251 replies to this topic

[BasketballIQ]

LeBron is a great defender. That is all.

 

Horace Grant was a great defender.

Dennis Rodman was dominant on that end of the floor. You can only base players on what their peers did on that side on the floor. So you look at guys like Charles Barkley or Karl Malone or Kemp orGrandmama. None of those guys were in the class of Rodman defensively.

LeBron is finally in his stage where kobe was in his defensive prime. Pound for Pound, he is one the the best out there. But when you talk about Dwight historically, he is in that Rodman conversation defensively.

 

This year, with his injuries and everything else, it's not been the most clear case of his dominance, and the offense isn't centered around him, because Kobe is a better offensive option and a better offensive creator than Dwight, but you Can run a playoff level offense through Dwight with parts that fit that style, just like Steve nash shows ytou that when MDA puts him out there with Blake and jamison and whoever, he can run an offense effectively as well.

 

The point is Kobe remains the "LeBron" of this team. So Wade(Dwight) and Bosh and ray Allen have to take a backseat to the GOOurT.

#Vino

[Majesty]

Iggy is a better defender than LeBron but it went unnoticed last year. I think he was statistically better.

Whats the number on the Nuggets this year? They seem to be a much better defensive team, or is it just me? Idk. Either way Iggy has helped them tremendously. Philly probably regrets letting him go in hindsight. I just wish we got him and dwight but I got 2k13 for that lol

[fozi]

Iggy an howard along kobe would've been a dream come true! heck, I'd start duhon at 4.

[LakeShow805]

He does average only 1.5 fouls a game but i'm not seeing how that takes away from his defensive prowess, in fact it should add to it seeing as he knows how to guard without fouling...

 

As for Rodman, I can deff agree he and Pippen are in the argument... I just feel like Lebron has for this short time (bout the last year or two) has defended points guards to big fours and even a couple of fives, its hard to give him the edge for guys who have done it for years so yeah probably a bit early. Theres no question he's the most versatile today tho

That just shows you he can get away with much more on the defensive end than other players.....Refs are on his jock.

[LakeShow805]

LeBron is a great defender. That is all.

 

Horace Grant was a great defender.

Dennis Rodman was dominant on that end of the floor. You can only base players on what their peers did on that side on the floor. So you look at guys like Charles Barkley or Karl Malone or Kemp orGrandmama. None of those guys were in the class of Rodman defensively.

LeBron is finally in his stage where kobe was in his defensive prime. Pound for Pound, he is one the the best out there. But when you talk about Dwight historically, he is in that Rodman conversation defensively.

 

This year, with his injuries and everything else, it's not been the most clear case of his dominance, and the offense isn't centered around him, because Kobe is a better offensive option and a better offensive creator than Dwight, but you Can run a playoff level offense through Dwight with parts that fit that style, just like Steve nash shows ytou that when MDA puts him out there with Blake and jamison and whoever, he can run an offense effectively as well.

 

The point is Kobe remains the "LeBron" of this team. So Wade(Dwight) and Bosh and ray Allen have to take a backseat to the GOOurT.

#Vino

Help defense wise ....yes he is better than Kobe was. Man to man, Kobe beats him in that category in his prime.

[last stand 2.0]

Iggy is a better defender than LeBron but it went unnoticed last year. I think he was statistically better.

Whats the number on the Nuggets this year? They seem to be a much better defensive team, or is it just me? Idk. Either way Iggy has helped them tremendously. Philly probably regrets letting him go in hindsight. I just wish we got him and dwight but I got 2k13 for that lol

Iggy is better on the perimeter but Lebron is better down low and close to iggy on the perimeter

Aka Lebron is a better defender

[gque24]

LeBron is a great defender. That is all.

 

Horace Grant was a great defender.

Dennis Rodman was dominant on that end of the floor. You can only base players on what their peers did on that side on the floor. So you look at guys like Charles Barkley or Karl Malone or Kemp orGrandmama. None of those guys were in the class of Rodman defensively.

LeBron is finally in his stage where kobe was in his defensive prime. Pound for Pound, he is one the the best out there. But when you talk about Dwight historically, he is in that Rodman conversation defensively.

 

This year, with his injuries and everything else, it's not been the most clear case of his dominance, and the offense isn't centered around him, because Kobe is a better offensive option and a better offensive creator than Dwight, but you Can run a playoff level offense through Dwight with parts that fit that style, just like Steve nash shows ytou that when MDA puts him out there with Blake and jamison and whoever, he can run an offense effectively as well.

