He also plays through to the end of the play when his man doesnt have the ball, which is not something you see all point guards do. Stockton embodied a true point guard - an extension of the coach that ran the team's offense seamlessly. If he's not on the slide and he played 1,200 minutes, he should be on this list somewhere. Coming over as a 25-year-old rookie, Ginobili only had two seasons where he had fewer than one steal per game and he averaged 1.3 steals for his career. As previously stated, he gets the help from Green and Leonard to guard the top point guards. Thats helped him amass 47.3 DWS, 56th overall. 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. Aside from the centre, having the best point guard is critical to improving your game because every play starts with him. There arent many point guards who can do it all, but Kidd is one of them. Hes just over 60" without shoes but has a wingspan of 67.5. Only four players in the history of the combine are as short or shorter and have at least that kind of reach. 18.4 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 7.5APG, .375 FG%, The player Whether this is a result of his reputation being undeserved or him not putting forth the effort isnt hard to determine. Whenever anyone imagines a point guard, chances are theyre thinking of Utah Jazz legend John Stockton. Oscar Robertson was one of the NBA's greatest players in history. He had unusual strength for his size, quick feet, elite hands, and timing to help him hold down opponents one-on-one and rack up steals. Players like Deron Williams, Kyrie Irving and John Wall blew by him fairly consistently. When the team is winning or the game is close, he puts in real effort, but if they are down, he shows noticeably less energy. Yet somehow he manages to compensate and do a reasonably fair job of defending, even in isolation. Some players with tremendous athleticism just dont apply it on both ends of the court. Johnson will go down as one of the top 25 all-time point guards because of his defensive presence. 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. Watching a thing, and watching for a thing, are different. Lin is 63 and 200 pounds, which is decent size for a point guard, in the neighborhood of Derrick Rose, Deron Williams and Russell Westbrook. 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. However, the other side of the ball cant be overlooked because as the saying goes: defense wins championships.. -- 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 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. Being big and strong doesnt mean players automatically got higher scores, though. The total numbers were then adjusted to arrive at a score ranging between 90 (best) and 110 (worst). While Rose is slightly faster, Westbrook is slightly bigger. On defense, the point guard is tasked with making the opposing point guard as ineffective as possible. For his career, Jordan averaged 2.3 steals (third all-time) and 4.2 DWS per year. LeBron James, the best player in the NBA, is also the league's best point guard. The Glove was a nine-time All-Defensive Team selection, making the 1st team all nine times. He finished the game with the most career postseason points and the highest average in a playoff series. The NBA is flush with dominant point guards. Greg Monroe has talent on the offensive side of the ball but not a whole lot on the defensive side. If you are a basketball freak, you might be interested in knowing about NBA and other Best Basketball Leagues in the World. He has all the tools to be one: great reflexes and speed, and those long arms with big mitts on the end. He and Chris Paul are the contenders for smartest defensive point guard in the game today. Gary Payton 12. He spends too much time getting back into the defensive play because he ran himself out of it. Generally speaking, the point guard is the player in possession of the ball for the most time during a game and is responsible for maintaining possession of the ball for their team in the face of any pressure from the opponents. Take, for example, Carlos Boozer in 2012. Because Derrick Rose was the NBAs youngest MVP in 2009, its unfortunate that the guy isnt higher on this list. 19.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 11.2 APG, .520 FG%, The player Jason Kidd 9. Two NBA titles and a Finals MVP award make him one of the all-time great point guards because of his ability to score from mid-range and his propensity to attack and finish at the rim. He has trouble compensating for his lack of size when challenging jump shots. Perhaps he just grew weary of Doug Collins' act. The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Rondo may not be big, but he doesnt know that. Then there was that kid who just read the assignment on the bus and got straight As. 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. There are times where he makes a bone-headed gamble and loses, trying to get the extra steal, but thats about the only flaw there is with him mentally. 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. In the last entry, we focused on the five best defensive NBA point guards of all time. Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Hinrich always had a high basketball IQ. When he was off the ball, it was spectacular. (As an aside, in the slides, you will only see the original metric value, not the weighted number to determine the WAM. Two-time All-Defensive First Team Four-time All-Star Before having his career derailed by drug use, Micheal Ray Richardson was one of the league's most feared defensive point. He uses his speed well, as long as hes engaged in the game. Its got to be annoying, but its also disruptive, and being disruptive is positive on defense. He probably can even tell you where the hot dog vendor and mascot are. 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. For this reason, a small penalty was exacted for every minute under 30 minutes, and a small bonus was provided over 30 minutes. Even though hes been injured a lot, Paul is averaging over two steals a game for his career. So I saddled up my workhorse, Synergy, and watched an hour or two of each of the top 15 WAM scores playing defense. Conley is inconsistent in how he applies effort on the court. Sixth-greatest point guard in basketball history. 