Another major evaluation factor is the assist-to-turnover ratio, which reflects the decision-making skills of the player. The Big O's best statistical season came in 1961-62, when he averaged a triple-double for the entire season, a feat that has never been duplicated. He does a poor job of defending the spot-up, surrendering 1.07 points per play. Its hard to notice his effort, though, because of the consistency with which he gets destroyed. Chalmers will fail at things, but not because he isnt trying. Even when in position, he wont jump to challenge a shot. Even though injuries caught up with him toward the end of his illustrious career, Bryant still battled as a defender when needed. Thats 20th all-time, with Kidd being the only other guard above him. How much a player understands his role in the defense is measured here. An indication of this is the fact that hes had only nine dunks in his career, the last of which was over seven years ago. Does he know when to go over the pick, and when to go under it? The 10 Best Tall Point Guards in NBA History - Plus 2 Clothing If Williams had more pride in his defense, he would actually ask for, and depend on, help more than he does. Hes able to use that size advantage by being physical, playing close and aggressive, often forcing shooters into shots they arent comfortable taking. WAM is the foundation, and WAMS is the house. Oscar Robertson was one of the NBA's greatest players in history. Triple Double and for good reason: hes fourth all-time in triple-doubles with 107. In systems like the Grizzlies play, the point guard is the first line of defense. This year, without Rose, the Bulls were 23rd, at 21.0 points per game. He is in charge of getting the ball into the hands of the shooters. This score is to help alleviate that. Defense is one of the more oft-overlooked aspects of basketball because it isnt as pretty as what happens on the offensive end. Over the next four weeks, well unveil the rankings for the other four positions. 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. He doesnt just bring effort to every game; he brings it in all the right ways. Seriously, you should hear Mark Jackson rave about him. If someone goes past him, hell usually just wave goodbye. That said, here are the NBAs five best defensive shooting guards of all-time, based on their DWS. Stockton was a member of two gold medal teams and twice reached the NBA finals during his remarkable career. On the other hand, he was frequently bailing out whoever was playing shooting guard on numerous occasions. Chris Paul 13. When he gets set for a defensive play, he does a respectable job. Jrue Holiday is making . In the history of the combine, only nine players have recorded better sprint and agility scores, and of those, only three had a better vertical than his 37.5 inches. -- Adande, Possessed incredible court vision and creativity, all while orchestrating the frenetic game pace of his era. I counted off over 20 plays, specifically watching to see if Chalmers would stop the ball-handler, and he only did once. If he's not on the slide and he played 1,200 minutes, he should be on this list somewhere. The advantage of defensive rating is that it accounts for the things that dont show up in box scores. The disadvantage is that sometimes its not the player doing those things, and hes getting credit for someone elses great defense. Triple Double was so far ahead of his time in terms of size, speed, strength and stats. They were combined and adjusted to cover a range roughly between 18 and 22. Since I always get asked "Where's ___________?" Lets see who has made it to the top 10 best point guards of all time. -- Peterson, He's one of only a few players in history who has been deemed too good for the sport's own good. Hershey on Twitter: "SHOCKING one of the best defensive point guards of Perhaps next year the Raptors will see better times, and well see less of that kind of behavior, but its a harmful habit to have picked up. Payton is one of two point guards to have ever won the Defensive Player of the Year, and his stats show it. Best Point Guard Defensive Rating 2022 | StatMuse For each player, I watched between one and two hours of footage of defense, taking account of specific things and grading them in five different areas. Players Stats: 19.2 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 9.3 APG, 1.9 SPG, 0.3 BPG, Honors: 1989-1990 Finals MVP, 12x All-Star, 5x All-NBA Selection, Hall of Famer. Simply put, defensive win shares (DWS) are defined by how many wins a player produces based on his defensive ability. Players like Rose, Russell Westbrook and Kyrie Irving consistently cross him over and get past him. Closing out on jumpers is an issue, especially when coming off screens, where he yields a 46.7 shooting percentage from the three-point line. Chris Paul had the awkward situation this year of being smarter than his head coach, Vinny Del Negro. Whenever anyone imagines a point guard, chances are theyre thinking of Utah Jazz legend John Stockton. Does he know when to help and not to help? The biggest reason appears to be a fundamental one. Point guards are expected to run the team's offense by controlling the ball and making sure that it gets to the right player at the right time. His high rebound rate, while partly indicative of his speed is also a result of positioning, which relates to his IQ. Lets say a perimeter defender gets beaten and then his center blocks the shot. Who's the best offensive point guard of all time? When going against point guards who have a respectable jump shot, that becomes problematic. He also only has a 65 wingspan, which is short of the other bigger point guards, but what he has, he uses well. While he is frequently noted for his ability to see the court and make the right play on offense, he doesnt get the same recognition on the defensive end. After all, as his name implies, Billups was known for taking and making huge shots in order to help his team win. -- Kevin Pelton, NBA Insider, May be the strongest point guard ever and consistently made everyone around him better. He has a barrel chest, broad shoulders and 20 pounds on most point guards, so he gives the appearance of dwarfing players that are technically as tall as he is. With both, its the combination of their size and speed that makes them so phenomenal. 