 

The point is Kobe remains the "LeBron" of this team. So Wade(Dwight) and Bosh and ray Allen have to take a backseat to the GOOurT.

#Vino

 

LBJ is a gr8 help defender. He still nowhere close to Kobes prime as a 1 on 1 lock down defender. Please not even close. He still strugglers as 1 on 1 lockdown defender. Im not talking about the nonsense where he is in post & pushing & fronting guys to where offense doesnt throw it to their player. I mean in iso situations corner 3 area or top of the key.

[Cj2008nw]

Lebron is not a great one on one defender but he plays great help defense

 

and I say that because who guards the best player on the other team when Miami plays? Dwade or Battier and even Chalmers will lock someone up from time to time I rarely see Lebron ever play defense on the opposite team best player heck even in the finals Battier was playing Durant through out most of that series and Kevin Durant would guard lebron if he wasn't in foul trouble and from what I seen he can lock him up on the perimeter

[stillshining]

Lebron is not a great one on one defender but he plays great help defense

 

and I say that because who guards the best player on the other team when Miami plays? Dwade or Battier and even Chalmers will lock someone up from time to time I rarely see Lebron ever play defense on the opposite team best player heck even in the finals Battier was playing Durant through out most of that series and Kevin Durant would guard lebron if he wasn't in foul trouble and from what I seen he can lock him up on the perimeter

 

Huh? I will admit his one on one defense isn't GREAT but he's shown for times he can stay with any player in the league on the perimeter. Dwade probably guards players that are his position and seeing as he's an elite defender himself there's no point of switching Lebron on them and since 95% of Battiers offense is created by Lebron I think it's fair he helps with some of the load defensively...

 

As for the finals I am pretty sure Lebron guarded Durant for the majority of the series anyways and it was in fact KD who was switched on to chalmers because he was getting eaten up on the post, let's not compare KD and Lebron defensively yet..

[gque24]

Huh? I will admit his one on one defense isn't GREAT but he's shown for times he can stay with any player in the league on the perimeter. Dwade probably guards players that are his position and seeing as he's an elite defender himself there's no point of switching Lebron on them and since 95% of Battiers offense is created by Lebron I think it's fair he helps with some of the load defensively...

 

As for the finals I am pretty sure Lebron guarded Durant for the majority of the series anyways and it was in fact KD who was switched on to chalmers because he was getting eaten up on the post, let's not compare KD and Lebron defensively yet..

 

 

^^Lets not compare Kobe prime defense to LBJ current defense either

[Cj2008nw]

Huh? I will admit his one on one defense isn't GREAT but he's shown for times he can stay with any player in the league on the perimeter. Dwade probably guards players that are his position and seeing as he's an elite defender himself there's no point of switching Lebron on them and since 95% of Battiers offense is created by Lebron I think it's fair he helps with some of the load defensively...

 

As for the finals I am pretty sure Lebron guarded Durant for the majority of the series anyways and it was in fact KD who was switched on to chalmers because he was getting eaten up on the post, let's not compare KD and Lebron defensively yet..

 

Why did you bring up the face that Lebron creates offense for battier when we are talking about Lebron's one on one defense?? and even when Jordan Had Pippin... Pippin played lock down defense usually on the best player on other teams so I'm not taking the excuse for why Lebron can't do it as well..

 

That's the thing I really don't like when it comes to this Lebron argument... it seems like everybody before him like Michael, Magic, Bird, and even Kobe had the bar and standard set EXTREMELY high but when we put the same bar on Lebron it's ALWAYS an excuse of "well he's Lebron he doesn't have to do (Insert anything) because he either doesn't want to or have to"

 

now back to back to the Finals last year (which the officiating I hated with a passion... because a player like Durant average 4 to 5 fouls for most of the series off of petty fouls) because Lebron DID NOT guard Durant majority of the time during that series it was majority of the defense on Durant was Battier heck even D wade and I watched EVERY game from start to finish cause I had money on OKC..

 

and your other point of KD getting into foul trouble because of Lebron's post game? that isn't true either... I think throughout the series Durant played better defense on Lebron.. Than Lebron was playing on Durant... I seen Durant stop Lebron with just his wingspan and even turn back a few of Lebron's drives to the basket..

[stillshining]

Why did you bring up the face that Lebron creates offense for battier when we are talking about Lebron's one on one defense?? and even when Jordan Had Pippin... Pippin played lock down defense usually on the best player on other teams so I'm not taking the excuse for why Lebron can't do it as well..

