Post by jrmzt on Apr 6, 2010 17:01:20 GMT -5
All-Defensive Team picks
PER Diem: April 6, 2010
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Hollinger By John Hollinger
ESPN.com
Archive
Dwight HowardFernando Medina/NBAE/Getty ImagesReigning Defensive Player of the Year, Dwight Howard, leads the league in blocks and boards again.
As a general rule, we don't pay nearly enough attention to defense. Pick a game, any game, and the first player mentioned in the wrap-up will be the high scorer from the winning team. The game's statistical revolution, to this point, hasn't been particularly helpful in that regard. While we can show you in very precise terms how effective somebody like Kevin Martin is at the offensive end, we have very little ammunition to make similar arguments for his teammates like Chuck Hayes or Shane Battier.
But there are ways to try to rectify such oversights, and with that, it's once again time for me to name my All-Defensive team.
Despite all that's been done with numbers over the past decade or so, this remains an inherently subjective exercise. So let me lay down some ground rules.
First, I named players at the position they guard, not the position they play on offense. For one player below in particular, this is a very important distinction. Second, minutes matter: Somebody who plays great in 1,000 minutes can't match the value of somebody who plays 2,000.
From there, I used three techniques to choose the team. First, I looked at the player's on-court versus off-court point differential at the defensive end, measured per 100 possessions (hat-tip to BasketballValue.com for that one). I've included that measure for every player listed below -- the more negative the number, the better. Second, I looked at a team's defensive efficiency; having an average point differential for the top-ranked defense (Charlotte) is a very different feat than doing the same for the worst defense (Toronto).
And, as always, then there's the subjective component. On this front, I'll at least mention that I've put in the legwork. I saw all these teams play start-to-finish on the tube at least 10 times, and saw all but one of the top 17 defensive teams in person, most of them more than once. (Sorry, Bobcats, the schedule didn't work out for us this season. Maybe in the playoffs.)
At each position, I have players for three teams and a few honorable mention candidates. You can argue differently in several cases and it would be tough for me to offer a convincing retort; as I said, this is an inherently subjective exercise. Regardless, here's one man's opinion on how they should rank:
Point guard
Point guard is always the toughest position to fill, and it's even tougher without one of the usual mainstays in New Orleans' Chris Paul, who missed time with injuries and came back hobbling. We can cobble a decent list of candidates anyway, but we've had better seasons at this spot.
Honorable mention: Indiana has had a rough season, but the Pacers have improved quite a bit at the defensive end. The ability of Earl Watson (+2.35) to defend at the point of attack has been a big reason, because Troy Murphy and Roy Hibbert sure as heck aren't stopping anybody who gets past Watson. In fact, those two largely explain why Watson's on-court versus off-court number is so mediocre.
Two rookies also stood out. Jrue Holiday of Philadelphia (+0.92) could be positively awesome in another year or two; for now we just need to flag him as one to watch for the future. While splitting his season between two teams, Eric Maynor had monstrously good +minus numbers (-5.55) playing behind two pretty decent defenders in Deron Williams and Russell Westbrook. I'm a little skeptical because he didn't do anything that particularly stood out, but I'll be watching him a lot more closely going forward.
In the oldies but goodies category, Andre Miller (-3.50), Deron Williams (+1.18) and Raymond Felton (+2.07) continue to warrant mention as tough, no-nonsense guards who keep their man in front and follow the game plan. Miller is the most vulnerable of the three to penetration but also the best at playing off the ball and reading opponents' plays, helping explain yet another sterling on-court versus off-court differential. Williams' size is his greatest asset, letting him deny physical point guards their preferred positions in the paint and allowing him to switch onto wings if needed. As for Felton, his numbers would be better if he didn't moonlight periodically at the 2, where he gives up too many inches. As the starting point guard for the league's No. 1 defense, he's been as steady as they come.
Lowry
Third team: Kyle Lowry, Houston (-3.88)
I had him ranked higher, but his play dropped off toward the end -- he mailed in the Indiana game Sunday, for instance. In spite of the slump, I'm a big fan of Lowry because of his toughness, knack for taking charges and exceptional lateral quickness.
His numbers look awesome because he shares minutes with a poor defender (Aaron Brooks), but he's a stud defender regardless.
Hill
Second team: George Hill, San Antonio (+0.92)
He's a combo guard who owns freakishly long arms that he's learning to use to great effect at the defensive end, but Hill's numbers suffer a bit because he was so often used as a stopper at the 2. He can defend that spot capably but at 6-3 gives up some inches.
