In your opinions. Few Notables: "The Bad Boys" Detroit Pistons (1987-92) Larry Brown's version of the San Antonio Spurs (1989-1992) 2nd 3-peat Chicago Bulls (1995-1998) Larry Brown's version of the Detroit Pistons (2003-2006) LeBron's Cavs with Mike Brown (2006-2010) Riley's version of the New York Knicks (1991-1995) Riley's version of the 90s Miami Heat (1995-2001) Adelman's version of the Blazers (1989-1993) Adelman's version of the Rockets (2007-2010) Van Gundy's version of the 90s New York Knicks (1996-2001) Van Gundy's version of the 00s Rockets (2003-2007) The Jazz of the late 80s to late 90s (1988-1999) Twin Tower San Antonio Spurs (1997-2001) Championship Houston Rockets (1993-1995) The 3-peat Los Angeles Lakers (1999-2002) The 80s Celtics (1980-1988) The 2000 Spurs with Duncan/Bowen/Ginobili/Parker (2002- present) 1st 3 peat Chicago Bulls (1990-1993)
ummm. You forgot about Russells celtics from the 60's and 70's.... He won a 11 rings and might be the best defensive player of all time...I'd say they were the best defensive team of all time... Yes I know they couldn't defend in today's league but they didn't train like today's players do either..
According to Basketball reference, the 2003-04 spurs had a defensive rating of 94.1 points per 100 possessions. I haven't looked at every team, or season but this is a unbelievable defensive rating. The bulls never came close, nor did the badboys. Incidentally, the only team I've seen close to that mark was the Ben Wallace pistons which happened that same year.
The mid 70s to early 80s Bullets are a very good choice to. Someone might have repped you if you mentioned Elvin Hayes. At the time, they probably were the powerhouse of the East after the glory days of Celtics ended and the Knicks had their little 5 year run.
Can you believe there was actually a year in the NBA where one team was allowing 130 ppg, while another one was only allowing 96? http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_1991.html NBA defenses started to take a weird turn around 1988-1994; you started to see more aggressive, physical defense, lower FG%; and lower point totals.
I'm surprised there's no mention of the 07-08 Celtics (unless my eyes missed it). Their's was an all-time great defense.
this bulls team also has a chance to be an all-time great D if they can win it all. and it's amazing that they're doing this without a top 5 defender. thibs deserves mad props.
Few Notables. I said early on, I did not list everyone. Boston Celtics under Doc Rivers and Thibo (2007-2010)
from that list, I really liked the pistons that won the championship. very good defensive team. how the beat the lakers with, Shaq, kobe, malone and payton.
I like the 1994 Rockets with Dream, OT, Horry as the front line. Maxwell playing lock down D on the 2, Mario Elie, Herrera off the bench were good on D. Oh, Dream was DPOY that year.
The Denver Nuggets of that year were an aberration. Paul Westhead left Loyola Marymount and ran the LMU offense where it was constant running and "what is defense?" defense. They didn't even care about defense - they just wanted to score as fast as possible.
i'm not sure if this is the best measure, but the '92-'93 knicks were ridiculously far ahead of the 2nd best defensive team. they allowed 99.7 points per 100 possessions and the sonics allowed 104.9. i don't know if that's the biggest difference between 1st and 2nd but it has to be close i would think. now some of that was just that the 2nd place team just wasn't that good but even the next season they were 3.2 points per 100 possessions ahead of 2nd place (our champion rockets) so those riley knicks defenses were pretty incredible.
07 - 08 Celtics had one of the greatest defenses, which allowed them come back from a 24 pt deficit in game 4 of the NBA finals against the Lakers. Straight up irritated Kobe. These Bulls seem to have inherited that defense with Thibs there now.
