That would make sense, but there are two reasons to choose the unconventional scale. Ranking 50 Greatest Point Guards in NBA History If he tends to be the helped, he gets a worse score. You cant build a house first, and then pour the foundation underneath it. He made everything go for those Lakers teams. NBA: Ranking top 10 shooting guards ever - ESPN.com MVP (1963-64), 12-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA selection, Rookie of the Year (1960-61), Hall of Fame, Career stats 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. Top NBA point guards for 2022-23: Ranking all 30 starters 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. Triple Double and for good reason: hes fourth all-time in triple-doubles with 107. That said, here are the five best defensive NBA point guards of all time, based on their DWS. Nowadays, the point guard is expected to do more than simply run plays; he or she must also be the teams offensive leader by putting up big numbers every night! 24. 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. He has decent size for a point guard, at 63 but he doesnt have much of a vertical: 28.5.. While the Clippers were better when Paul was on the bench, it wasnt because he was on the bench. Scroll below to see where Stephen Curry ranks among the best point guards in the NBA. The biggest reason appears to be a fundamental one. He doesnt try to make great plays, but he tries not to make mistakes, which is maybe what he should be concentrating on. Jason Kidd was the definition of a jack-of-all-trades point guard: he could pass, score and grab rebounds. The Clippers were 10 points better with Lamar Odom on the court than DeAndre Jordan according to NBA.com/STATS. Jrue Holiday. Then, when players pull up and shoot, he doesnt use his length to close and get a hand in the face of the shooter. Kevin Durant, surprisingly, also bails out his co-star a lot. DWS are how many wins a player produces based on his defensive ability. Some would look at Conleys frontcourt and assumenot entirely incorrectlythat having Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol to back him up pads his stats. Parker applies himself defensively in bursts, and this appears to be by design. Then, after a single down year, he had y straight years of 2 steals per . Just because someone gets past him doesnt mean theyre going to score. Nash is a top-ten point guard without a question. Holiday knows what to do, but he doesnt always do it. 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. Bledsoe is a bit of a freak. He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, on February 7, 1974, to a Welsh mother, Jean, and an English father, John. Although Wade had an accomplished resume, if he had played one more season, he wouldve easily overtaken the next player on the list. After watching Paul play defense for a while, what stands out over everything else is that he just never stops movingliterally. He finished the game with the most career postseason points and the highest average in a playoff series. While hes able to keep himself from getting pushed around when point guards, or even shooting guards, try and post up on him, hes not able to dig through picks the way the other three are. The number in the parentheses indicates where they ranked in that category. That helps him to dominate games defensively without having to leave the ground. 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. Players like Deron Williams, Kyrie Irving and John Wall blew by him fairly consistently. While his pick-and-roll stats, according to Synergy, are excellent, at .68 points per play, half the time he seems to get bailed out by his frontcourt. MVP (1956-57), 13-time All-Star, 12-time All-NBA selection, Hall of Fame, Championships The house would collapse. He arguably powers through picks better than any point guard in the league. The "Big O" was capable of doing it all. One of the best -- and quickest -- lob passers the game has ever seen. Alex Caruso. Players Stats: 20.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 6.0 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.2 BPG. You can look at why things happen and offset the misleading things. Rose had it all, including speed, explosiveness, and the ability to score when it mattered most. I actually looked for him to do it and couldnt find it. 10-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA selection, five-time All-D selection, Hall of Fame, Career stats Overall, he is more of a gives-help defender than a needs-help defender. Coaches are responsible for developing young players, and it would have been fun to watch him grow under Doc Rivers. Robertson amassed 26,710 points and 9,887 assists during his 14-year NBA career with the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks. He might not be the fastest guy in the world, but that doesnt keep him from trying to be. Did they get pushed around easily? He has two ways of guarding the isopray for help or flop. Thats the advantage of the scouting portion. Only two other players besides Moncrief have won the NBAs defensive player of the year award twice. This is also from the various sources we have used. Isiah Thomas, born on April 30, 1961, and possibly the best player ever under 6-foot-1, combined talent with fierce competitiveness. Broadly speaking, over 7,000 pieces of data on 226 players, in 16 different categories, were compiled into a database. 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. The same applies to any decent basketball argument (or any other kind, for that matter). You probably cant say right away, because you watched the storyline, not how Harvey dressed. All pre-draft measurements were obtained from the database hosted on Draft Express. Honors: 7x All-Star, 3x All-NBA Selection, 1966-1967 Rookie of the Year, 1967-1968 Scoring Champion, Hall of Famer. -- Haberstroh, Honors Stockton is one of the greatest assist players in NBA history, if not the greatest. Have a look! -- Peterson, Teams What are you crying about lmfao 03 Mar 2023 00:55:09 Jack gets beat and bailed out frequently by his teammates. Below is a list of the 25 Best point guards of the NBA. For his time with the Phoenix Suns, Johnson is most known for his role alongside Charles Barkley. Hes still learning to apply that tremendous athleticism on the defensive end of the court, though. Although Stockton accumulated numerous All-NBA nods, he only made the All-Defensive Second Team five times. 