It's at the 1 where Hill is a real defensive force, which is one reason San Antonio has held up so well in Tony Parker's absence.
Rondo
First team: Rajon Rondo, Boston (-2.20)
Rondo remains the cream of the crop when it comes to defending the point guard position in spite of a propensity for gambling that sometimes drives Boston coach Doc Rivers crazy. He's the main reason the Celtics are so good at forcing turnovers, leading the league in steals and using his young legs to save Boston's aging core from a serious speed disadvantage. As an added plus, his arms are so long that he can switch to face bigger guards with relative ease.
Shooting guard
I wasn't really crazy about this season's candidates, to be honest. Shooting guards are mostly offensive players. While there are exceptions, we had a lot of good defenders but no great ones and ended up making some compromises. It didn't help that two of the best, Shane Battier (-0.34) and Raja Bell, fell off our list due to age and injuries.
Honorable mention: Thabo Sefolosha of Oklahoma City is an emerging force as a defensive stopper. But as much as I wanted to put my Swiss compadre in the top three to reward the Thunder's overall defensive strength, his on-court versus off-court numbers and opponent PER didn't warrant such consideration and I didn't see enough subjectively to overrule the numbers.
Arron Afflalo (minu-0.14) was flat-out stolen from the Pistons and, like Sefolosha, may be a fixture on my All-Defensive team over the next few years, with his strength against post-ups being a particularly useful asset. But Denver was just a middling defensive team, and -- as with Sefolosha -- Afflalo's stats weren't overwhelming enough to put him in the top three.
Delonte West (-2.02) is a top-notch defender at the 2 when he's locked in, which was more the case the second half of the season than the first half. If he keeps it up for a full season he's in the top three, but not this time.
Kirk Hinrich (+0.60) missed time with injuries and gives up inches to nearly every opponent, which leads him to foul more than most other elite defenders. Nonetheless, he's a very effective stopper for one of the league's better defensive teams.
Kidd
Third team: Jason Kidd, Dallas (-3.87)
Kidd guarded shooting guards almost exclusively for much of the season, although he's done it a bit less since the Caron Butler trade. While Kidd is a traffic cone against fast point guards, he defends bigger players extremely well: He is strong, has enough size to check 2s and still moves well through screens.
Believe it or not, at age 37 he's also fourth in the league in steals per game and tied for second in total steals. (Also, he's fourth all-time in total steals and likely to pass No. 3 Gary Payton and No. 2 Michael Jordan to finish second behind John Stockton.) Throw in his high hoops IQ and ability to pester post players and still get back to his man, and Kidd is a high-impact defensive player despite his glaring vulnerability to speed.
Bryant
Second team: Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers (-4.29)
Bryant still turns it on and off at this end, but the past couple years the "on" switch has been illuminated more consistently.
Like a lot of top offensive players he doesn't spend a lot of time checking the opponents' top scoring threat, but when he's committed, he's still as good as they come at this end thanks to his legendary competitiveness and underrated muscle.
Wade
First team: Dwyane Wade, Miami (+1.19)
Miami is fourth in defensive efficiency this season. Fourth. Look at that roster and give me one good reason the Heat rank that highly. I'll give you the answer: Because they have a 6-4 guard who can block shots at the rim, snuff out opposing plays from the weak side and generally wreak havoc off the ball.
Wade used to cancel out his prolific play by gambling too much, but now he is picking his spots and as a result has become the league's best freelancer. Wade is good on the ball, too, but his best work comes when he can defend a secondary option and roam.
Small forward
In contrast to shooting guard, the small forward position gave us an unusually strong field of candidates. The 3 is traditionally a spot where we're scrounging for a full set of candidates, but this season I had to exclude several players who seemed worthy of at least third-team consideration.
Honorable mention: Two young Blazers are working their way up this list. Martell Webster handled stopper responsibilities for much of the season and did solid work, especially when matched against bigger players who didn't rely on quickness. He's not quite a natural, but he's put in a lot of effort. Late in the season, after an injury, Nicolas Batum came on and provided an impact. He's likely to be a regular on this list in coming years but doesn't have enough minutes to get more than honorable mention this season.
It pains me to exclude these next three players in particular from the squad. Utah's Andrei Kirilenko (-4.78) was a huge force, playing some of his best D since his All-Star season. Thanks to his incredibly long arms, few are better at coming from behind an opposing big man for the block; additionally, Kirilenko tightened up his previously somewhat lax perimeter defense and, as always, got his mitts on the ball tons of times thanks to his superior length.
