I'm not sure what you are referring to when you say offensively oriented statistics. For the range of metrics I looked at, I think a player can rate highly by all of them and still be average or poor like you say, but its just not very probable. I'll point out that one other player in the sample did consistently well in all 3 categories -- Ricky Rubio. He's another player who's getting glowing reviews for his defense. I suspect if you did this sort of analysis across all players and picked out the ones that do well across the board (like Lowry and Rubio), you'll find almost all of them have very good defensive reputations.
I mean the only way of measuring or creating statistics is using offensive metrics to come up with formulas. IE, there is no way to measure forcing your guy to pass instead of shoot the ball etc, or 24 second shot clock violations. All stats are based upon offensive production, be it for you, or against you. And those metrics are highly dependent upon opponents, schedule, injuries, teamates, coaching - lots of variables that are not readily accounted for. Durv, we have had this discussion before, I find all of the advanced metrics highly flawed because they are based upon the person who created the formulas bias - for instance, do they value rebounding more than assisting, or is EFG% better than true FG%, and what multiple do they attach to each? It would be interesting to me if someone could take scoring out of an equation and simply come up with a metric for defense that rated players based upon their play on the floor - admittadly it would take a human to attach values etc, but I think you might get a more true indicator of a person's value to defense. I mean if Lowry gets picked and Parker scores on a mid range jump shot, is that his fault or the man who was supposed to show on the high side? I don't think numbers will help you get that answer. I think both Lowry and Rubio are playing well, and helping their teams a ton, for sure. DD
Yes and to get their final numbers they use offensive production and the result of shots to determine their ratings. DD
If you are forcing your man to pass without the help of a double team, then that means you limiting his offensive effectiveness. Same if you are smothering a guy and it results in a 24 second violation. The stats described in the first post will favor guys who excel at that type of defense. OK that's fair, though adjusted +/- statistics do account for teammates and opponents. But when you point out that Lowry is getting beat by his man more this year, can you honestly say you are consciously factoring in schedule, opponents, new defensive schemes ... all of that? I don't think this is a problem just with stats. Subjective evaluations can just as easily fail to put things in context as well. Synergy does something like this. They track plays, and who was defending on each of those plays. They also provide video for every play, so you can validate with your eyes what the numbers suggest. In the case of Lowry, the guy he's guarding actually doesn't shoot a very good percentage out of pick-and-roll. But its possible that he's creating havoc in other ways (drawing defenders in and kicking out to open spot up shooters, for example). Numbers can help you isolate the sort of problems you're talking about, though. You could track pick-and-roll defense involving certain players. You can track defensive effectiveness for different pick-and-roll coverages. I'm pretty sure the Rockets and other teams do this.
Synergy does what you were asking. They track the responsible person for each play and figures out whose fault it was. From their site: "How we select the player - Synergy tracks the initial on ball defender for many playtypes. For example, an offensive player is in Isolation and blows by his defender (player A) and gets to the rim. A help defender (player B) rotates over to try and contest the shot. We attribute the defensive play to Player A, as he was the person was initially beaten on the play."
That is a good start, IMO. If it were me, I would completely remove whether a basket was made or missed etc. And rely strictly on a players responsibility on defense - and attach values for that, and also did he force the guy into a contested shot, and then have variations of contest - ie....up close has a greater value than simply getting a hand up. I just think you could create a more comprehensive defensive stat, but admittadly humans would still have to make judgements on which column to put things into - thus making them flawed and subject to bias. DD
Yes, I concede that what I say is completely subjective, and based upon my own bias as a basketball observer. I like the post, I find it valuable, but for me personally, I do not put much stock in some of the advanced metrics available, I just find them seriously flawed, but again...it is all we have I guess. DD
Good defense on shot attempts will cause the shooting percentages to go down over the long haul. If its just one play, yeah you can't really know if its good or bad defense simply on whether the shot went it. But if its, say, 50 plays, then shooting percentages become more relevant obviously.
Yes, but again, none of that factor in opponents, not everyone is guarding the same people, so removing the makes or misses, and just focusing on the contest - would give a more true indicator of defense, at least to me. DD
Great stats post as usual from durvasa. Aside from Lowry's defensive presence, just a couple of off-topic things: 1. Rubio seems to be a really good defender. 2. Nash isn't as bad as I thought, but he is REALLY horrible in ISO situations.
