Wow, didn't realize...

[2centsworth]

Manu is tops in the league in Steals per 48 minutes. More evidence that he is one of the top team defenders in the league.

[johnpaulwall21]

alrighty then u Manumaniac

[timvp]

Manu is tops in the league in Steals per 48 minutes. More evidence that he is one of the top team defenders in the league.

Steals don't tell you how good of a defender a player is. You can be a horrible defender and get a lot of steals. Jamaal Tinsley and Baron Davis are in the top five and they are two are worst defenders in the league.

Manu is a pretty good defender. Sometimes he'll be too risky and give up easy points and sometimes he is undisciplined regarding the basic principles of the Spurs' defense, but overall I'd rate him above average.

Although, he does almost always get the easiest matchup on the perimeter. Bowen takes the best scorer, while Parker takes the fastest player. Manu sticks on whoever else is in the backcourt.

[whottt]

Magic Johson lead the NBA in steals several times...Proof he was a great defender.

[reydawg]

Manu is tops in the league in Steals per 48 minutes. More evidence that he is one of the top team defenders in the league.

???

NBA Steals Leaders
RNK NAME GP MPG STL STPG STP48M TO TOPG PF ST/TO ST/PF
1 Rajon Rondo, BOS 36 16.7 41 1.14 3.28 52 1.44 64 0.79 0.64
2 D. Armstrong, IND 41 12.0 32 0.78 3.12 22 0.54 46 1.45 0.70
3 Manu Ginobili, SAS 38 27.9 68 1.79 3.08 83 2.18 78 0.82 0.87
4 Ron Artest, SAC 33 36.4 73 2.21 2.92 62 1.88 91 1.18 0.80

[Cry Havoc]

Manu is a playmaker on defense. He can give up points, but he makes soooo many clutch, heady plays that it more than balances out.

[ArgSpursFan]

Steals don't tell you how good of a defender a player is. You can be a horrible defender and get a lot of steals. Jamaal Tinsley and Baron Davis are in the top five and they are two are worst defenders in the league.

Manu is a pretty good defender. Sometimes he'll be too risky and give up easy points and sometimes he is undisciplined regarding the basic principles of the Spurs' defense, but overall I'd rate him above average.

Although, he does almost always get the easiest matchup on the perimeter. Bowen takes the best scorer, while Parker takes the fastest player. Manu sticks on whoever else is in the backcourt.

That´s true,Manu is a great defender who can ALSO get some steals

[LilMissSPURfect]

Manumaniac.....hey whats wrong with that? Manu=mucho=macho!!! :toast :married:

[ArgSpursFan]

Manumaniac.....hey whats wrong with that? Manu=mucho=macho!!! :toast :married:

hehehe :lol

[ploto]

Steals don't tell you how good of a defender a player is. You can be a horrible defender and get a lot of steals. Jamaal Tinsley and Baron Davis are in the top five and they are two are worst defenders in the league.

Just like people who look only at blocked shots as a sign of whether or not you are a good defender. Some guys are actually really not very good of defenders but block a couple of shots per game because they are athletic- or maybe they never bother to rotate or play any team defense but just stand there waiting to try to block a shot.

[VaSpursFan]

steals do not = defensive prowess. it's a gamble, sometimes you get the steal, but if you don't you put all sorts of pressure on your teammates to cover up that gamble which will usually result in an easy basket.

the best d is to stay in front of your man and contest any jumpshot. bruce bowen displays this every game. forcing your guy to take a tough shot and miss is much better than the high risk/high reward steal. i will give it to manu, some of his steals are awesome when he gambles on the hard double.

[ginobili fan]

steals do not = defensive prowess. it's a gamble, sometimes you get the steal, but if you don't you put all sorts of pressure on your teammates to cover up that gamble which will usually result in an easy basket.

the best d is to stay in front of your man and contest any jumpshot. bruce bowen displays this every game. forcing your guy to take a tough shot and miss is much better than the high risk/high reward steal. i will give it to manu, some of his steals are awesome when he gambles on the hard double.

Yeah,but Manu is still a great,great,defensive player.
Many people only see his offensive talent but manu is clearly one of the best defender in the game.

[johnpaulwall21]

I see his defense more than offense

[2centsworth]

???

NBA Steals Leaders
RNK NAME GP MPG STL STPG STP48M TO TOPG PF ST/TO ST/PF
1 Rajon Rondo, BOS 36 16.7 41 1.14 3.28 52 1.44 64 0.79 0.64
2 D. Armstrong, IND 41 12.0 32 0.78 3.12 22 0.54 46 1.45 0.70
3 Manu Ginobili, SAS 38 27.9 68 1.79 3.08 83 2.18 78 0.82 0.87
4 Ron Artest, SAC 33 36.4 73 2.21 2.92 62 1.88 91 1.18 0.80I didn't go to the 2nd page to see if a scrub who plays 2 to 3 minutes a game has more steal per 48mins. With that type of analysis maybe I could get lucky and get one steal in one minute of play. that would get me an amazing 48 steals per 48 minutes. I could be the best of all-time.:spin

[timvp]

Yeah,but Manu is still a great,great,defensive player.
Many people only see his offensive talent but manu is clearly one of the best defender in the game.