Boston's Paul Pierce (-1.91) remains vastly underrated for his D, as he's one of the league's few stars who routinely checks the opponent's best scoring threat. While Pierce gets a lot of help from all the quality surrounding him in Boston, he's still the one doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
Finally, Dallas' Shawn Marion (-3.27) is part of the reason I could include Jason Kidd at shooting guard -- Marion often checks quick point guards and does a reasonable job of it, plus he's been extremely effective in guarding more traditional 3s like Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James.
Artest
Third team: Ron Artest, L.A. Lakers (-4.32)
Artest isn't as quick as he used to be and struggles chasing players through screens, but he is impossible to post up against, has incredibly quick hands and plays as hard as anyone in the league. His arrival has made L.A. a better defensive team despite the implosion of its bench and the decline of point guard Derek Fisher, with the Lakers leading the league in defense for a big chunk of the season before a late-season slump sent them to their current sixth position.
James
Second team: LeBron James, Cleveland (+0.46)
James' on-court versus off-court numbers suffer in part because Cleveland's other two aces, Delonte West and Anderson Varejao, are usually on the court when he isn't. But he's been an equally big reason the Cavs are eighth in defensive efficiency despite working in the plodding Shaquille O'Neal and suffering several injuries along the way. His half-court help defense still could use improvement, but he's become a very good on-ball defender and a veritable human eraser against opponent fast breaks because of his chase-down speed. And as for posting him up, forget about it. You'll have better luck trying to back down an 18-wheeler.
Wallace
First team: Gerald Wallace, Charlotte (+0.19)
Sorry, LeBron. Wallace was the best defensive player on (at the moment) the best defensive team. One of the big changes under Larry Brown has been the conversion of Wallace from a gambling rover into a solid stay-at-home defender.
He still impacts the game with his athleticism as sort of a poor man's Wade, playing passing lanes when opportunities strike and surprising bigger players with his shot-blocking, but now it's done in the confines of one of the league's most disciplined defenses. Additionally, few are better switching onto smaller players, and Wallace's versatility defending 2s, 3s and 4s gives Brown a lot of leeway in matchups.
Wallace's +minus isn't great, but partly that's because of how the Bobcats play: All of Charlotte's starters have unimpressive +minus numbers, but as a group they play the vast majority of the minutes for the league's top-ranked club in defensive efficiency.
Power forward
The competition gets tighter as the players get bigger, and power forward is the most interesting position in that sense because of the versatility it requires. Depending on whether the matchup is somebody like Rashard Lewis or an opponent more like Carlos Boozer, the players on this list have to defend post players on one night and guard the 3-point line the next. The best of them do it seamlessly.
Honorable mention: Lamar Odom (-3.94) doesn't get enough credit for his D. He can guard anybody 1 through 4, he never gets overpowered despite lacking a muscular frame, and he's never out of position. For a player who struggled with focus earlier in his career, he's made an amazing transformation into a reliable little-things guy.
Kevin Garnett, Boston (-5.42) drags his leg around and has clearly lost a step -- most notably when he switches onto the perimeter -- but his smarts, unparalleled length and legendary tenacity still make him one of the game's most effective defensive players.
Kenyon Martin (-0.96) doesn't have the numbers of some of the other players on this list, and neither does his team, but his mettle and ability to check smaller players on switches make him a key piece in Denver's arsenal -- and one that's been sorely missed as the Nuggets limp through the homestretch.
Oklahoma City's Serge Ibaka (-1.99) didn't play a lot of minutes, but he's a terror in the making because of his length, quickness and shot-blocking ability. Of particular note was the fourth quarter of the game in Portland this season, when he basically eradicated LaMarcus Aldridge from the box score -- Aldridge didn't get a shot attempt the entire quarter, and it wasn't from lack of trying.
Mbah a Moute
Third team: Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Milwaukee (-2.90)
He can check 3s or 4s, inside or out, and remains the league's most underrated defensive player. Right now the only thing preventing him from ranking higher is his offense; he's played only 1,681 minutes this season because his inability to shoot, score or pass makes it difficult to justify keeping him on the floor.
If he ever becomes competent offensively he'll be an All-Defense fixture for the next decade. He's that good.
Smith
Second team: Josh Smith, Atlanta (-3.79)
According to HoopData.com, Smith leads the league in "defensive plays" (blocks plus steals plus charges) per game. He's rediscovered his shot-blocking knack after a mysterious decline last season, and he has a unique position in the league leader charts: He's the shortest player in the top 10 in blocks and the tallest player in the top 10 in steals. Smith has become smarter about taking his gambles, staying on the floor more often, while the ability of Smith and Al Horford to switch onto smaller guards is the key to Atlanta's entire defensive strategy, one that can best be summed up as "Switch everything."
