position For The 2022-23 Season And do they try and recover when they get beaten? -- Doolittle, Cousy was an And-1 mix tape in black-and-white. He gives up too much space and still gets beaten. 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. Ultimately, Johnson's unselfishness earned him the title of greatest point guard of all time. This is also from the various sources we have used. Even when in position, he wont jump to challenge a shot. Sometimes that works, such as his quick darts under picks. They work harder, and they get things eventually, but not quite as well. -- Adams, Honors Thats a pretty large difference, and it shows he is at his best when he can utilize his quickness, while at his worst when he has to use his strength. Other individual metrics and team metrics thin out the impact of those factors. 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. Why John Stockton is the greatest NBA point guard of all-time - The Roar Normally this would be a list of FAQs, but no one has ever asked any questions (since no one has ever seen it). DJ, standing 6'4, started playing point for Boston in the second half of his basketball career and was often tasked with shutting down . The five best defensive centers of all time - Sportsnaut As the primary decision-maker for a team, a point guard's passing ability determines how well a point guard is able to put their decision into play. Rajon Rondo is probably the most athletic player in the league who plays most of his game below the rim. His lateral quickness is below-average, and his straightaway speed isnt much either. Perhaps he just grew weary of Doug Collins' act. Robertson amassed 26,710 points and 9,887 assists during his 14-year NBA career with the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks. He averaged 3.9 win shares per season, totaling 75.1 DWS at the end of his 19-year career, good for 11th all-time. Thats just simply not true, and any amount of watching him play will verify that. The most striking thing about Hinrich is just how often he is the initial defender on the play. Top 50 Point Guards of All-Time: Magic, The Big O and Curry top the List By Jeff McDaniel | Jul 16, 2020, 5:35pm 1. Even though he normally does, he shouldnt have to and wouldnt if he were playing smarter. That can create an illusion of great defense where there is none. 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. In order to answer that, we introduce Weighted Averaged Metrics (WAM) and WAM with Scouting (WAMS), a pair of advanced defensive metrics which combine other stats and metrics, weight them so that each represents an equal relative value, and then use them all to derive a final score. Bledsoes defensive numbers would be far worse if he werent getting helped out by Odom all the time. In addition, Cousy, dubbed "The Houdini of the Hardwood," led the NBA in assists for 8 straight seasons, creating a whole new blend of ball-handling and passing skills for the league. 8. He does all those little things that dont show up in box scores. Have a look! Needless to say, you dont see a lot of LeBron-Jamesian-chase-down blocks from Conley. ALL-TIME #NBARANK, 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11-15 | 16-20 | 21-25, The player He presses hard as long as the opponent is in front of him, but will frequently give up on the play once the defender is past him. He picked up a complicated system almost immediately, and the Bulls were consistently a better defense with Hinrich on the court, in large part because of how well he understood the system. He manages to defend the pick-and-roll reasonably well by doing something I can only call bouncing over picks. Its safe to say that Kidd is one of the greatest guards to ever play on the basketball floor. He gave up 1.01 points per play on the spot-up last year. That makes him eligible for inclusion on this list of best point guards. New York Knicks (1967-1977), Cleveland Cavaliers (1977-1980), Honors: Lowry looks around like he just woke up from a nap in a foreign city, and hes trying to figure out where hes supposed to be. -- Adande, The best two-way small player in league history, Paul embodies the era in which he plays by running the pick-and-roll as well as anyone has ever run it. While he does benefit from help defense, its not as often as you might think. In fact, no drafted guard has ever measured a worse sprint, vertical and agility test. Perhaps it was the fact that the Philadelphia 76ers were having a disappointing season without their newly acquired star, Andrew Bynum. Meanwhile, we are presenting the top 10 by position. 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. At 63, with a wingspan of almost 68, he has decent size. One of the greatest rebounding guards of all time. I actually looked for him to do it and couldnt find it. 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. They average the number of points a player gives up when he is the initial defender, and this is represented by defensive points per play. He wont even try and fight over a pick if he gets caught in one, but just quits on the play. For a position that was highly valued at the time, he brought a lot of sparkle, style, scoring, and domination to the court. 