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Throughout this year's playoffs, POP has made it a point to attack the other team's best offensive player. We saw he did it against Dirk Lillard, and now KD. If KD gets caught in switches with either Duncan or Diaw, the Spurs are going to attack that defense. Also, Doc Rivers taught us how terrible KD's post-game is, which why Manu and sometimes Green did a great job on KD tonight.
I think his D is perhaps the things that stops him from being the best player in the league. It's pretty ok, but isn't godly like LeBron's can be, particularly late in games.
lebron's defense is so overrated, eventhough he's a good defensive playerQuote:
Originally Posted by MI21
durant's defense is average and we need to go hard on him
also make westbrook chase loops
LeBron's defense is entirely overated in the regular season and vs shit teams.Quote:
Originally Posted by testies
Against good teams he generally brings it and his versatility is legit as fuck.
The reason Lebron's defense is considered "good" is because he's the darling of the NBA, and refs swallow the whistle when he's playing defense, where other players would be scared to pick up that 5th foul or foul out.Quote:
Originally Posted by MI21
Despite people thinking Duncan played poorly, he wore out Durrant when Durrant played the 4. That's something that's going to hurt Thunder's small ball line up.
how could one think he played poorly? look at his stats :lolQuote:
Originally Posted by cd98
See the grades thread. I agree Duncan had a great game. Some on Spurstalk don't agree.Quote:
Originally Posted by testies
Lebron can legitimately defend positions 1-5.Quote:
Originally Posted by sexinthatsx
Against the Spurs he could defend Parker, Manu, Kawhi, Splitter or Duncan and be the best defender on the floor. I'm not sure how that's "overrated." He has to bear most of the load on the offensive end, so it doesn't make sense for him to kill himself on defense for 48 minutes. But for a quarter or two, there isn't a better defensive player in the league.
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Originally Posted by _JaG
He can defend, doesn't mean he can defend succesfully
ISO Joe was shitting on him in large streches, he obviously can't shut down David West or Hibbert
Yeah, he can defend, but not shut down players completely
Only Hibbert can completely shut down Hibbert, as was demonstrated in the first round. :lolQuote:
Originally Posted by testies
what 5 can he guard?Quote:
Originally Posted by _JaG
He defended Duncan well for a few possessions during the finals. He can also defend Splitter.Quote:
Originally Posted by Raven
Do those count?
Durant.Quote:
Originally Posted by Raven
But seriously he weighs around 260 and has a low center of gravity. He might not contest a lot of shots when defending the post but he doesn't get backed down easily.
When I say that he's capable of defending, I mean successfully.Quote:
Originally Posted by testies
Joe Johnson was hitting retarded fadeaway prayers. When the Nets needed a basket and Johnson had the ball, Lebron made him look stupid.
Lebron on Derrick Rose a few years ago during the postseason is good example of him completely shutting down a premier player not at his position.
huge stretch, it was basically because he Rose can't hit it from outside. Lebron couldn't guard westchuck, paul or curry.Quote:
Originally Posted by _JaG
It's a stretch to say that he can defend Duncan imo. And defending Splitter does not count.Quote:
Originally Posted by _JaG
It's not a stretch that he DID defend Duncan and Rose. You wanted examples. I gave you examples.
You're full blown retarded if you don't think he can defend Curry or Westbrook. Danny Green is athletic enough to defend those players, but Bron isn't? :lol Bron's fist step is still one the quickest and most powerful in the league.
As far as Curry goes, I don't even feel the need to comment further.
With Westbrook, he'd just shut down the driving lane and force that frog-looking freak to shoot contested jumpshots.
I disagree that LeBron's defense is overrated. The guy is routinely asked to guard the other team's best player night in and night out. It's true that he picks his spots, and might not always give 100% on defense, and yes, he gets superstar treatment on both sides of the court, but to say he's not a good defender is just silly. And compared to Durant, he's a God on defense.
It's okay to hate LeBron while acknowledging his strengths tbh.
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Originally Posted by sexinthatsx
belinelli defended against westbrook on a possession yesterday, does that make him capable of defending westbrook?Quote:
Originally Posted by _JaG
none said what you just pointed out.Quote:
Originally Posted by TVI
It's well-known that Miami coasts in the regular season and Kang is no exception.... when he isn't coasting, he's a legitimately scary defensive player.... when he's at the top of his game defensively, he is disciplined and avoids foul trouble....Quote:
Originally Posted by MI21
:lol Kang would absolutely shut down Choke Paul.... Choke cowers and disappears against bigger defenders....Quote:
Originally Posted by Raven
:lmao People trying to say Lebron isn't as good at defense as people claim.
They guy legitimately anchored one of the top defenses in the league and routinely guarded the other teams best player in critical situations. That doesn't even take into consideration that he does so while bearing the most offensive burden in the league.
Doubt it tbh, would get him in foul trouble... and ive been saying paul is a choking loser way before it was cool tbh :lolQuote:
Originally Posted by Clipper Nation
None can effectively guard any player from 1 to 5, saying lebron cant do that makes him no worse.Quote:
Originally Posted by DPG21920
I see, so nick young is a great defender... sure he could defend him on isos but no way he could guard curry off the screen...Quote:
Originally Posted by _JaG
:lmao
:lmao if Lance freaking Stephenson can have success posting LeBum up then Splitter and Timmy would have a field day. Kawhi also had success last year posting up Lebron iirc.Quote:
Originally Posted by _JaG
LeBron is severely overrated defensively. Let's see, what premier players has he shut down these last few playoffs? D. Rose and Tony Parker. Both around 6'1. There's literally barely any talent in the East since the Big 3 era began and the fact that all three of them played in Eas-...I digress.