The only negative is that the Hawks are just 14th overall in defensive efficiency. Swiss-cheese guards and horrific transition defense are the main culprits, but it's tough to rate Smith first when he hasn't had enough impact to keep the team's overall defense from being mediocre.
Varejao
First team: Anderson Varejao, Cleveland (-5.34)
Raggedy Andy was my midseason choice for NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and while I can no longer go quite that far, I remain convinced that he's the best defensive power forward in the business. No big man in basketball is better at switching out onto smaller players, and Varejao combines that skill with toughness in the post and solid work on the boards. In fact, he's one of the most frustrating opponents in the league for good post players because he's so active, progressing far beyond the flopping vaudeville act of years past into a truly elite defensive performer.
Center
Center is always the toughest position at which to rank players because an inordinate number of topflight defensive players man the position. This season is no exception, as you'll see from our extensive honorable mention list. Nonetheless, a few players stood out even among this outstanding group, and we'll detail their exploits below.
Honorable mention: Two players -- Marcus Camby (-5.00) and Brendan Haywood (-3.26) -- changed teams during the course of the season, making their on-court versus off-court numbers even less reliable than normal. But both players have posted sparkling numbers in this category in other seasons, and in each case their reputations back up the numbers. Each has one weakness that keeps him out of the top three, though: For Camby it's his unwillingness to show against a pick-and-roll, and for Haywood it's his tendency to take nights off.
Kendrick Perkins (-3.28) isn't a great shot-blocker, but he's a mean, physical SOB who plays incredibly tough post defense. If you're going up against Dwight Howard, then Perk is the player you want guarding him. A couple other centers, however, outrank him as help defenders, especially when it comes to picking up guards on the perimeter.
Chicago's Joakim Noah (+0.86) is one of them; in fact he might be the best pick-and-roll defender among the league's centers. Plus, he put up much stronger rebounding numbers this season. His unimpressive on-court versus off-court numbers seem to be misleading when one considers how badly the team went in the tank as soon as he was hurt, but his one-on-one post defense still could use improvement.
Tim Duncan (-4.30) has been a mainstay of previous teams and can still affect games with his length, timing and smarts. But he doesn't move nearly as well as he used to and is no longer a game-changer from the weak side.
Finally, Houston's Chuck Hayes (-2.77) might be the best inch-for-inch defender in basketball. But at 6-6 on a list of 7-footers, he'll need a few more inches to crack this list.
But the hardest player to leave off my top three wasn't any of those guys -- it was Oklahoma City's Nick Collison (-7.22). You heard that correctly: Nick Collison. Every metric says Collison was one of the league's most effective defensive players this season, leading the league in drawing charges despite coming off the bench and posting a phenomenal on-court versus off-court differential for the league's seventh-ranked defensive squad. Unfortunately for Collison, three other players were a bit better.
Bogut
Third team: Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee (-4.47)
Bogut was the unifying force behind the league's fifth-ranked defensive team, combing his longstanding knack for taking charges with a newfound talent for blocking shots at the rim. Combined with his toughness in post D and his control of the boards, he'd been one of the season's underrated stories. He's become an offensive force too, but his stout defense is the bigger reason that his unfortunate fall against Phoenix on Saturday was so damaging to the Bucks' playoff upset hopes.
Wallace
Second team: Ben Wallace, Detroit (-9.35)
Detroit was only 27th in defensive efficiency, but don't blame Big Ben. He was positively awesome in the first half of the season, bringing back memories of his dominating days of yore with the Pistons, and the team's defense immediately went in the tank once he was hurt. Wallace's ridiculous on-court versus off-court numbers are helped by his weak counterparts in the Pistons' frontcourt, but observation backs up the numbers in this case: Big Ben was freakishly good.
Howard
First team and Defensive POY: Dwight Howard, Orlando (-2.27)
I was down on Howard earlier this season, as I didn't think he was moving particularly well in the first half of the season. All that's changed since about Christmas, however, and Howard is back to his dominating ways. So are the Magic, who rank a close second to Charlotte in defensive efficiency despite a roster laden mostly with offensive players.
The reason, of course, is Howard, who patrols the middle with his breathtaking shot-blocking ability, dominates the defensive glass, helps his guards on the perimeter and nullifies opposing breaks with his speed back down the court. It would be nice if he'd block a few more shots to his teammates rather than going for volleyball spikes into the 10th row, but as long as we're comparing him to current players rather than Bill Russell, Howard is easily the cream of the crop.