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. Hakeem Olajuwon 2. A 12-time All-Defensive Team selection, a nine-time 1st team All-Defense and three-time 2nd team All-Defense, Bryants 50.6 DWS ranks him 43rd overall. Best Defensive Rating Point Guards In NBA History | StatMuse 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. And I never saw him go in the wrong direction, not once. Williams tends to play defense, but he only seems to do the minimum. As a result, the picks work extremely well. Hes not going to get beaten back, and he doesnt give up in transition. They have value when there arent such extremes like the difference between Boozer and Gibson. This mans achievements are indisputable, and the prospect of him winning a second NBA championship just adds to his greatness. To say he gets pushed around would be generous. Furthermore, he is a legend for the Phoenix Suns and one of the teams finest players. The second-highest regulation scoring output of the 3-point era was the culmination . SHOCKING one of the best defensive point guards of all time played great defense on a 20 year project old player. After years of being sidelined by ailments, the grandeur that should have been his was snatched from him. WAM is the foundation, and WAMS is the house. He compensates for his diminutive size by fighting hard and using that aforementioned quickness. He plays way too far off the ball, supposedly so he wont get beaten, but since he perpetually gets beaten like a drum anyway, why not play closer up so he can at least do a better job of defending the jump shot? Ranking the Best Defensive Point Guards in the NBA At 61 and 171 pounds, Rondo is pretty small by NBA standards, but he plays much tougher than his size. Sometimes even when hes being smart, he gets a little dumb. Point guards are often valued more for their assist totals than for their scoring. If Westbrook could channel his energy in a consistent way, he would be an elite defender, but for now, hes just a solid defender whos kind of spazzy. Hopefully he can break it. He bulls through picks well and is not afraid to go over them. It probably tells the accurate story here. He could be better than he is, but its hard to blame only him. Pun intended. Apart from that, he seems to do what hes supposed to be doing when hes away from the ball. He arguably makes more plays on his feet, both offensively and defensively, than anyone else. Paradoxically tough on the court and flashy off of it, Frazier epitomized the '70s-era backcourt style in which roles were less defined. Even though Payton only played a little part in 2006, the Heats success would not have been possible without his defensive presence and leadership. Holiday has ample size for a point guard, standing a shade over 64 in shoes, and weighing in at 205 pounds. Seriously, you should hear Mark Jackson rave about him. This is also manifested in his spot-up defense. In his 20 seasons, Bryant averaged 2.5 DWS and 1.4 steals per year. One of the most innovative offensive players, San Antonio Spurs legend Manu Ginobili was a very unique player. 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 only thing keeping Thomas off this list is his brief career by star standards. A decade of playing and a plethora of injuries havent helped him get any faster. In fact, Rondo gives more help than he getscontrary to my previous opinion. 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. But hes just not very strong. The 3 Best NBA Defenders At Every Position For The 2022-23 Season He cant be faulted for not being taller or longer, but he could use the length he has better. There is no doubt about it: Steph Curry is the second-best in the top 10 point guards of all time. LeBron James, the best player in the NBA, is also the league's best point guard. 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 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. One aspect of Roses year-long absence that gets lost is how much the team suffered defensively without him. To read more, go here! 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. Also, he was disliked for flopping feigning a foul to get the ball back, yet he proved to be a key ingredient to the Spurs championship-winning formula. A point guard that has enough ball-handling skill and quickness to be able to drive to the basket in a half-court set is also very valuable and considered by some to be a must for a successful offense. As a point guard, Frazier was one of the greatest in NBA history. If youre not interested in that, feel free to skip ahead. Big O is widely regarded as one of the best offensive point guards of all time. He is in charge of getting the ball into the hands of the shooters. 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. 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. Thats helped him amass 47.3 DWS, 56th overall. Cousy, in many respects, was the Celtics spirit at the moment. -- 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. Its safe to say that Kidd is one of the greatest guards to ever play on the basketball floor. His 48.8 DWS is 48th all-time and the fourth most by a point guard. Hes pouring out effort every minute hes on the court. 