Maybe. And the Rockets actually track shot contests and attach more importance to that (there was a Sam Hinkie article a few years back at Rockets.com on this subject).
Nash is a smart veteran. Its possible that he's passable on defense based on his team defensive awareness (though one critique pointed out by Hollinger before this season was that he doesn't hustle back in transition, and that won't show up in the synergy stats). When he's forced to guard someone in a one-on-one situation, the results are as expected for him. In contrast, Russell Westbrook does not fare well by some of the synergy metrics, but he's excellent on 1-on-1 defense.
Sure. Rondo, surprisingly, does not stand out in terms of the +/- statistics. His DRTG is also middle of the pack (steals are a bit down, and the Celtics defense has not been as dominant as in the past). He rates very well overall by the Synergy statistics (tops in this sample of PGs), especially in contesting spot-up shooters. Defensive +/- <style type="text/css"> table.tableizer-table {border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;} .tableizer-table td {padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc;} .tableizer-table th {background-color: #104E8B; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold;} </style> <table class="tableizer-table"> <tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>Name</th><th>DEF On/Off</th><th>DEF RAPM-no-prior</th><th>DEF RAPM-with-prior</th></tr> <tr><td>Lowry, Kyle</td><td>+13.3</td><td>+0.2</td><td>+2.2</td></tr> <tr><td>Fisher, Derek</td><td>+1.4</td><td>+0.5</td><td>+1.0</td></tr> <tr><td>Paul, Chris</td><td>-0.2</td><td>-0.5</td><td>+1.0</td></tr> <tr><td>Conley, Mike</td><td>+9.2</td><td>+0.5</td><td>+0.9</td></tr> <tr><td>Rubio, Ricky</td><td>+9.7</td><td>+0.8</td><td>+0.4</td></tr> <tr><td>Parker, Tony</td><td>+5.0</td><td>-0.1</td><td>+0.2</td></tr> <tr><td>Felton, Raymond</td><td>+1.5</td><td>+0.0</td><td>+0.0</td></tr> <tr><td>Nash, Steve</td><td>-1.4</td><td>-0.4</td><td>-0.1</td></tr> <tr><td>Rondo, Rajon</td><td>-0.7</td><td>-0.3</td><td>-0.2</td></tr> <tr><td>Lawson, Ty</td><td>+6.3</td><td>+0.5</td><td>-0.3</td></tr> <tr><td>Westbrook, Russell</td><td>+4.6</td><td>-0.1</td><td>-0.4</td></tr> <tr><td>Jack, Jarrett</td><td>-8.4</td><td>-0.7</td><td>-1.2</td></tr></table> Boxscore Statistics <style type="text/css"> table.tableizer-table {border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;} .tableizer-table td {padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc;} .tableizer-table th {background-color: #104E8B; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold;} </style> <table class="tableizer-table"> <tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>Player </th><th>DRtg</th><th>OnCourt_TmDRTG</th><th>TmDRTG</th><th>boxscore_DRTG</th><th>Adj_DRTG</th></tr> <tr><td>Ricky Rubio </td><td>98</td><td>96.1</td><td>101.5</td><td>96.8</td><td>93.7</td></tr> <tr><td>Mike Conley </td><td>99</td><td>98.0</td><td>101.8</td><td>97.5</td><td>95.9</td></tr> <tr><td>Kyle Lowry </td><td>102</td><td>99.6</td><td>105.4</td><td>97.7</td><td>97.3</td></tr> <tr><td>Derek Fisher </td><td>100</td><td>97.4</td><td>99.1</td><td>100.7</td><td>98.6</td></tr> <tr><td>Russell Westbrook </td><td>102</td><td>101.0</td><td>101.9</td><td>100.5</td><td>101.3</td></tr> <tr><td>Ty Lawson </td><td>104</td><td>98.7</td><td>101.6</td><td>102.7</td><td>101.6</td></tr> <tr><td>Rajon Rondo</td><td>102</td><td>101.4</td><td>101.6</td><td>100.7</td><td>101.8</td></tr> <tr><td>Raymond Felton </td><td>103</td><td>99.9</td><td>100.3</td><td>102.8</td><td>102.7</td></tr> <tr><td>Tony Parker </td><td>106</td><td>101.2</td><td>104.1</td><td>102.7</td><td>103.7</td></tr> <tr><td>Chris Paul </td><td>105</td><td>105.8</td><td>105.8</td><td>100.4</td><td>105.0</td></tr> <tr><td>Jarrett Jack </td><td>106</td><td>104.8</td><td>102.6</td><td>103.9</td><td>107.8</td></tr> <tr><td>Steve Nash </td><td>109</td><td>102.4</td><td>103.8</td><td>106.0</td><td>107.8</td></tr></table> Synergy Statistics Overall: <style type="text/css"> table.tableizer-table {border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;} .tableizer-table td {padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc;} .tableizer-table th {background-color: #104E8B; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold;} </style> <table class="tableizer-table"> <tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>player</th><th>number</th><th>ppp</th><th>rank</th><th>fgm</th><th>fga</th><th>3fgm</th><th>3fga</th><th>%sf</th><th>and 1</th><th>%to</th><th>%score</th><th>eFG%</th></tr> <tr><td>Rajon Rondo</td><td>155</td><td>0.68</td><td>35</td><td>42</td><td>124</td><td>7</td><td>36</td><td>3.9%</td><td>4</td><td>12.9%</td><td>32.3%</td><td>36.7%</td></tr> <tr><td>Ricky Rubio</td><td>161</td><td>0.75</td><td>78</td><td>47</td><td>126</td><td>9</td><td>34</td><td>6.2%</td><td>0</td><td>12.4%</td><td>36.0%</td><td>40.9%</td></tr> <tr><td>Kyle Lowry</td><td>175</td><td>0.76</td><td>90</td><td>58</td><td>141</td><td>9</td><td>35</td><td>1.7%</td><td>4</td><td>16.6%</td><td>34.9%</td><td>44.3%</td></tr> <tr><td>Chris Paul</td><td>112</td><td>0.76</td><td>90</td><td>29</td><td>80</td><td>8</td><td>27</td><td>6.3%</td><td>2</td><td>20.5%</td><td>33.9%</td><td>41.3%</td></tr> <tr><td>Mike Conley</td><td>152</td><td>0.77</td><td>97</td><td>40</td><td>113</td><td>14</td><td>35</td><td>7.2%</td><td>1</td><td>13.8%</td><td>34.9%</td><td>41.6%</td></tr> <tr><td>Ty Lawson</td><td>157</td><td>0.78</td><td>104</td><td>47</td><td>127</td><td>17</td><td>49</td><td>4.5%</td><td>0</td><td>12.1%</td><td>34.4%</td><td>43.7%</td></tr> <tr><td>Raymond Felton</td><td>188</td><td>0.81</td><td>138</td><td>59</td><td>140</td><td>10</td><td>29</td><td>4.8%</td><td>2</td><td>18.1%</td><td>38.3%</td><td>45.7%</td></tr> <tr><td>Steve Nash</td><td>166</td><td>0.81</td><td>138</td><td>55</td><td>142</td><td>10</td><td>37</td><td>4.2%</td><td>1</td><td>7.8%</td><td>38.0%</td><td>42.3%</td></tr> <tr><td>Russell Westbrook</td><td>150</td><td>0.83</td><td>155</td><td>50</td><td>129</td><td>10</td><td>39</td><td>2.0%</td><td>1</td><td>9.3%</td><td>37.3%</td><td>42.6%</td></tr> <tr><td>Tony Parker</td><td>181</td><td>0.84</td><td>163</td><td>63</td><td>155</td><td>15</td><td>44</td><td>2.2%</td><td>0</td><td>11.0%</td><td>38.1%</td><td>45.5%</td></tr> <tr><td>Jarrett Jack</td><td>197</td><td>0.84</td><td>163</td><td>58</td><td>160</td><td>24</td><td>64</td><td>5.1%</td><td>0</td><td>9.1%</td><td>37.1%</td><td>43.8%</td></tr> <tr><td>Derek Fisher</td><td>133</td><td>0.9</td><td>228</td><td>45</td><td>112</td><td>19</td><td>47</td><td>3.8%</td><td>0</td><td>9.8%</td><td>39.1%</td><td>48.7%</td></tr></table> Isolation: <style type="text/css"> table.tableizer-table {border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;} .tableizer-table td {padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc;} .tableizer-table th {background-color: #104E8B; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold;} </style> <table class="tableizer-table"> <tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>player</th><th>%play</th><th>number</th><th>ppp</th><th>rank</th><th>fgm</th><th>fga</th><th>3fgm</th><th>3fga</th><th>%sf</th><th>and 1</th><th>%to</th><th>%score</th><th>eFG%</th></tr> <tr><td>Russell Westbrook</td><td>18.7%</td><td>28</td><td>0.43</td><td>2</td><td>5</td><td>23</td><td>0</td><td>5</td><td>3.6%</td><td>0</td><td>14.3%</td><td>21.4%</td><td>21.7%</td></tr> <tr><td>Mike Conley</td><td>17.8%</td><td>27</td><td>0.48</td><td>4</td><td>3</td><td>14</td><td>1</td><td>2</td><td>11.1%</td><td>0</td><td>33.3%</td><td>25.9%</td><td>25.0%</td></tr> <tr><td>Chris Paul</td><td>23.2%</td><td>26</td><td>0.54</td><td>6</td><td>3</td><td>12</td><td>0</td><td>2</td><td>7.7%</td><td>0</td><td>38.5%</td><td>26.9%</td><td>25.0%</td></tr> <tr><td>Jarrett Jack</td><td>12.7%</td><td>25</td><td>0.6</td><td> </td><td>7</td><td>23</td><td>1</td><td>8</td><td>0.0%</td><td>0</td><td>8.0%</td><td>28.0%</td><td>32.6%</td></tr> <tr><td>Rajon Rondo</td><td>19.4%</td><td>30</td><td>0.67</td><td>18</td><td>8</td><td>24</td><td>0</td><td>2</td><td>6.7%</td><td>1</td><td>13.3%</td><td>33.3%</td><td>33.3%</td></tr> <tr><td>Ricky Rubio</td><td>17.4%</td><td>28</td><td>0.68</td><td>17</td><td>6</td><td>18</td><td>1</td><td>4</td><td>14.3%</td><td>0</td><td>21.4%</td><td>35.7%</td><td>36.1%</td></tr> <tr><td>Kyle Lowry</td><td>13.7%</td><td>24</td><td>0.69</td><td> </td><td>7</td><td>18</td><td>0</td><td>1</td><td>4.2%</td><td>1</td><td>20.8%</td><td>33.3%</td><td>38.9%</td></tr> <tr><td>Tony Parker</td><td>13.3%</td><td>24</td><td>0.75</td><td> </td><td>8</td><td>21</td><td>0</td><td>2</td><td>4.2%</td><td>0</td><td>8.3%</td><td>37.5%</td><td>38.1%</td></tr> <tr><td>Ty Lawson</td><td>15.9%</td><td>25</td><td>0.84</td><td> </td><td>9</td><td>21</td><td>1</td><td>2</td><td>4.0%</td><td>0</td><td>12.0%</td><td>40.0%</td><td>45.2%</td></tr> <tr><td>Derek Fisher</td><td>12.8%</td><td>17</td><td>1</td><td> </td><td>5</td><td>12</td><td>1</td><td>2</td><td>11.8%</td><td>0</td><td>5.9%</td><td>52.9%</td><td>45.8%</td></tr> <tr><td>Raymond Felton</td><td>16.0%</td><td>30</td><td>1</td><td>45</td><td>10</td><td>21</td><td>2</td><td>5</td><td>6.7%</td><td>1</td><td>16.7%</td><td>46.7%</td><td>52.4%</td></tr> <tr><td>Steve Nash</td><td>19.3%</td><td>32</td><td>1.16</td><td>52</td><td>17</td><td>28</td><td>0</td><td>1</td><td>0.0%</td><td>1</td><td>9.4%</td><td>56.3%</td><td>60.7%</td></tr></table> Pick and Roll (Ball Handler): <style type="text/css"> table.tableizer-table {border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;} .tableizer-table td {padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc;} .tableizer-table th {background-color: #104E8B; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold;} </style> <table class="tableizer-table"> <tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>player</th><th>%play</th><th>number</th><th>ppp</th><th>rank</th><th>fgm</th><th>fga</th><th>3fgm</th><th>3fga</th><th>%sf</th><th>and 