______________________________________________________
If Hollinger is correct, Rondo may see his first NBA all Defensive team award this year.
PER Diem: April 6, 2010
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Hollinger By John Hollinger
ESPN.com
Archive
Dwight HowardFernando Medina/NBAE/Getty ImagesReigning Defensive Player of the Year, Dwight Howard, leads the league in blocks and boards again.
As a general rule, we don't pay nearly enough attention to defense. Pick a game, any game, and the first player mentioned in the wrap-up will be the high scorer from the winning team. The game's statistical revolution, to this point, hasn't been particularly helpful in that regard. While we can show you in very precise terms how effective somebody like Kevin Martin is at the offensive end, we have very little ammunition to make similar arguments for his teammates like Chuck Hayes or Shane Battier.
But there are ways to try to rectify such oversights, and with that, it's once again time for me to name my All-Defensive team.
Despite all that's been done with numbers over the past decade or so, this remains an inherently subjective exercise. So let me lay down some ground rules.
First, I named players at the position they guard, not the position they play on offense. For one player below in particular, this is a very important distinction. Second, minutes matter: Somebody who plays great in 1,000 minutes can't match the value of somebody who plays 2,000.
From there, I used three techniques to choose the team. First, I looked at the player's on-court versus off-court point differential at the defensive end, measured per 100 possessions (hat-tip to BasketballValue.com for that one). I've included that measure for every player listed below -- the more negative the number, the better. Second, I looked at a team's defensive efficiency; having an average point differential for the top-ranked defense (Charlotte) is a very different feat than doing the same for the worst defense (Toronto).
And, as always, then there's the subjective component. On this front, I'll at least mention that I've put in the legwork. I saw all these teams play start-to-finish on the tube at least 10 times, and saw all but one of the top 17 defensive teams in person, most of them more than once. (Sorry, Bobcats, the schedule didn't work out for us this season. Maybe in the playoffs.)
At each position, I have players for three teams and a few honorable mention candidates. You can argue differently in several cases and it would be tough for me to offer a convincing retort; as I said, this is an inherently subjective exercise. Regardless, here's one man's opinion on how they should rank:
Point guard
Point guard is always the toughest position to fill, and it's even tougher without one of the usual mainstays in New Orleans' Chris Paul, who missed time with injuries and came back hobbling. We can cobble a decent list of candidates anyway, but we've had better seasons at this spot.
Honorable mention: Indiana has had a rough season, but the Pacers have improved quite a bit at the defensive end. The ability of Earl Watson (+2.35) to defend at the point of attack has been a big reason, because Troy Murphy and Roy Hibbert sure as heck aren't stopping anybody who gets past Watson. In fact, those two largely explain why Watson's on-court versus off-court number is so mediocre.
Two rookies also stood out. Jrue Holiday of Philadelphia (+0.92) could be positively awesome in another year or two; for now we just need to flag him as one to watch for the future. While splitting his season between two teams, Eric Maynor had monstrously good +minus numbers (-5.55) playing behind two pretty decent defenders in Deron Williams and Russell Westbrook. I'm a little skeptical because he didn't do anything that particularly stood out, but I'll be watching him a lot more closely going forward.
In the oldies but goodies category, Andre Miller (-3.50), Deron Williams (+1.18) and Raymond Felton (+2.07) continue to warrant mention as tough, no-nonsense guards who keep their man in front and follow the game plan. Miller is the most vulnerable of the three to penetration but also the best at playing off the ball and reading opponents' plays, helping explain yet another sterling on-court versus off-court differential. Williams' size is his greatest asset, letting him deny physical point guards their preferred positions in the paint and allowing him to switch onto wings if needed. As for Felton, his numbers would be better if he didn't moonlight periodically at the 2, where he gives up too many inches. As the starting point guard for the league's No. 1 defense, he's been as steady as they come.
Lowry
Third team: Kyle Lowry, Houston (-3.88)
I had him ranked higher, but his play dropped off toward the end -- he mailed in the Indiana game Sunday, for instance. In spite of the slump, I'm a big fan of Lowry because of his toughness, knack for taking charges and exceptional lateral quickness.
His numbers look awesome because he shares minutes with a poor defender (Aaron Brooks), but he's a stud defender regardless.
Hill
Second team: George Hill, San Antonio (+0.92)
He's a combo guard who owns freakishly long arms that he's learning to use to great effect at the defensive end, but Hill's numbers suffer a bit because he was so often used as a stopper at the 2. He can defend that spot capably but at 6-3 gives up some inches.
It's at the 1 where Hill is a real defensive force, which is one reason San Antonio has held up so well in Tony Parker's absence.