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. Defensive Rating (DRtg) is the average number of points per 100 possessions a players team surrenders while he is on the court. He didnt have an eye-popping number, but he was in the top 25 percent of players there. One of basketballs most dynamic and versatile point guards in the modern era. Paul gets caught in a trap that WAM cant entirely avoid because it can only look at what happens, not why it happens. You never have to question his effort or commitment. He might physically play below the rim, but few can touch how he plays above the neck. Simply put, defensive win shares (DWS) are defined by how many wins a player produces based on his defensive ability. That makes him eligible for inclusion on this list of best point guards. Los Angeles Lakers (1979-91, 1995-96), Honors Dennis Johnson. Derrick Rose 15. Conley looked away from Billups and was pointing vehemently to Paul, trying to tell Allen to get over there and cover him. But Gary Payton did as a member of the Seattle Supersonics. Like last time, these shooting guards are ranked based on the cumulative defensive win shares (DWS). Archibald was the first player in league history to lead the league in both points scored and assists, making him a one-man offense. Then again, the limited number of plays may be, in part, due to the fact that hes so hard to post up. Tony Parker is one of the fastest players in the league if youre going by pure speed. He has all the tools to be one: great reflexes and speed, and those long arms with big mitts on the end. Occasionally hell chase the play after hes been beaten, but not always. If he's not on the slide and he played 1,200 minutes, he should be on this list somewhere. If you want the perfect picture of what Hinrich brings to the defensive end of the court, think of him tackling the runaway freight train, otherwise known as LeBron James, in the game which stopped the Miami Heats streak. However, the other side of the ball cant be overlooked because as the saying goes: defense wins championships.. Miami Heat and Dwyane Wade won the NBA championship in 2006 with him as a member of the Seattle SuperSonics. Championships: 3. Synergy tracks every play of every game of the season and, when possible (as it is not always possible), they assign an initial defender on a play. 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. Eventually, you need to form an opinion about why not just know what. It is a testament to Jarrett Jack that he makes this list. This article first appeared on Sportsnaut and was syndicated with permission. Oscar Robertson was one of the NBA's greatest players in history. The defensive stats arent a good way to determine the totality of defense, but they are a factor and shouldnt be ignored. 43 views, 0 likes, 0 loves, 0 comments, 0 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from BabyYo: NRG VS KOI Highlights. If it gives up fewer points, thats good. 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. To absolutely nobodys surprise, Michael Jordan is the best defensive shooting guard in NBA history. There's no way Stockton & Curry are better than Isiah. So I saddled up my workhorse, Synergy, and watched an hour or two of each of the top 15 WAM scores playing defense. Does he pick up his man when switched? Nate Archibald 14. Even though injuries caught up with him toward the end of his illustrious career, Bryant still battled as a defender when needed. That deceptive length helps him nab 2.5 steals per 36 minutes and grab a ridiculous number of rebounds for a person his height. Tim Duncan That earned him the nickname Mr. Were shooters able to shoot over them? Penny Hardaway was well recognized for his relationship with Shaquille ONeal when he was only a kid. West became synonymous with brilliant basketball during his 14-year playing career with the Los Angeles Lakers. Players Stats: 14.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 5.0 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.6 BPG, Honors: 1978-1979 Finals MVP, 5x All-Star, 9x All-Defense Selection, 2x All-NBA Team Selection, Hall of Famer. That said, hes 61st all-time in steals with 1392 and he had six seasons in the top-20 in steals. Our booby prize winner is pictured above. Phoenix Suns (1996-98, 2004-12), Dallas Mavericks (1998-2004), Los Angeles Lakers (2012-15), Honors That all-around game made Kidd one of the league's top point guards for nearly 20 years. There arent a lot of players that could lock down Michael Jordan, the greatest player of all time. The greater problem is how easily he gets disrupted on pick-and-roll defense. While Rose was fairly criticized for not playing hard defensively prior to Thibodeau, that criticism is no longer accurate. 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. Though he had a relatively short career he only played 13 seasons his 50.4 DWS is 44th overall. 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. Aside from the centre, having the best point guard is critical to improving your game because every play starts with him. Point guard from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States of America 3 Jason Kidd Point guard from California, United States of America 4 Walt Frazier Point guard from Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America 5 Dennis Johnson 6 Fat Lever Point guard and Shooting guard from Pine Bluff, Arkansas load more What he offers goes beyond the court. The NBA is a point guard's paradise these days, so let's start All-Time #NBArank with our pantheon points. He also uses his quick hands to steal the dribble, and he does so without taking risks. This is one of those cases where scouting helps. Russ is already on the verge of breaking into the top five of all time, but its going to be a challenge. In fact, hes a bit of a bull on the court and tries to intimidate his counterpart. A defensive point guard will also pressure opponents in passing lanes in an attempt to generate steals and scoring opportunities for their own team. 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. -- Adams, He could hurt defenses in so many ways: Controlling tempo was one, and he was a hell of a defender, too. He could play any spot on the court as well. The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. All rights reserved. He thinks hes the biggest man on the court. Not only is Damian Lillard one of the most exciting players in the game today, he makes a strong case as one of the best point guards in NBA history. Watching him rotate was watching perfection. Sometimes hell even rush to defend the wrong guy while his man is draining a wide-open three. Interpreted as: best point guard defensive rating with a minimum of 2000 minutes played per 82 team games 2022 Those are the questions I was looking to answer. Kyle Lowry has exceptional speed and athleticism. 