1. First, a range of 18 to 22 makes it easier to arrive at the eventual score of 100the baseline everything was weighted to. Notably, several modern point guards have used a successful style of post play, a tactic usually practiced by much larger centers and forwards. 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? Hopefully he can break it. -- Haberstroh, Honors Over the last decade, the best point guards such as Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, and others have dominated the position. In fact, no drafted guard has ever measured a worse sprint, vertical and agility test. 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. This article first appeared on Sportsnaut and was syndicated with permission. The foundation (the facts or stats) needs to be laid first, and then the house (opinions about how, or why, something is) is built on top of it. He had the second-best defensive rating in the NBA. He is easily one of the physically weaker players in the league, even for his position. Players Stats: 14.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 5.0 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.6 BPG. On the positive side, Rose does a decent job of understanding his role in a complex system. Furthermore, he is a legend for the Phoenix Suns and one of the teams finest players. Holiday wouldnt just go under the pick; he would go too far under the pick. -- Rob Peterson, One can only imagine how impressive his career totals might have been if not for the HIV virus. Players Stats: 14.3 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 8.5 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.1 BPG, Honors: 2x MVP, 8x All-Stars, 7x All-NBA Selection, Hall of Famer. When it came to size, the main flaw in his game was that he was very fast and explosive with his handles. Scoring point guards typically look to score first, thus preventing teammates from getting the ball. It is easy to have the numbers skewed by a smaller sample size. Eric Bledsoe has a reputation as being both quick and fast, even for a point guard, but he rarely shows it on defense. The effect was that the Bulls' starters all looked inferior to their backups. On the flip side, Westbrook's 4.13 turnovers per game average is the highest all-time, with Johnson (3. . Hes the closest thing in the world to Kevin Garnetts Mini-Me. While most of these stats are adjusted for minutes, the problem surfaces that bench players, playing fewer minutes, can appear to be better than they are. 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. Since its neither, he gets an even score. Hall of Famer was an impressive defensive player in his own right. The facts need to come first. James Harden's age: stats, contract, family, dating, net worth in 2022. It will be interesting to see if his new coach, Jason Kidd, can help him to work on this, as Kidd was a terrific help defender. 7-time All-Star, 6-time All-NBA selection, 7-time All-D selection, Hall of Fame, Career stats Even when in position, he wont jump to challenge a shot. He still struggles against the spot-up, though, because of issues that will be addressed later. When Gibson played with the starters, the Bulls gave up 10 fewer points per 100 possessions. Total Defensive Plays per 36 Minutes, or TDP/36 is simply the total number of defensive rebounds, steals and blocks a player accrues every 36 minutes. He was the primary defender on 1,127 plays last year in all, surpassed only by Stephen Curry among point guards. Who are the best defensive point guards in the NBA, and how are they determined? He is entirely too aggressive. Speed is important; a speedy point guard is better able to create separation and space off the dribble, giving themselves room to work. 10-time All-Star, six-time All-NBA selection, nine-time All-D selection, co-Rookie of the Year (1994-95), Career stats Despite the fact that he was unable to win an NBA championship, his charisma and dribbling prowess will never be forgotten. Lennys passing and leadership on the floor were solid, but he also had a few great scoring years on the court. Nate Archibald 14. One of the greatest rebounding guards of all time. In fact, its probably the most important thing. He is not a guy you would single out as an NBA player in a crowded room. A point guard will often use their ability to score in order to augment their effectiveness as a decision-maker and playmaker. Still, Nash's greatest historical legacy will be paving the way for Stephen Curry and a new generation of point guards in a league that embraced point guards making plays with a wide-open court. 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. Then our ESPN expert panel voted on thousands of head-to-head matchups, with voting based on both peak performance and career value. He was the league's Rookie of the Year in 1966-67 and was named to the All-NBA First Team twice and the Second Team once, and he appeared in seven NBA All-Star Games. It is startling to see the regularity with which opponents blow past Deron Williams. He is in charge of getting the ball into the hands of the shooters. In fact, Rondo gives more help than he getscontrary to my previous opinion. -- Peterson, Thomas' willingness to share the spotlight helped make the Bad Boy Pistons incredible, and he had a consistent ability to step up his game in the postseason during Detroit's title runs (and near miss in 1988). Opponents dont have much success getting around him. In nine seasons with the Detroit Pistons, plus two with the Washington Bullets and one with the Boston Celtics, Bing gathered 18,327 points in 901 competitions (20.3 ppg). Fairly straightforward, this takes into account height, length and strength. Not everything about a players value can be seen even through advanced stats, or even while hes on the court. A point guard primarily defends on the perimeter, just as they primarily play on the perimeter on offense. Can they play bigger than they really are? These point guard rankings will be the first of five articles. Paradoxically tough on the court and flashy off of it, Frazier epitomized the '70s-era backcourt style in which roles were less defined. Over the next four weeks, well unveil the rankings for the other four positions. As a result, hes 17th all-time with 1944 and had six seasons in the top-20 in steals. Over 