Rondo
First team: Rajon Rondo, Boston (-2.20)
Rondo remains the cream of the crop when it comes to defending the point guard position in spite of a propensity for gambling that sometimes drives Boston coach Doc Rivers crazy. He's the main reason the Celtics are so good at forcing turnovers, leading the league in steals and using his young legs to save Boston's aging core from a serious speed disadvantage. As an added plus, his arms are so long that he can switch to face bigger guards with relative ease.
Shooting guard
I wasn't really crazy about this season's candidates, to be honest. Shooting guards are mostly offensive players. While there are exceptions, we had a lot of good defenders but no great ones and ended up making some compromises. It didn't help that two of the best, Shane Battier (-0.34) and Raja Bell, fell off our list due to age and injuries.
Honorable mention: Thabo Sefolosha of Oklahoma City is an emerging force as a defensive stopper. But as much as I wanted to put my Swiss compadre in the top three to reward the Thunder's overall defensive strength, his on-court versus off-court numbers and opponent PER didn't warrant such consideration and I didn't see enough subjectively to overrule the numbers.
Arron Afflalo (minu-0.14) was flat-out stolen from the Pistons and, like Sefolosha, may be a fixture on my All-Defensive team over the next few years, with his strength against post-ups being a particularly useful asset. But Denver was just a middling defensive team, and -- as with Sefolosha -- Afflalo's stats weren't overwhelming enough to put him in the top three.
Delonte West (-2.02) is a top-notch defender at the 2 when he's locked in, which was more the case the second half of the season than the first half. If he keeps it up for a full season he's in the top three, but not this time.
Kirk Hinrich (+0.60) missed time with injuries and gives up inches to nearly every opponent, which leads him to foul more than most other elite defenders. Nonetheless, he's a very effective stopper for one of the league's better defensive teams.
Kidd
Third team: Jason Kidd, Dallas (-3.87)
Kidd guarded shooting guards almost exclusively for much of the season, although he's done it a bit less since the Caron Butler trade. While Kidd is a traffic cone against fast point guards, he defends bigger players extremely well: He is strong, has enough size to check 2s and still moves well through screens.
Believe it or not, at age 37 he's also fourth in the league in steals per game and tied for second in total steals. (Also, he's fourth all-time in total steals and likely to pass No. 3 Gary Payton and No. 2 Michael Jordan to finish second behind John Stockton.) Throw in his high hoops IQ and ability to pester post players and still get back to his man, and Kidd is a high-impact defensive player despite his glaring vulnerability to speed.
Bryant
Second team: Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers (-4.29)
Bryant still turns it on and off at this end, but the past couple years the "on" switch has been illuminated more consistently.
Like a lot of top offensive players he doesn't spend a lot of time checking the opponents' top scoring threat, but when he's committed, he's still as good as they come at this end thanks to his legendary competitiveness and underrated muscle.
Wade
First team: Dwyane Wade, Miami (+1.19)
Miami is fourth in defensive efficiency this season. Fourth. Look at that roster and give me one good reason the Heat rank that highly. I'll give you the answer: Because they have a 6-4 guard who can block shots at the rim, snuff out opposing plays from the weak side and generally wreak havoc off the ball.
Wade used to cancel out his prolific play by gambling too much, but now he is picking his spots and as a result has become the league's best freelancer. Wade is good on the ball, too, but his best work comes when he can defend a secondary option and roam.
Small forward
In contrast to shooting guard, the small forward position gave us an unusually strong field of candidates. The 3 is traditionally a spot where we're scrounging for a full set of candidates, but this season I had to exclude several players who seemed worthy of at least third-team consideration.
Honorable mention: Two young Blazers are working their way up this list. Martell Webster handled stopper responsibilities for much of the season and did solid work, especially when matched against bigger players who didn't rely on quickness. He's not quite a natural, but he's put in a lot of effort. Late in the season, after an injury, Nicolas Batum came on and provided an impact. He's likely to be a regular on this list in coming years but doesn't have enough minutes to get more than honorable mention this season.
It pains me to exclude these next three players in particular from the squad. Utah's Andrei Kirilenko (-4.78) was a huge force, playing some of his best D since his All-Star season. Thanks to his incredibly long arms, few are better at coming from behind an opposing big man for the block; additionally, Kirilenko tightened up his previously somewhat lax perimeter defense and, as always, got his mitts on the ball tons of times thanks to his superior length.