 

That's the thing I really don't like when it comes to this Lebron argument... it seems like everybody before him like Michael, Magic, Bird, and even Kobe had the bar and standard set EXTREMELY high but when we put the same bar on Lebron it's ALWAYS an excuse of "well he's Lebron he doesn't have to do (Insert anything) because he either doesn't want to or have to"

 

now back to back to the Finals last year (which the officiating I hated with a passion... because a player like Durant average 4 to 5 fouls for most of the series off of petty fouls) because Lebron DID NOT guard Durant majority of the time during that series it was majority of the defense on Durant was Battier heck even D wade and I watched EVERY game from start to finish cause I had money on OKC..

 

and your other point of KD getting into foul trouble because of Lebron's post game? that isn't true either... I think throughout the series Durant played better defense on Lebron.. Than Lebron was playing on Durant... I seen Durant stop Lebron with just his wingspan and even turn back a few of Lebron's drives to the basket..

 

OK..

 

I brought up the fact that Battier guarding the best perimeter player is nothing different than Ron Artest/Ariza and Rick Fox guarding the best players or Pippen guarding the best players and LOL @ you mentioning Bird and Magic while talking about defense... They were actually HIDDEN if their matchup was a good scorer and it wasn't because the coach was trying to save their energy (like with Jordan, Kobe and Lebron), it had more to do with their lack of ability. Why are you acting like Kobe was the main defender on the perimeters best players during his championship years? Or Jordan? And you're talking about setting bar too high lol

 

Haha so you blame officiating for the fact that Durant just could not guard Lebron? Don't you think it's weird how Sefolosha has been guarding Lebron ever since? Lol I mean what other team would Durant move all the way to the point guard because he can't obviously guard his man? Anyways what you think is different from what the video shows.. Lebron guarding him MUCH more than vice versa, Lebron holding him to lower percentages than any other Heat defender etc..

 

I mean KD has never made a defensive team while Lebron was the highest vote-getter on a first team he's made four years straight (five this year). Again you can't compare Durant and Lebron defensively

[LakeShow805]

OK..

 

I brought up the fact that Battier guarding the best perimeter player is nothing different than Ron Artest/Ariza and Rick Fox guarding the best players or Pippen guarding the best players and LOL @ you mentioning Bird and Magic while talking about defense... They were actually HIDDEN if their matchup was a good scorer and it wasn't because the coach was trying to save their energy (like with Jordan, Kobe and Lebron), it had more to do with their lack of ability. Why are you acting like Kobe was the main defender on the perimeters best players during his championship years? Or Jordan? And you're talking about setting bar too high lol

 

Haha so you blame officiating for the fact that Durant just could not guard Lebron? Don't you think it's weird how Sefolosha has been guarding Lebron ever since? Lol I mean what other team would Durant move all the way to the point guard because he can't obviously guard his man? Anyways what you think is different from what the video shows.. Lebron guarding him MUCH more than vice versa, Lebron holding him to lower percentages than any other Heat defender etc..

 

I mean KD has never made a defensive team while Lebron was the highest vote-getter on a first team he's made four years straight (five this year). Again you can't compare Durant and Lebron defensively

And you can't compare Lebron's man to man defense to prime Kobe's man on man D.

[stillshining]

And you can't compare Lebron's man to man defense to prime Kobe's man on man D.

 

Oh no doubt, I often think Lebron's man to man defense is a bit overrated and kobe is truly one of the greatest we've ever seen in that aspect. I think Lebron does have more impact as a help defender tho

[Cj2008nw]

OK..

 

I brought up the fact that Battier guarding the best perimeter player is nothing different than Ron Artest/Ariza and Rick Fox guarding the best players or Pippen guarding the best players and LOL @ you mentioning Bird and Magic while talking about defense... They were actually HIDDEN if their matchup was a good scorer and it wasn't because the coach was trying to save their energy (like with Jordan, Kobe and Lebron), it had more to do with their lack of ability. Why are you acting like Kobe was the main defender on the perimeters best players during his championship years? Or Jordan? And you're talking about setting bar too high lol

 

Haha so you blame officiating for the fact that Durant just could not guard Lebron? Don't you think it's weird how Sefolosha has been guarding Lebron ever since? Lol I mean what other team would Durant move all the way to the point guard because he can't obviously guard his man? Anyways what you think is different from what the video shows.. Lebron guarding him MUCH more than vice versa, Lebron holding him to lower percentages than any other Heat defender etc..

