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I totally disregard the Russell Celtics at least in terms of talking modern era. The league was totally different. The two best defensive teams of all time were the Spurs and the Detroit Pistons in the early 2000s.
Who do you think had the most dominant defensive dynasty in NBA history? Most people would say the Bill Russell era Celtics since they led the NBA in defense for 12 of Russ's 13 years. The Tim Duncan era are obviously in the conversation too. They had a top 3 defense in each of TD's first 11 years and for 15 of his 19 years. They only finished outside of the top 5 3 times.
I understand that it's near impossible to compare players/teams across eras, but when you look at what each respective team did against their compe ion, the Celtics' numbers look more impressive, but the Spurs' defense was dominant for a longer period. That's why I personally think it could go either way.
What are your thoughts?
I totally disregard the Russell Celtics at least in terms of talking modern era. The league was totally different. The two best defensive teams of all time were the Spurs and the Detroit Pistons in the early 2000s.
, one of Bob Cousy's big innovations was his ability to dribble with either hand.
out front and waist high.
Gary Payton would have devoured that guy. I once saw Gary Payton double team Steve Kerr around the time line all by himself; every time Kerr pivoted to try to pass, Payton was already there.
Back then, it was all mid-range jump shots. A modern defense wouldn't even have to guard out very far.
Thanks for your feedback......no argument from me on that one.
The continuity of sustained good to excellent defense of the popovich era seems to be the easy answer but man those Dumars and Lambeer and Rodman pistons of the late 80s were plain old vicious. just a different era.
The NBA has actively discouraged teams from playing that stifling early 2000s style defense. All the rule changes since 2006 support this. No longer will you see a team dominate the playoffs relying on only their defense.
so nobody gon mention the Detroit Pistons?
Both Mr. Body and superbigtime did in their posts.
my bad just saw this
Pistons
Spurs
tbh fwiw
Spurs 99-2005
pistons 2000s
pistons 80s
bulls 80s
knicks 90s
all solid defensive teams
Gotta be the Twin Towers Spurs.
How the can you score with Robinson and Duncan both patrolling the paint? Good luck with that.
Tim Duncan could've spent his entire career averaging 12 ppg and he still would have been a huge positive force for the Spurs-- that's how great his defense was. But unlike Ben Wallace, Dennis Rodman, and many other specialists, he also was a scorer, a great passer, and a focal point of his team's offense.
The Bulls were pretty good at defense and any team that had Jabber was pretty good too. The Knicks with Willis Reed although not a dynasty played hard both sides of ball. Even LAL when Shaq and Kobrick cared were pretty good on D.
Bullets 70's.
Best D net rating ever, (stat doesn't go back before 1973), if in a poor offensive era.
Wes Unseld didn't block much (didn't jump much), but bigs couldn't score on him, and he blocked out for rebounds better than anyone I've seen. Riordan and Dandridge were pesky defenders. Hayes could jump. Fundamentally a great defensive team.
I don't think Kareem was considered to be a particularly elite defender (especially considering his apparent potential in that area). He was frustrated by physical play (just ask Kent Bentson) and he played the latter part of his career in an even more physical era.
I think you may mean the 70's Bulls with Jerry Sloan, Norm Van Lier, etc.
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