Boston's Paul Pierce (-1.91) remains vastly underrated for his D, as he's one of the league's few stars who routinely checks the opponent's best scoring threat. While Pierce gets a lot of help from all the quality surrounding him in Boston, he's still the one doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
Finally, Dallas' Shawn Marion (-3.27) is part of the reason I could include Jason Kidd at shooting guard -- Marion often checks quick point guards and does a reasonable job of it, plus he's been extremely effective in guarding more traditional 3s like Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James.
Artest
Third team: Ron Artest, L.A. Lakers (-4.32)
Artest isn't as quick as he used to be and struggles chasing players through screens, but he is impossible to post up against, has incredibly quick hands and plays as hard as anyone in the league. His arrival has made L.A. a better defensive team despite the implosion of its bench and the decline of point guard Derek Fisher, with the Lakers leading the league in defense for a big chunk of the season before a late-season slump sent them to their current sixth position.
James
Second team: LeBron James, Cleveland (+0.46)
James' on-court versus off-court numbers suffer in part because Cleveland's other two aces, Delonte West and Anderson Varejao, are usually on the court when he isn't. But he's been an equally big reason the Cavs are eighth in defensive efficiency despite working in the plodding Shaquille O'Neal and suffering several injuries along the way. His half-court help defense still could use improvement, but he's become a very good on-ball defender and a veritable human eraser against opponent fast breaks because of his chase-down speed. And as for posting him up, forget about it. You'll have better luck trying to back down an 18-wheeler.
Wallace
First team: Gerald Wallace, Charlotte (+0.19)
Sorry, LeBron. Wallace was the best defensive player on (at the moment) the best defensive team. One of the big changes under Larry Brown has been the conversion of Wallace from a gambling rover into a solid stay-at-home defender.
He still impacts the game with his athleticism as sort of a poor man's Wade, playing passing lanes when opportunities strike and surprising bigger players with his shot-blocking, but now it's done in the confines of one of the league's most disciplined defenses. Additionally, few are better switching onto smaller players, and Wallace's versatility defending 2s, 3s and 4s gives Brown a lot of leeway in matchups.
Wallace's +minus isn't great, but partly that's because of how the Bobcats play: All of Charlotte's starters have unimpressive +minus numbers, but as a group they play the vast majority of the minutes for the league's top-ranked club in defensive efficiency.
Power forward
The competition gets tighter as the players get bigger, and power forward is the most interesting position in that sense because of the versatility it requires. Depending on whether the matchup is somebody like Rashard Lewis or an opponent more like Carlos Boozer, the players on this list have to defend post players on one night and guard the 3-point line the next. The best of them do it seamlessly.
Honorable mention: Lamar Odom (-3.94) doesn't get enough credit for his D. He can guard anybody 1 through 4, he never gets overpowered despite lacking a muscular frame, and he's never out of position. For a player who struggled with focus earlier in his career, he's made an amazing transformation into a reliable little-things guy.
Kevin Garnett, Boston (-5.42) drags his leg around and has clearly lost a step -- most notably when he switches onto the perimeter -- but his smarts, unparalleled length and legendary tenacity still make him one of the game's most effective defensive players.
Kenyon Martin (-0.96) doesn't have the numbers of some of the other players on this list, and neither does his team, but his mettle and ability to check smaller players on switches make him a key piece in Denver's arsenal -- and one that's been sorely missed as the Nuggets limp through the homestretch.
Oklahoma City's Serge Ibaka (-1.99) didn't play a lot of minutes, but he's a terror in the making because of his length, quickness and shot-blocking ability. Of particular note was the fourth quarter of the game in Portland this season, when he basically eradicated LaMarcus Aldridge from the box score -- Aldridge didn't get a shot attempt the entire quarter, and it wasn't from lack of trying.
Mbah a Moute
Third team: Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Milwaukee (-2.90)
He can check 3s or 4s, inside or out, and remains the league's most underrated defensive player. Right now the only thing preventing him from ranking higher is his offense; he's played only 1,681 minutes this season because his inability to shoot, score or pass makes it difficult to justify keeping him on the floor.
If he ever becomes competent offensively he'll be an All-Defense fixture for the next decade. He's that good.
Smith
Second team: Josh Smith, Atlanta (-3.79)
According to HoopData.com, Smith leads the league in "defensive plays" (blocks plus steals plus charges) per game. He's rediscovered his shot-blocking knack after a mysterious decline last season, and he has a unique position in the league leader charts: He's the shortest player in the top 10 in blocks and the tallest player in the top 10 in steals. Smith has become smarter about taking his gambles, staying on the floor more often, while the ability of Smith and Al Horford to switch onto smaller guards is the key to Atlanta's entire defensive strategy, one that can best be summed up as "Switch everything."
