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If Kawhi was a top 5 defender right now then I would like our chances a lot more. He's still got a long way to go to get to the top 5.
He's still got a lot of improvement and work to do this season to get there. Hopefully, he improves a lot this season and becomes a top 10 defender heading into the playoffs.
Tony Allen is a nightmare.
Tony Allen
Avery Bradley
Battier
Iguodala
Leonard
(LeBroom is now a PF so he is not a perimeter defender. And Kobe sucks ass.)
Lebron plays no d till the last 5 mins of the game same as Durant Kobe and most other perimeter scorers which is a kick in the guts to guys like Bowen sefolosha and tony Allen who bust their ass on d every minute they're on the floor
I still think Kawhi isn't even in the top 10. He really needs to keep working on it.
He barely made an impact in the game against Houston.
James, Sefolosha, Iguodala, Allen, and Wade (when he's giving full effort) are probably the top 5 perimeter defenders. I think Shumpert is overrated
Bump.
I think it's safe to say he's top 5 now, he's levels ahead of where he was defensively at the beginning of the season, such a major improvement in a few months. His defense on guys like Thompson/LBJ was incredible, his rebounding these playoffs has also been elite. If you actually paid attention to his rebounds you'd see a lot of them he grabbed were in traffic amongst bigs, he's not stat padding grabbing wide open rebounds, these are legit.
During the end of game 7 he grabbed that one defensive rebound when he was surrounded against LeBron, Wade, and Battier. No other Spurs even helped boxing out. I was like "wtf how did he manage to pull that down".Quote:
Originally Posted by KL2
Any list without Avery Bradley I can't even take seriously.
1. Lebron James
2. Tony Allen
3. Paul George
4. Andre Iguodala
5. Kawhi Leonard(if the playoffs are indication of growth)
6. Luol Deng
7. Thabo Sefolosha
8. Al-Farouq Aminu
9. Avery Bradley
10. Danny Green
Luol Deng should probably push him out of the top 5. The problem with rating him as highly as he is in this list is mostly based on how well he did against LBJ in the first 4 games. LBJ didn't have much playing time against him until this series and spent some time feeling him out. Putting up 32 and 37 in the last two games doesn't really suggest Leonard was playing that great once James had felt him out. I'd like to see some statistics from the last two games though.Quote:
Originally Posted by HarlemHeat37
Also +1 to Wade being in the top 5. When he's healthy he's definitely one of the better ones out there. Will he ever be healthy again though?
give lebron 7 games against anybody and he'll "figure him out"Quote:
Originally Posted by Seefourdc
Leonard wasn't an elite defender during the regular season, far from it, but he was completely dominant defensively in the playoffs, not just against Lebron, tbh..the Spurs defense was significantly worse all playoffs when Duncan and Leonard sat, tbh..their defensive metrics were substantially better than any other Spurs, the 3rd ranked regular season and playoffs defense..
He also completely eliminated Klay Thompson when Pop made the switch, rendering Thompson completely useless, tbh..
Also, individual defense is overrated, anyways..team defense is far more important in the NBA, tbh..guys like Avery Bradley and Mbah a Moute are elite from an individual perspective, but average on team defense, tbh..
When healthy, sure, but Wade's defense was pretty shitty during the playoffs..Zach Lowe pointed out all his blunders against Danny Green in the Finals, too..I don't think his body will allow him to make a consistent impact on either side of the ball anymore..Quote:
Originally Posted by Seefourdc
Leonard wasn't even THAT bad against LeBron in game 7. Pop told him to let him shoot jumpers, he did and LeBron just made them
So what you are telling me is that he's not good enough to even make a cursory effort to challenge his jumpers and still defend him? How is that in any way, shape, or form good defense?Quote:
Originally Posted by chapnis
He is certainly good enough, I just believe that Pop told him not to and he listened.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seefourdc
Quote:
Originally Posted by Seefourdc
He had to give him a big cushion, what'd you rather have LBJ doing, driving/posting or shooting jumpers?
Plus just how many of those players on that list shut players down? Remember Allen was the guy Manu was dropping 20 PPG on with a broken elbow in the playoffs, that guy's an elite defender? Parker also tore both Allen/Conley a new asshole these playoffs even though he was really banged up and fatigued.
You're giving a lot of these guys way too much credit, good defenders yes but a lot of them are mad overrated.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Seefourdc
Also PERFECT example of what I was talking about:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SXemx5E9t20
Leonard going for a career high, Deng couldn't guard him so they tried Butler, even Gibson, nobody could guard him though.
Meanwhile on the defensive end:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TrZ-toJk4OY
Leonard- 11-18 26 pts
Deng- 4-13