So tell me, if LeBum is such a great defender what happened in 2007, 2011, and 2012? He didn't shut down Tony, Dirk, or KD, and was 28 seconds away from his last memory of the finals being ripped by TP in the waning moments of game 6.
this, people just try to find flaws in the game Lebron. If it has deficiencies is certainly not defending this guy was in the handchecking would be scary defensivelyQuote:
Originally Posted by _JaG
Does belinelli have the physical attributes conducive to (consistent) successful defense vs Westbrook?Quote:
Originally Posted by Raven
LeBron has the physical ability to successfully defend 1-5. I think he could defend Duncan well for stretches. He already has. I think Duncan would figure him out and get some buckets/get him in foul trouble, but you're also talking about the best power forward to ever play basketball.
I'm not one of these guys on Spurstalk who blows Lebron up and down every thread. I used to hate the guy, but that's slowly faded and I think he's an alright dude and an incredible basketball player. Probably the best to ever play. His defense, when it needs to be, is special.
It's not like Kobe's mythical lockdown defense. You can maybe count a handful of times Kobe ever locked down a premier player. LeBron has had to do it during every playoff run.
Durant, Carmelo, Rondo and Pierce come to mind.Quote:
Originally Posted by SpursFan313
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPBeQybtvbA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpNze8l-eT0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV3O94yv4vc
I've never been a lebron hater and i wouldnt have had any problem with him winning dpoy last year, but i dont agree that he can defend fives... simply that.Quote:
Originally Posted by _JaG
Last night was one of the first times I can recall seeing KD be visibly winded. He was obviously running on fumes by the 4th, and his shooting performance showed it. If OKC's game plan is to run KD for 45 minutes, try to be offensive option 1A (with the only other real option being 1B), AND try to defend the paint all night and contain Leonard and Duncan in the post....well then by all means, keep rolling like that, Scotty Brooks.
No. You're argument was that he couldn't defend 5's or 1's.Quote:
Originally Posted by Raven
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raven
He proved he could defend 1's. And he's successfully defended 5's. He's shutdown rose and he played good defense on Westbrook for stretches during the Finals. You honestly think he couldn't defend Paul or Curry? You're going to pick random players he hasn't had to defend, to prove he cant defend them. You keep moving the goalposts.Quote:
Originally Posted by Raven
I don't think he could defend Hibbert for an entire game. But I think he could do just as well or better than Bosh or Birdman. Does that mean he cant defend 5's? Duncan couldn't defend Amare. Does that mean he couldn't/cant defend 4's?
So I guess your argument is that he can't defend on the dominant 5's in the league, like Splitter, Bogut and Robin Lopez. Right
oh, screens...Quote:
Originally Posted by Raven
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4cMLcZX9a0
Truth nuclear submarine.Lebronzes D is the most overrated thing since the KardasiansQuote:
Originally Posted by testies
Lebron is essentially the only perimeter superstar player in history that runs the entire offense AND has to defend the opposing team's best player for key stretches in the game, tbh:lol..
The standard he is held to is unreal..he has never had a Pippen(the greatest of all-time at perimeter defense) or Artest(top 3 of his generation), not even an Ariza:lol..his defensive help has been a senior Shane Battier that hasn't successfully defended anybody since 2010..
Magic, Bird, Kobe, etc were never asked to do that, tbh..not even Dad Killer, since he had Scottie to do the heavy lifting on defense..
This seemed like such a good topic, until someone decides to turned it into a Lebron defense thread..
Why are people comparing KD with Lebron, tbh? :lol
KD is a nice offensive player, that greatly benefits from his anorexia... Lebron is a genetic beast...
Durant is actually a pretty good defensive player, tbh, he's far from a liability..
It's just difficult for high-usage players, especially in OKC without a system, to exert constant energy on defense when they're carrying the offensive load..it's why big men are so underrated on all-time lists, they had so much more responsibly than their perimeter counterparts(particularly Duncan and Olajuwon)..
The key to winning this series is to make sure that both KD and Westbrook are winded by the time they hit the 4th quarter. That means have both players work really hard on defense.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dex
This.Quote:
Originally Posted by ceperez
This is why Pop is having Leonard be so active on offense and they are trying to get Westbrook to have play defense on SOMEBODY…whether that is Green or Parker or Bellinelli or whomever.
This was, I believe, the point of the op before it got hijacked. And this is what we have to keep doing. Particularly to those two players.
Shane has done an excellent job these last couple championship runs tbh he's far from a liability out there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Malik Hairston
I don't understand why you're bringing up his offensive responsibility or comparing him to other stars. We're just talking about his abilities on the defensive end being overrated. He's a great defender, but not as great as people make him seem, and he def can't guard 4s and 5s unless they're a soft jumpshooter or something. He can't defend someone like Tim, Al Jef, Zbo/Gasol, etc any big that can post up p much.
If LeBron is such a great defender, why is Paul George guarding him, but Lebron isnt guarding Paul George? Same thing when the Heat play the Thunder
This is the first year that I've seen pop go to the mismatch over and over to exploit it forcing the other coach to make a change.
In other years he would try it once or twice, then the other team get away with a defensive mismatch.
It's like he's finally said fuck this gentleman bull shit and fuck the Ibaka injury.
ROFL. Love the dry delivery of this line. Had me crackin' up.Quote:
Originally Posted by _JaG