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. These were calculated using the raw stats available on any site carrying basic stats. I doubt its much beyond his height. Watts Van Lier Frazier Price Ward Bing White Buckner Walker Kidd Hollins Williams Cleamons Bibby Porter Buse Snow McMillan Tinsley Armstrong Knight Carter 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 97.4 97.6 98.1 99.6 99.9 100.4 100.9 101.1 101.5 101 . He owes his charitable demeanour to a group of elementary school parents. By the time he was done, he had racked up 10 All-Star appearances, nine All-Defense selections, six All-NBA . Per NBA.com/STATS, the Clippers were almost 10 points per 100 possessions better defensively while Lamar Odom was on the court instead of DeAndre Jordan, yet Paul was on the court three times as much with Jordan as Odom. It would be beneficial for Westbrook to even things out and play at a consistent level throughout the game. While the Clippers were better when Paul was on the bench, it wasnt because he was on the bench. Hes still learning to apply that tremendous athleticism on the defensive end of the court, though. Jason Kidd was the definition of a jack-of-all-trades point guard: he could pass, score and grab rebounds. In his heyday, Parker could score 25 points a night and seldom made poor choices with the ball. Paul is just listed at just 60, and that might be generous. -- Peterson. 'Whatever seed we are, we're ready': Is there room for Cleveland among the East elite? Furthermore, he is a legend for the Phoenix Suns and one of the teams finest players. What are you crying about lmfao 03 Mar 2023 00:55:09 He and Chris Paul are the contenders for smartest defensive point guard in the game today. From that, each player was scored in five different areas on a scale of 18 (best) to 22 (worst). His shot-making and defense made him a top-tier point guard throughout his career. West became synonymous with brilliant basketball during his 14-year playing career with the Los Angeles Lakers. The "Big O" was capable of doing it all. Johnson had a knack for scoring against everyone and racked up impressive numbers throughout the course of his career. He applies his energy smartly. I considered both their actual measurables and how well they used them. Yet somehow he manages to compensate and do a reasonably fair job of defending, even in isolation. Jack gets beat and bailed out frequently by his teammates. Hed also be more willing to provide it. Hall of Famer was an impressive defensive player in his own right, Latest Jonathan Isaac injury may signal end of his Magic career, Seven Cubs pitchers combine for spring no-hitter vs. Padres, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones comments on Tony Pollard rumor, Ben Simmons suffers back injury while rehabilitating, Insider: It's Packers, Jets 'or bust' for Aaron Rodgers, QB Anthony Richardson doesn't understand his 'project' label, Vikings HC reveals 'crazy' thoughts about star WR, XFL player released for giving another team plays from own playbook. The defensive stats arent a good way to determine the totality of defense, but they are a factor and shouldnt be ignored. The point guard was always capable of scoring the ball at the . 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. Its like hes just punching the clock and collecting his wages. Its amazing he doesnt get punched sometimes. This is a necessity because of the point guard's many leadership obligations. Steve Nash 7. -- Tom Haberstroh, NBA writer, No guard in NBA history pulled down more rebounds than Kidd, who finished with more career rebounds than Willis Reed and Alonzo Mourning, among others. #VCTLOCKIN #Valorant #valorantagents #valorantgaming. He merits a high score here. Greg Monroe has talent on the offensive side of the ball but not a whole lot on the defensive side. 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. When Gibson played with the starters, the Bulls gave up 10 fewer points per 100 possessions. Mike Conley is exceptionally quick, virtually teleporting himself from one part of the court to another at times. Hes only 63, which is relatively good size for a point guard, but he just seems bigger. However, he tends to play soft at times against the pick-and-roll, tending to rely on his quickness when he could muscle through a pick quicker. Defense is one of the more oft-overlooked aspects of basketball because it isnt as pretty as what happens on the offensive end. He has a real grasp of the game, and he helps convey that to his teammates. Finally, both are improving on the defensive side of the ball. He sometimes gets tangled up and left hopelessly out of the play. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Each fails to realize that they are all right, and that the real answer is in the combination of what they all experienced. In his 20 seasons, Bryant. 