 

I mean KD has never made a defensive team while Lebron was the highest vote-getter on a first team he's made four years straight (five this year). Again you can't compare Durant and Lebron defensively

 

 

I'm not talking about Magic and bird Defensively I'm talking about them having the bar set extremely high for them and most of the time everybody gives Lebron a pass for whatever reason IDK

 

LOL are you serious!?! do you know how many petty fouls were called on Durant they were calling calls on him as if he was a rookie in the Finals and had about 5 fouls in 3 of the 5 games and was still able to get average 30 in the finals while shooting above 50%... 

 

So if your argument is that Lebron is a great on ball defender and you claim he was gaurding Durant more than Durant was gaurding him... then he must be a horrible defender to allow Durant to shoot above 50% from the field and average 30 every game while being in serious foul trouble every game after game 2...

 

and this is the same Lebron who got torched by John Lucas III a third string PG in the league and I think his only claim to actually locking someone down was when he played the Bulls in the Eastern Conference finals a few years ago on D. Rose... before he could consistently knock down his shot... I'm sorry but Lebron is not this GREAT defender everybody over hypes him to be.... I'm getting so fed up with this over hyping of a player... Kobe is going out there having a dayum near MVP season and gets little to no notoriety for while pretty much having and old Steve Nash and a Dwight Howard that's only 75% healthy and doesn't have his explosive athleticism as he had in Orlando..... But Lebron is great because he joined 2 Hall of Fame players in their prime because he couldn't take Cleveland to the promise land... I'm sorry but I'm not impressed at all

[stillshining]

I'm not talking about Magic and bird Defensively I'm talking about them having the bar set extremely high for them and most of the time everybody gives Lebron a pass for whatever reason IDK

 

LOL are you serious!?! do you know how many petty fouls were called on Durant they were calling calls on him as if he was a rookie in the Finals and had about 5 fouls in 3 of the 5 games and was still able to get average 30 in the finals while shooting above 50%... 

 

So if your argument is that Lebron is a great on ball defender and you claim he was gaurding Durant more than Durant was gaurding him... then he must be a horrible defender to allow Durant to shoot above 50% from the field and average 30 every game while being in serious foul trouble every game after game 2...

 

and this is the same Lebron who got torched by John Lucas III a third string PG in the league and I think his only claim to actually locking someone down was when he played the Bulls in the Eastern Conference finals a few years ago on D. Rose... before he could consistently knock down his shot... I'm sorry but Lebron is not this GREAT defender everybody over hypes him to be.... I'm getting so fed up with this over hyping of a player... Kobe is going out there having a dayum near MVP season and gets little to no notoriety for while pretty much having and old Steve Nash and a Dwight Howard that's only 75% healthy and doesn't have his explosive athleticism as he had in Orlando..... But Lebron is great because he joined 2 Hall of Fame players in their prime because he couldn't take Cleveland to the promise land... I'm sorry but I'm not impressed at all

 

Haha the bar is set way higher for Lebron because he came after them and has to deal with history (their legacies), there's no way you can say the bar was set higher for magic and bird when they just came in, maybe Jordan because he came right after their reign but no player entered the league with more hype than Lebron and he has lived up to it since day one... Lebron getting lit up by arguably the best scorer in the league is not a slight against his defense, Durant can not be guarded by ANYBODY but he still averaged more points and shot a better percentage against every heat player not named Lebron...

 

Lol so you bring up that one time a player got hot and hit a couple of shots... do you not remember what he did to Paul Pierce in the playoffs last year? Or Indianas best perimeter player in Danny Granger? Don't try to undermine him absolutely locking down Rose in the clutch of almost every game by saying it was before he could consistently knock down his shots (that was his best shooting year), he was the MVP of the ENTIRE league and was walking in with a 60 win team with homecourt advantage.. for a 6'8 dude to hold him in check is quite impressive

 

I can obviously see that you have a little something against the man but he's probably winning his fourth MVP in five years and it's not even really close, he has by far the best team (might be historically great) and is STILL putting up by far the best numbers in the league despite his studded cast you point out.. I mean what Kobe is doing this year has been nothing short of astonishing for a man with his mileage but he can't MVP if his team is still clinging on the 8th seed

[MDI]

Lakers 23-6 when he scores 20 points. Keep feeding him the rock!

[bfc1125roy]

Lakers 23-6 when he scores 20 points. Keep feeding him the rock!

 

Lol the Lakers really didn't do anything. The Mavs got him all those points by fouling so damn much. 

[MDI]

^ he had 19 with 3.30 remaining and they started intentionally fouling. He was getting to 20 tonight either way

[alec613]

He's been playing at an all-star level lately — still not the Orlando-Magic-Dwight, though.

 

He better work on his post game, and stick with it this time