The only negative is that the Hawks are just 14th overall in defensive efficiency. Swiss-cheese guards and horrific transition defense are the main culprits, but it's tough to rate Smith first when he hasn't had enough impact to keep the team's overall defense from being mediocre.
Varejao
First team: Anderson Varejao, Cleveland (-5.34)
Raggedy Andy was my midseason choice for NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and while I can no longer go quite that far, I remain convinced that he's the best defensive power forward in the business. No big man in basketball is better at switching out onto smaller players, and Varejao combines that skill with toughness in the post and solid work on the boards. In fact, he's one of the most frustrating opponents in the league for good post players because he's so active, progressing far beyond the flopping vaudeville act of years past into a truly elite defensive performer.
Center
Center is always the toughest position at which to rank players because an inordinate number of topflight defensive players man the position. This season is no exception, as you'll see from our extensive honorable mention list. Nonetheless, a few players stood out even among this outstanding group, and we'll detail their exploits below.
Honorable mention: Two players -- Marcus Camby (-5.00) and Brendan Haywood (-3.26) -- changed teams during the course of the season, making their on-court versus off-court numbers even less reliable than normal. But both players have posted sparkling numbers in this category in other seasons, and in each case their reputations back up the numbers. Each has one weakness that keeps him out of the top three, though: For Camby it's his unwillingness to show against a pick-and-roll, and for Haywood it's his tendency to take nights off.
Kendrick Perkins (-3.28) isn't a great shot-blocker, but he's a mean, physical SOB who plays incredibly tough post defense. If you're going up against Dwight Howard, then Perk is the player you want guarding him. A couple other centers, however, outrank him as help defenders, especially when it comes to picking up guards on the perimeter.
Chicago's Joakim Noah (+0.86) is one of them; in fact he might be the best pick-and-roll defender among the league's centers. Plus, he put up much stronger rebounding numbers this season. His unimpressive on-court versus off-court numbers seem to be misleading when one considers how badly the team went in the tank as soon as he was hurt, but his one-on-one post defense still could use improvement.
Tim Duncan (-4.30) has been a mainstay of previous teams and can still affect games with his length, timing and smarts. But he doesn't move nearly as well as he used to and is no longer a game-changer from the weak side.
Finally, Houston's Chuck Hayes (-2.77) might be the best inch-for-inch defender in basketball. But at 6-6 on a list of 7-footers, he'll need a few more inches to crack this list.
But the hardest player to leave off my top three wasn't any of those guys -- it was Oklahoma City's Nick Collison (-7.22). You heard that correctly: Nick Collison. Every metric says Collison was one of the league's most effective defensive players this season, leading the league in drawing charges despite coming off the bench and posting a phenomenal on-court versus off-court differential for the league's seventh-ranked defensive squad. Unfortunately for Collison, three other players were a bit better.
Bogut
Third team: Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee (-4.47)
Bogut was the unifying force behind the league's fifth-ranked defensive team, combing his longstanding knack for taking charges with a newfound talent for blocking shots at the rim. Combined with his toughness in post D and his control of the boards, he'd been one of the season's underrated stories. He's become an offensive force too, but his stout defense is the bigger reason that his unfortunate fall against Phoenix on Saturday was so damaging to the Bucks' playoff upset hopes.
Wallace
Second team: Ben Wallace, Detroit (-9.35)
Detroit was only 27th in defensive efficiency, but don't blame Big Ben. He was positively awesome in the first half of the season, bringing back memories of his dominating days of yore with the Pistons, and the team's defense immediately went in the tank once he was hurt. Wallace's ridiculous on-court versus off-court numbers are helped by his weak counterparts in the Pistons' frontcourt, but observation backs up the numbers in this case: Big Ben was freakishly good.
Howard
First team and Defensive POY: Dwight Howard, Orlando (-2.27)
I was down on Howard earlier this season, as I didn't think he was moving particularly well in the first half of the season. All that's changed since about Christmas, however, and Howard is back to his dominating ways. So are the Magic, who rank a close second to Charlotte in defensive efficiency despite a roster laden mostly with offensive players.
The reason, of course, is Howard, who patrols the middle with his breathtaking shot-blocking ability, dominates the defensive glass, helps his guards on the perimeter and nullifies opposing breaks with his speed back down the court. It would be nice if he'd block a few more shots to his teammates rather than going for volleyball spikes into the 10th row, but as long as we're comparing him to current players rather than Bill Russell, Howard is easily the cream of the crop.
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If Hollinger is correct, Rondo may see his first NBA all Defensive team award this year.