That's overstating it. Manu is a good defender. He's probably in the 5 to 10 range as far as starting shooting guards go.

Maybe let's not make him out to be some type of perimeter lockdown defender, especially when he always goes up against the weakest perimeter player on the opposing team.

[ChumpDumper]

If I hit the buttons right on nba.com (no guarantees there), Manu is ranked third in steals/48 for qualified players behind Speedy Claxton and Rajon Rondo.

[Kori Ellis]

If I hit the buttons right on nba.com (no guarantees there), Manu is ranked third in steals/48 for qualified players behind Speedy Claxton and Rajon Rondo.

That's correct.

Speedy is far ahead at 3.91 per 48 as compared to Manu's 3.08 per 48.

Rajon Rondo is going to end up being damn good.

[himat]

Yeah,but Manu is still a great,great,defensive player.
Many people only see his offensive talent but manu is clearly one of the best defender in the game.

He's solid not great. Here are the great perimeter defenders in the league:

Bruce Bowen
Ron Artest

Really Good:

Tayshaun Prince
Kobe Bryant
Raja Bell

Good:
Hamilton
Kidd
Hinrich
Battier
Marion
Iverson
Butler

Above Average:
Ginobili
Billups
Bell
Watson
...Many others

[ArgSpursFan]

He's solid not great. Here are the great perimeter defenders in the league:

Bruce Bowen
Ron Artest

Really Good:

Tayshaun Prince
Kobe Bryant
Raja Bell

Good:
Hamilton
Kidd
Hinrich
Battier
Marion
Iverson
Butler

Above Average:
Ginobili
Billups
Bell
Watson
...Many others

iverson?

[SilverPlayer]

Iverson and Hinrich are to high. Gino, Watson, and Bell (especially) are too low.

[2centsworth]

If I hit the buttons right on nba.com (no guarantees there), Manu is ranked third in steals/48 for qualified players behind Speedy Claxton and Rajon Rondo.
got my stats from espn.com. Claxton doesn't even show up (has he even played this year?). http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/statistics?stat=nbasteals&qual=true&sort=stls&league=nba&split=0&season=2007&seasontype=2&avg=48&pos=all

Rondo barely plays and his numbers look terrible. Since I don't watch enough basketball except for the Spurs I can only judge others by #s.

[nkdlunch]

iverson ! :lol and kobe? comeon he's average.

[2centsworth]

Iverson and Hinrich are to high. Gino, Watson, and Bell (especially) are too low.
Bell should be in the really good category. Manu is a very good team defender.

[SilverPlayer]

Claxtons been starting for the first time consistently. He's having a solid year for Atlanta:
RBS 2.2
Asts 4.8
TOs 2.2
Stls 2.2
Pts 6.5

Notice he averages the same Asts and TOs.


On edit- oh sorry I didn't notice Raja Bell in the really good Category. I was looking at the second Bell listed in the above average.

[ChumpDumper]

got my stats from espn.com. Claxton doesn't even show up (has he even played this year?). http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/statistics?stat=nbasteals&qual=true&sort=stls&league=nba&split=0&season=2007&seasontype=2&avg=48&pos=all

Rondo barely plays and his numbers look terrible. Since I don't watch enough basketball except for the Spurs I can only judge others by #s.I don't know what you're getting at. Manu is third among qualified players according to nba.com. I didn't say these guys were better players. One site could certainly be wrong.

[2centsworth]

I don't know what you're getting at. Manu is third among qualified players according to nba.com. I didn't say these guys were better players. One site could certainly be wrong.
Just trying to clear things up a bit. Claxton doesn't even show up in the ESPN rankings, so my question is has the guy played this year? I haven't heard anything about the guy.

As far as Rondo, he was an oversight on my part because I just glanced at the steals per game page to come up with my conclusion. Rondo was low on the page so I didn't see him.

[ChumpDumper]

Claxton has played 26 games this year, which is apparently a high enough percentage of the Hawks' 39 games to be qualified. Dee Brown has played 26 of Utah's 42 games and isn't qualified.

[2centsworth]

Claxton has played 26 games this year, which is apparently a high enough percentage of the Hawks' 39 games to be qualified. Dee Brown has played 26 of Utah's 42 games and isn't qualified.
:tu

[remingtonbo2001]

Why didn't we ever persue SPEEDY CLAXTON.
Was it the whole starting point guard issue?

[ChumpDumper]

Way too expensive now.

[Bruno]

Claxtons been starting for the first time consistently. He's having a solid year for Atlanta:
RBS 2.2
Asts 4.8
TOs 2.2
Stls 2.2
Pts 6.5

Notice he averages the same Asts and TOs.


Solid :wtf
He scored only 6.5 pts 27.4 with a .337 FG%.