90 percent of the time, the ball-handler gets by him. He lifted the Lakers, and transition basketball, to ethereal levels. During his career, he was selected to nine All-NBA Defensive Teams and five All-Star teams. Its still possible for him to make another All-Star squad, and it seems like hes on the path to doing so. Broadly speaking, over 7,000 pieces of data on 226 players, in 16 different categories, were compiled into a database. Doc Rivers has had a lot of input into how Rondo plays the game. Taj Gibson, his backup, is a tremendous defensive player, which only amplified the effect of Boozers shortcomings. He might have Silly Putty for a father. Rajon Rondo is probably the most athletic player in the league who plays most of his game below the rim. The players are ranked according to their WAMS. His lateral quickness is below-average, and his straightaway speed isnt much either. -- Peterson, Teams Hes a key component in Tom Thibodeaus defense, and frankly, with Thibs, you just dont stay on the court if youre not putting in the effort on the defensive end. ALL-TIME #NBARANK, 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11-15 | 16-20 | 21-25, The player Several sites track this, each in its slightly unique way, depending on its formula to calculate possessions. 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. Curry has won three NBA championships and cemented his status as the finest shooter in NBA history since becoming a superstar and two-time MVP. Normally this would be a list of FAQs, but no one has ever asked any questions (since no one has ever seen it). Sometimes he wont give that much effort, and then the next moment hell be trying too hard. He gets caught thinking, and while he makes the right decision, its a split second too late. Best Defenders in NBA History: Top 50 Best Defensive Players By Clark Boinis | Jul 12, 2021, 4:05pm 1. It is a testament to Jarrett Jack that he makes this list. Dallas Mavericks (1994-96, 2008-12), Phoenix Suns (1996-2001), New Jersey Nets (2001-08), New York Knicks (2012-13), Honors The next three slides will tell how this particular sausage was made. He averages 1.8 steals per game. For his time with the Phoenix Suns, Johnson is most known for his role alongside Charles Barkley. -- Doolittle, Cousy was an And-1 mix tape in black-and-white. The bulk of his thefts came by stealing the dribble, not by shooting the passing lanes. How hard do they fight through them? Seemingly overhauling your system for every opponent is not. His offensive style has been revamped to incorporate a powerful mid-range jumper along with some range as well. Ergo, a negative number is a positive thing, and a positive number is a negative thing. That makes sense since Parker has assumed the primary responsibility on offense and theres no reason to wear himself out playing defense. Hes one of the slower point guards in the league now, but in spite of that, hes almost ubiquitous at times. In systems like the Grizzlies play, the point guard is the first line of defense. The house would collapse. The Glove is hands down the best defender a the point guard position. By: HoopsHype. Do players go under picks when they should go over them? He was an All-Star every year of his career and led the Lakers to nine NBA Finals appearances. 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. He applies his energy smartly. In fact, hes probably as adept as anyone at this, and his Synergy numbers, .68 points per play against the pick-and-roll, certainly back it up. Congratulations, Brian Roberts! 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. -- Adams, The fashion forerunner to Russell Westbrook. Isaiah Thomas 5. Parker has a hefty 1.05 points per play against defending the jumper, even though he typically gets there and challenges shots. 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. Players Stats: 13.1 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 10.5 APG, 2.2 SPG, 0.2 BPG, Honors: 10x All-Star, 11x All-NBA Selection, 5x All-Defensive Team Selection, Hall of Famer. Thats where we naturally focus our attention, so when it comes to things like help defense, we only notice if were looking for it, or if its extreme. Los Angeles Lakers (1979-91, 1995-96), Honors And I never saw him go in the wrong direction, not once. A decade of playing and a plethora of injuries havent helped him get any faster. Anyways, we hope you enjoyed going through the rankings with Magic Johnson securing first place in the Top 10 NBA point guards of all time. He needs more of the former and less of the latter. But what kind of suit was he wearing on the last episode? 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. Penny is deserving of a much better ranking just because he is such a gifted one. But he jogs when he should run, is lackadaisical closing out shooters and goes through the motions when running through his rotations. In case you missed it, Jason Kidd was tops on our point guard list with 75.1 defensive win shares, good for 11th all-time. His defensive usage was the highest of any player with at least 1,200 minutes. Probably the most versatile point guard in NBA history, and perhaps a tad underrated given that the focus on his assists overshadowed how valuable his defense was. This is what I mean by ubiquity. On pick-and-rolls when hes not set, teams have learned to expect this. Point guards must be able to maintain possession of the ball in crowded spaces and in traffic and be able to advance the ball quickly. -- 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. Holiday knows what to do, but he doesnt always do it. #VCTLOCKIN #Valorant #valorantagents #valorantgaming. Adande, His Game 6 in the 1980 Finals, while jumping center as a 20-year-old rookie, has to be on the Mt. Hes able to stay in front of all but the quickest point guards in the league. When he was at his peak, Rose was one of the greatest point guards of all time, and he merits a spot in the top 15. What color was his tie? He closed out on jump-shooters half-heartedly, which is bad enough, but when you combine that with the way he played pick-and-roll plays, it was even worse. Point guards are expected to be vocal floor leaders. As a result of his hurling himself around the court with utter abandon, he was generally a positive when it came to help defense.