'Draymond's the greatest defender in NBA history' - ex-NBA player who played with Bill Russell

[Bigblackted4]

He’s not better than Ben Wallace KG or Hakeem but most other players is debatable

 

[Goatpoacher]

He’s not better than Ben Wallace KG or Hakeem but most other players is debatable

Ben Wallace? He was a post enforcer but not as versatile as KG. Hakeem was great but you couldn't really switch him onto a guard.

KG was the prototype modern NBA defender - lengthy, fast laterally, able to guard on the perimeter. He was more effective against all star perimeter players than all star post players, however.

I'm not sure how you measure the greatness of a defender. Draymond is a remarkably flexible player on defense and is built for the modern era.

 

[Robbo]

Ben Wallace? He was a post enforcer but not as versatile as KG. Hakeem was great but you couldn't really switch him onto a guard.

KG was the prototype modern NBA defender - lengthy, fast laterally, able to guard on the perimeter. He was more effective against all star perimeter players than all star post players, however.

I'm not sure how you measure the greatness of a defender. Draymond is a remarkably flexible player on defense and is built for the modern era.

It seems like defender means shot blocker in a lot of peoples' minds.

 

[Bigblackted4]

Ben Wallace? He was a post enforcer but not as versatile as KG. Hakeem was great but you couldn't really switch him onto a guard.

KG was the prototype modern NBA defender - lengthy, fast laterally, able to guard on the perimeter. He was more effective against all star perimeter players than all star post players, however.

I'm not sure how you measure the greatness of a defender. Draymond is a remarkably flexible player on defense and is built for the modern era.

Ben Wallace was very good a switching and a much better rim protector.

Kg guards all positions he used to shut down a prime Dwight and played Duncan great a lot.

Hakeem again could switch especially in his prime. He would guard 3s routinely when he played with Sampson.

 

[Lakerman0834]

Ben Wallace? He was a post enforcer but not as versatile as KG. Hakeem was great but you couldn't really switch him onto a guard.

KG was the prototype modern NBA defender - lengthy, fast laterally, able to guard on the perimeter. He was more effective against all star perimeter players than all star post players, however.

I'm not sure how you measure the greatness of a defender. Draymond is a remarkably flexible player on defense and is built for the modern era.

Yep great for Modern Era but when you say GOAT you expect that player to dominate any era they are put in. Put him in 90s/2000s and hed be eaten alive every game

 

[Bigblackted4]

It seems like defender means shot blocker in a lot of peoples' minds.

Overall, Garnett’s athleticism, awareness and motor made him one of the best team defenders ever. In my sampling, from 2003-09, he committed defensive errors at a rate of just 0.7 per 100 (96th percentile). This was nearly identical to his rate during my 2010 and 2011 tracking (which included 2,500 more Garnett possessions). Additionally, his frequency of “good” help plays is second in my historical tracking to only a young Hakeem Olajuwon, at over 7 occurrences per 100, ahead of Tim Duncan’s peak rates of more than 6 per 100. (Olajuwon had far more elite blocks, but Garnett was capable of mind-bending blocks too.) Even in his 16th season, he was still a rotation machine, instantly switching and recovering wherever offensive threats emerged:

 

[Goatpoacher]

Yep great for Modern Era but when you say GOAT you expect that player to dominate any era they are put in. Put him in 90s/2000s and hed be eaten alive every game

Maybe. But we really don't know how even Bill Russell would function in "any era". Maybe he'd be Alonzo Mourning at best in the 90's. Ben Wallace was 6-9 or so and was able to play center because the league was short of real Bigs.

I'd say, using your methodology, that Pippen might be the defensive GOAT.

 

[Goatpoacher]

Ben Wallace was very good a switching and a much better rim protector.

Kg guards all positions he used to shut down a prime Dwight and played Duncan great a lot.

Hakeem again could switch especially in his prime. He would guard 3s routinely when he played with Sampson.

Ben wallace worked because he was a freak athlete at 6-9 who played in an era with few offensive threats at 4 and 5. Look at what Shaq and Duncan did to him when they matched up.