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. Speed is important; a speedy point guard is better able to create separation and space off the dribble, giving themselves room to work. Thats 20th all-time, with Kidd being the only other guard above him. That makes sense since Parker has assumed the primary responsibility on offense and theres no reason to wear himself out playing defense. Please check your email for a confirmation. No question hell be inducted into the Hall of Fame, and hes one of the greatest rim-attacking players in NBA history. 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. It seems to be down to less than once a game. -- Adams, For nine consecutive years, Nash's teams led the NBA in offensive rating. In terms of career statistics and postseason accomplishments, he ranks as the NBAs fourth-best point guard of all time. Is he an effective flopper? He seemed to keep ahead of the play, moving to the next rotation a fraction of a second before the play even developed in that direction. Parker is a seasoned point guard who plays the game like a pro. Hes like a runner trying to run a mile by alternating between walking and sprinting 100 yards at a time. Thats a strong indication that Rose was not relying on help defense because that same help was there for C.J. Congratulations, Brian Roberts! He led the NBA in scoring in only his second season, 1967-68, with 27.1 points per game. He was a 13-time NBA All-Star during the early half of the Celtics dynasty, winning six NBA championships during his 13-year tenure with the team. The five best defensive centers of all time - Sportsnaut Closing out on shooters, hell go sailing past them. In essence, hes athletic enough to do a respectable job of what hes asked to do. 10-time All-Star, six-time All-NBA selection, nine-time All-D selection, co-Rookie of the Year (1994-95), Career stats That earned him the nickname Mr. Does he know when to help and not to help? 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. Hes fearless, and no matter how large the big setting the pick is, he wont back down. Finally, both are improving on the defensive side of the ball. 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. He doesnt help much, but he doesnt get a lot of help either, so its a bit of a wash. To his credit, he has the best WAM score of any point guard without a great defensive center to back him up. The average score by point guards was 16.1. When we watch basketball, we get general impressions of defense, but the storyline is whats happening with the ball. For this reason, a small penalty was exacted for every minute under 30 minutes, and a small bonus was provided over 30 minutes. 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. In the last entry, we focused on the five best defensive NBA point guards of all time, but now, we turn to the five best defensive shooting guards in NBA history. Paul is just listed at just 60, and that might be generous. But will he listen enough to a player he was just playing against to make that shift? He never leaves his man to help a defender that doesnt need help, but he always seems to be there when help is needed. He never stops moving. 25.7 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 9.5 APG, .485 FG%, The player It only looks at the data. -- Rob Peterson, One can only imagine how impressive his career totals might have been if not for the HIV virus. When he gets it going, hes unstoppable. I like to compare it to the relationship between a foundation and a house. 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. He and Chris Paul are the contenders for smartest defensive point guard in the game today. 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. Golden State Warriors (2009-present), Honors The Glove was a nine-time All-Defensive Team selection, making the First Team all nine times. The Glove was a nine-time All-Defensive Team selection, making the 1st team all nine times. His MVP season, he had the second-best block total by a point guard in history (although John Wall exceeded that total last year.). Perhaps he just grew weary of Doug Collins' act. Best Defenders in NBA History: Top 50 Best Defensive Players Hes always looking where hes supposed to go, and moving in that direction, but he just takes his time getting there. Once he had the ball on the fastbreak, The Flash was gone. Bledsoe is not a great help defender, in spite of boasting a -4.9 net defensive rating. Chris Paul is widely considered to be one of the best point guards of the 2010s. Sometimes that happens, but not all that often. And when hes on the bench, Eric Bledsoe, who is a 15th on this list, was with Odom. 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. Don't get me wrong: Steph is still the league's best shooter. After all, as his name implies, Billups was known for taking and making huge shots in order to help his team win. Gary Payton is one of the best ever. The Top 100 will begin to roll out next week. Big Shot, is one of the finest point guard leaders in the NBA. 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. Hes controlled in how he plays hard. For each of the following metrics, click on the subhead to be taken to the source website for more details. He also uses that length to be one of the best shot-blocking point guards in the league. Other individual metrics and team metrics thin out the impact of those factors. The problem is that sometimes players are so inept, they skew the stats of other players. Went from dominating games strictly with his passing to making the fifth-most 3-pointers in NBA history. By the time he was done, he had racked up 10 All-Star appearances, nine All-Defense selections, six All-NBA . Interpreted as: best defensive rating with a minimum of 10000 minutes played point guards in NBA history. Exceptions were made for Derrick Rose, Danny Granger, Andrew Bynum and Kevin Love because they have all been All-Star players, and all are still, at least by age, in their prime. A lot has been made of how an explosive offense is the way to captivate fans. When the game is on the line, you like to see players find fifth, but Lin never does. 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. 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