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. If he didnt retire at 34, its interesting to see where Cousy could have landed all-time as he averaged 3.8 DWS per season. During his career, he was selected to nine All-NBA Defensive Teams and five All-Star teams. Meanwhile, another player has his numbers go up because he is capable. His on-court coaching and leadership is probably the biggest reason the Clippers had the eighth most-efficient defense in the NBA last year. Dennis Johnson. Greatest NBA point guards of all-time: Where Russell - Sportsnaut -- Adande, Nash is the only player in history to go 50-40-90 while averaging 10 assists per game. Lowry just seems to be lost on defense much of the time. The biggest reason appears to be a fundamental one. Players Stats: 23.2 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 8.3 APG, 1.8 SPG, 0.3 BPG, Honors: 2016-2017 MVP, 9x All-Star, 8x All-NBA Selection, 2x Scoring Champion. Went from dominating games strictly with his passing to making the fifth-most 3-pointers in NBA history. Some players with tremendous athleticism just dont apply it on both ends of the court. At the point guard position, point guard Damian Lillard is one of the games most talented shooters and scorers. The NBA is flush with dominant point guards. You just dont see him make the wrong plays. Jerry West, one of the greatest point guards in NBA history, combines a lethal jump shot, tenacious defence, obsessive perfectionism, unwavering confidence, and an unwavering will to win. Whatever it was, Holiday was just not bringing effort on the defensive end last year. He finished the game with the most career postseason points and the highest average in a playoff series. 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. Does he know when to help and not to help? Just because someone gets past him doesnt mean theyre going to score. Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rhulani Mokwena denies outrageous Egypt claims, Brooklyn Nets comeback from 28 down to stun Boston Celtics, Alex Iwobi: Nigerian star set for possible exit at English Premier League club Everton, Premier League player caught inhaling laughing gas after a night out, Real Madrid identify Premier League star as 'Plan B' if Bellingham deal fails, Top 15 most handsome football players in the world in 2023. This article first appeared on Sportsnaut and was syndicated with permission. He is going to get beaten, without question. Then again, the limited number of plays may be, in part, due to the fact that hes so hard to post up. On defense, the point guard is tasked with making the opposing point guard as ineffective as possible. Speaking about hard-nosed defense-first converted shooting guards, here is one more name to the list: Dennis Johnson, one of the all-time great Celtics and at the same time one of the most underrated players in the history of the NBA. It is startling to see the regularity with which opponents blow past Deron Williams. The official cause of death of Flashdance singer Irene Cara has been determined. 1. -- Doolittle, Over the past season and a half, Curry has played point guard as well as anyone else in NBA history. 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. Hinrich always had a high basketball IQ. Doc Rivers has had a lot of input into how Rondo plays the game. For a full game, Moncrief was capable of shutting down almost any guard in NBA history. His ability to score and create plays made him an NBA superstar. Thats 20th all-time, with Kidd being the only other guard above him. Additionally, Stockton was a fantastic shooter and defender, almost possessing no weaknesses on the floor at all. Adande, His Game 6 in the 1980 Finals, while jumping center as a 20-year-old rookie, has to be on the Mt. This is where everything focuses on Westbrook. The problem is he doesnt use that height or strength as well as youd like to see. After all, as his name implies, Billups was known for taking and making huge shots in order to help his team win. 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. Chris Paul 13. That had the effect of distorting Pauls on/off numbers. As a Golden State Warrior and Miami Heat legend, Tim Hardaway may have the best crossover in basketball history. Its difficult to have a perfect rating system thats entirely objective, and even more difficult to have a realistic one that is purely subjective. Even though hes been injured a lot, Paul is averaging over two steals a game for his career. Were shooters able to shoot over them? Jack has good but not great effort. Its what separates him from being a valuable, slightly overrated defender, and an elite defender. I like to compare it to the relationship between a foundation and a house. The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Most players will take a little on-court breather now and then. "The Logo" Jerry West was an NBA Champion, a 14 time All-Star, ten time All-NBA First team selection, four time All-Defensive team selection, NBA scoring champion and an NBA assist leader. Hopefully he can break it. Humility can often be a sign of intelligence at work, and it is with Hinrich. His score represents the average of trying hard and not trying at all once the ball gets past him.