I think KG is underappreciated as a defender. However, he did get burned by Duncan and Dirk regularly. Also, you don't need a good defender to shut down dwight. You just need to give Dwight the ball.

Hakeem, I think, would be dominant on both ends in any era. However, he would not be able to keep up with modern perimeter players.

 

[Wiirdo]

Hes basically Robert Horry playing in this era. Put him in 90s/early 00s and hed be lunch meat in the post

Weird that he's a top 3 rim defender then

 

[Bledswole]

So far in the first 2 playoff series Draymond been the MVP, he's averaging a triple double in the playoffs and playing great defenze

Can't argue with that

I just know when KD goes against Bron he gonna try to go 10000% that's why I think he gonna win it

 

[surv2syn]

Green doesn’t have the sustained excellence for a long enough period of time to be put in the same breath with other alltime greats who did it for 8-10 years.

An awful lot of this shyt is premature as hell.
He’s a good defender. This thread is a ton of hyperbole.

I agree. Like Steph being better than every PG besides Magic. Draymond is a great player in my mind and versatile defender but I like to look at things with some objectivity. like for instance, the thread about Iggy/Pip. people were saying that was ridiculous...not realizing Iggy played on some weak teams during his prime. switch him and Dray's careers and Iggy would be the All Star and Dray would be what Iggy was, and likely underrated as a defender. As good as Draymond is, he has benefited from being on the Warriors, a legendary team. for that reason we cant be too hesitant to overrate him. if this Warriors team had prime Philly Iggy, he'd be viewed in the same light as Pippen. I do think Draymond is the most versatile in the game today though.

 

[Wiirdo]

He’s great.

Duncan and Hakeem would be ahead of him though

Yeah Duncan from day one until retirement was DPOY-level every minute he was on the floor.

Dat longevity.

 

[Bigblackted4]

Ben wallace worked because he was a freak athlete at 6-9 who played in an era with few offensive threats at 4 and 5. Look at what Shaq and Duncan did to him when they matched up.

I think KG is underappreciated as a defender. However, he did get burned by Duncan and Dirk regularly. Also, you don't need a good defender to shut down dwight. You just need to give Dwight the ball.

Hakeem, I think, would be dominant on both ends in any era. However, he would not be able to keep up with modern perimeter players.

Green routinely gets beat by Cousins and Aldridge nobody is going to stop everybody

 

[Robbo]

Garnett may be the most comparable, but Olajuwon and Wallace's defensive reputations were built almost entirely on rim protection. Whether its defending the post, or coming in as a help defender. Draymond is p

Overall, Garnett’s athleticism, awareness and motor made him one of the best team defenders ever. In my sampling, from 2003-09, he committed defensive errors at a rate of just 0.7 per 100 (96th percentile). This was nearly identical to his rate during my 2010 and 2011 tracking (which included 2,500 more Garnett possessions). Additionally, his frequency of “good” help plays is second in my historical tracking to only a young Hakeem Olajuwon, at over 7 occurrences per 100, ahead of Tim Duncan’s peak rates of more than 6 per 100. (Olajuwon had far more elite blocks, but Garnett was capable of mind-bending blocks too.) Even in his 16th season, he was still a rotation machine, instantly switching and recovering wherever offensive threats emerged:

I gotta know your process of sampling and determining defensive errors. Not sayin that in a negative way, its just interesting.

I think KG is more comparable because of his versatility. Draymond isn't the shot blocker that Olajuwon and Wallace were, but at the same time, bigs didn't really switch onto guards as often as they do now. Its much more of a strategy to get a guard matched up on a big to create space to get to the rim past a shot blocker vs. into one... or have them back up and give them space to shoot. That type of strategy plays into Draymonds strengths. It also helps that the Warriors style of play prevents them from being affected by good post play.

 

[Cynical Thoughts]

Wait, in the golden state game thread they was dismissing sarcasm about green being the “goat defender”as a joke that has run its course.

But actually it was brought to the Coli by the leader If the gsw fans? Smh