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. Therefore, its a Theoretically Asked Questions, or TAQ. He was the league's third player to reach 25,000 points (after Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson). Sounds great, right? Dubs' Curry (leg) could return as soon as Sun. Although Wade had an accomplished resume, if he had played one more season, he wouldve easily overtaken the next player on the list. Lowry just seems to be lost on defense much of the time. James is well-known for his incredible skill and ability to score big points, which frequently help his team win crucial games. Furthermore, he is a legend for the Phoenix Suns and one of the teams finest players. Smart people recognize their limitations. However, the other side of the ball cant be overlooked because as the saying goes: defense wins championships.. Can they play bigger than they really are? Wayne Gretzky on the court, Nash could hurt opponents by getting rid of the ball quickly or by holding on to it for so long that the defense finally made a mistake. Los Angeles Lakers late legend Kobe Bryant is often considered the greatest Laker ever and with good reason: Bryant is first in many of the Lakers statistical categories. You never have to question his effort or commitment. Its amazing he doesnt get punched sometimes. He had absolutely no help backing him up, and that inflates his objective numbers. The corresponding WAM or WAMS scores indicate how many points a group of like-skilled players on the court would theoretically give up in 100 possessions. 1. Then our ESPN expert panel voted on thousands of head-to-head matchups, with voting based on both peak performance and career value. While he was doing that, Billups, who actually had the ball the whole time, just stepped back behind the three-point line and drained the three. On the other hand, you cant deny what happened, regardless of how much you watch. I like to compare it to the relationship between a foundation and a house. He also uses that length to be one of the best shot-blocking point guards in the league. That said, here are the five best defensive NBA point guards of all time, based on their DWS. MVP (2014-15), two-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA selection, Career stats Did they get pushed around easily? Closing out on shooters, hell go sailing past them. Eric Bledsoe has a reputation as being both quick and fast, even for a point guard, but he rarely shows it on defense. Players Stats: 19.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 11.2 APG, 1.9 SPG, 0.4 BPG, Honors: 3x MVP, 3x Finals MVP, 12x All-Star, 10x All-NBA Selection, Hall of Famer. Jrue Holiday. Westbrooks Synergy numbers on the pick-and-roll (.75) and isolation (.7) suggest hes better than he actually is. The greatest point guard in NBA history. When he needs to button down, he does, but he also tends to take off the middle of games, relying heavily on the help defense. 14.3 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 8.5 APG, .428 3P%, The player Copyright 2023 YB Media, LLC. -- Adande, The best two-way small player in league history, Paul embodies the era in which he plays by running the pick-and-roll as well as anyone has ever run it. Jumping ability, body control and agility were all considered as well. Cousy, in many respects, was the Celtics spirit at the moment. The Top 100 will begin to roll out next week. Isaiah Thomas 5. He just doesnt have the length to effectively guard against them. 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. This is also manifested in his spot-up defense. All you have to do is watch him on offense to know he has all kinds of speed. Bledsoe runs through his rotations, but he rounds them off or overruns them. 18.4 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 7.5APG, .375 FG%, The player 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. As a point guard, Frazier was one of the greatest in NBA history. In his rookie year, he was already averaging 2 steals per game with 0.2 blocks. After years of being sidelined by ailments, the grandeur that should have been his was snatched from him. They tried just as hard as the valedictorian, but all they got were Bs. However, despite Chris Paul and Jason Kidds prominence, Steve Nash became a two-time MVP who had no weaknesses on the offensive end. On pick-and-rolls when hes not set, teams have learned to expect this. See the criteria for scouting on the next slide. On the flip side, Westbrook's 4.13 turnovers per game average is the highest all-time, with Johnson (3. . If you dont want to consider them, then dont. Dr. A's weekly risers and fallers: Jeremy Sochan, Christian Wood make the list, NBA Power Rankings: Kevin Durant's return could rock the West, What NBA Finals runs from LeBron, Giannis can teach Jayson Tatum, They said it! Most of those come for one of two reasons: Either he bites on the fake and is too slow to recover, or the shooter shoots over him and he doesnt have the ups to challenge it. The Miami HEATs best player in franchise history, Dwyane Wade was an offensive maestro. Other stats were determined by using my trusty sidekick, MS Excel, loaded up with standard stats available on most websites. Russell is regarded as one of the best point guard finishers of all time. This could be something that Monty Williams, a coach with outstanding player development skills, can work on in New Orleans now that Holiday is with the Pelicans. With the increased emphasis on the deep three, point guards account for a large portion of the league's top scorers. -- Haberstroh, Honors Then, after a single down year, he had y straight years of 2 steals per . Kyrie Irving is unquestionably one of the greatest point guards of all time. In his first season, he specialized in defense and could stop almost every point guard in the league on a regular basis. The Glove is hands down the best defender a the point guard position. 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. 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. I doubt its much beyond his height. Defensively, Stockton had 3,265 steals the most all time during his 19-year career, helping him get 64.9 DWS. Interpreted as: best defensive rating with a minimum of 10000 minutes played point guards in NBA history. All that was due to Bryant emulating Jordans relentless drive to win on both sides of the floor. For the time being, his lack of effectiveness and poor decision-making precludes him from being considered one of the top five point guards. When he applies it, he does so effectively, especially in isolation and the pick-and-roll. Steph's ball-handling abilities make him a lethal ball-handler, as he can shake a defender at any time. Dallas Mavericks (1994-96, 2008-12), Phoenix Suns (1996-2001), New Jersey Nets (2001-08), New York Knicks (2012-13), Honors The NBA is a point guard's paradise these days, so let's start All-Time #NBArank with our pantheon points. Triple Double and for good reason: hes fourth all-time in triple-doubles with 107. He has no All-Defensive team accolades, because those werent introduced until the 1968-1969 season. Chauncey Billups, or Mr. Jack has good but not great effort. Pauls been an All-Defensive Team selection nine times, being selected to the First Team seven times and the Second Team twice. Notably, several modern point guards have used a successful style of post play, a tactic usually practiced by much larger centers and forwards. Humility can often be a sign of intelligence at work, and it is with Hinrich. He led the league in total steals this year and did so without playing a lot of gambling defense. Many consider Bob Cousy to be a passionate athlete who was the first All-Star and dominating player for the Boston Celtics squad that included legends like Bill Russell and Kevin Collier. There is no doubt about it: Steph Curry is the second-best in the top 10 point guards of all time. During the 1960-1961 season, the then-32-year-old Cousy racked up 6.3 DWS, the most in his career. To say he gets pushed around would be generous. The point guard was always capable of scoring the ball at the . He has all the tools to be one: great reflexes and speed, and those long arms with big mitts on the end. Now hes in Phoenix, and well see how both he and Jeff Hornacek develop in their new roles. For a position that was highly valued at the time, he brought a lot of sparkle, style, scoring, and domination to the court. He doesnt try to make great plays, but he tries not to make mistakes, which is maybe what he should be concentrating on. But mostly he plays smartly with an occasional brain fart. Oscar is the first triple-double king and is one of the greatest NBA players of all time, no matter what position he is playing. He gave up 1.01 points per play on the spot-up last year. While the Clippers were better when Paul was on the bench, it wasnt because he was on the bench. 1987 Lakers are often seen as one of the greatest teams ever. He made everything go for those Lakers teams. Michael Cooper was a great defensive guard, evident when he won the Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) award in 1987, and James Worthy is a top-ten Small Forward of all-time and was one of the . However, hes not the slowest point guard in the league either, and when hes not biting on the crossovers, hes able to do a decent job of staying in front of most average point guards. By NBA standards, he jumps like an elephant and runs like a turtle (and not one of those fast turtles youve heard tell of eithera slow turtle). He affected the paradigm for overseas guards trying to break into the NBA. Best Defensive Rating Point Guards In NBA History | StatMuse Marcus Smart. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. With Doc Rivers in charge, things should turn around shortly, and next year his WAM score will be among the best in the league. Stockton embodied a true point guard - an extension of the coach that ran the teams offense seamlessly. Of course having book smarts doesnt preclude you from knowing what youre doing on the court either. His on-court coaching and leadership is probably the biggest reason the Clippers had the eighth most-efficient defense in the NBA last year. Whether this is a result of his reputation being undeserved or him not putting forth the effort isnt hard to determine. -- Rob Peterson, One can only imagine how impressive his career totals might have been if not for the HIV virus. Who are the best defensive point guards in the NBA, and how are they determined? They have value when there arent such extremes like the difference between Boozer and Gibson. Point guard - Wikipedia 7-time All-Star, 6-time All-NBA selection, 7-time All-D selection, Hall of Fame, Career stats It will be interesting to see how well he does with Larry Sanders behind him in Milwaukee. Bledsoe is a bit of a freak. His 47.4 DWS is 54th overall, good for an average of 2.963 DWS per season, slightly edging Wade. He needs more of the former and less of the latter. He could launch it from 30 feet or more with ease. Bill Russell 3. 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. It just feels like there should be another notch where pride kicks in, he gets passionateor even angryand he hits another level. As previously stated, he gets the help from Green and Leonard to guard the top point guards. Johnsons style of play made him especially successful since he was noted for tip-ins and post play around the rim. Take, for example, Carlos Boozer in 2012. Kyle Lowry has exceptional speed and athleticism. Tim Duncan They work harder, and they get things eventually, but not quite as well. As one of the elite point guards in the NBA, you would expect him to have elite athleticism, but he actually doesnt. On top of that, when Parkers man slips past him, he has one of the best defenders in the history of the universe, Tim Duncan, to help him out. There arent a lot of players that could lock down Michael Jordan, the greatest player of all time. Gary Payton was born on July 23, 1968, and is widely regarded as one of the best defensive point guards of all time.