1</th><th>%to</th><th>%score</th><th>eFG%</th></tr> <tr><td>Steve Nash</td><td>40.4%</td><td>67</td><td>0.63</td><td>11</td><td>17</td><td>56</td><td>3</td><td>10</td><td>4.5%</td><td>0</td><td>11.9%</td><td>29.9%</td><td>33.0%</td></tr> <tr><td>Ty Lawson</td><td>35.0%</td><td>55</td><td>0.64</td><td>13</td><td>14</td><td>44</td><td>2</td><td>10</td><td>5.5%</td><td>0</td><td>14.5%</td><td>30.9%</td><td>34.1%</td></tr> <tr><td>Kyle Lowry</td><td>38.9%</td><td>68</td><td>0.72</td><td>30</td><td>22</td><td>46</td><td>1</td><td>2</td><td>2.9%</td><td>2</td><td>27.9%</td><td>35.3%</td><td>48.9%</td></tr> <tr><td>Derek Fisher</td><td>42.9%</td><td>57</td><td>0.75</td><td>34</td><td>18</td><td>47</td><td>6</td><td>10</td><td>1.8%</td><td>0</td><td>15.8%</td><td>33.3%</td><td>44.7%</td></tr> <tr><td>Ricky Rubio</td><td>47.8%</td><td>77</td><td>0.77</td><td>38</td><td>22</td><td>59</td><td>3</td><td>9</td><td>7.8%</td><td>0</td><td>14.3%</td><td>37.7%</td><td>39.8%</td></tr> <tr><td>Raymond Felton</td><td>52.7%</td><td>99</td><td>0.79</td><td>46</td><td>32</td><td>68</td><td>2</td><td>4</td><td>4.0%</td><td>1</td><td>25.3%</td><td>38.4%</td><td>48.5%</td></tr> <tr><td>Tony Parker</td><td>44.8%</td><td>81</td><td>0.81</td><td>48</td><td>29</td><td>65</td><td>1</td><td>5</td><td>2.5%</td><td>0</td><td>14.8%</td><td>40.7%</td><td>45.4%</td></tr> <tr><td>Mike Conley</td><td>44.1%</td><td>67</td><td>0.81</td><td>48</td><td>18</td><td>51</td><td>3</td><td>6</td><td>7.5%</td><td>1</td><td>13.4%</td><td>37.3%</td><td>38.2%</td></tr> <tr><td>Rajon Rondo</td><td>43.2%</td><td>67</td><td>0.84</td><td>58</td><td>24</td><td>53</td><td>2</td><td>5</td><td>3.0%</td><td>2</td><td>16.4%</td><td>40.3%</td><td>47.2%</td></tr> <tr><td>Chris Paul</td><td>38.4%</td><td>43</td><td>0.86</td><td>60</td><td>12</td><td>27</td><td>3</td><td>5</td><td>11.6%</td><td>1</td><td>25.6%</td><td>39.5%</td><td>50.0%</td></tr> <tr><td>Jarrett Jack</td><td>33.5%</td><td>66</td><td>0.86</td><td>60</td><td>20</td><td>47</td><td>4</td><td>6</td><td>7.6%</td><td>0</td><td>16.7%</td><td>42.4%</td><td>46.8%</td></tr> <tr><td>Russell Westbrook</td><td>46.7%</td><td>70</td><td>0.91</td><td>68</td><td>26</td><td>58</td><td>1</td><td>7</td><td>2.9%</td><td>0</td><td>10.0%</td><td>44.3%</td><td>45.7%</td></tr></table> Spot up: <style type="text/css"> table.tableizer-table {border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;} .tableizer-table td {padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc;} .tableizer-table th {background-color: #104E8B; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold;} </style> <table class="tableizer-table"> <tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>player</th><th>%play</th><th>number</th><th>ppp</th><th>rank</th><th>fgm</th><th>fga</th><th>3fgm</th><th>3fga</th><th>%sf</th><th>and 1</th><th>%to</th><th>%score</th><th>eFG%</th></tr> <tr><td>Rajon Rondo</td><td>27.7%</td><td>43</td><td>0.56</td><td>5</td><td>9</td><td>38</td><td>4</td><td>25</td><td>2.3%</td><td>1</td><td>9.3%</td><td>23.3%</td><td>28.9%</td></tr> <tr><td>Chris Paul</td><td>20.5%</td><td>23</td><td>0.78</td><td> </td><td>7</td><td>22</td><td>4</td><td>15</td><td>0.0%</td><td>0</td><td>4.3%</td><td>30.4%</td><td>40.9%</td></tr> <tr><td>Tony Parker</td><td>25.4%</td><td>46</td><td>0.78</td><td>8</td><td>13</td><td>43</td><td>10</td><td>31</td><td>0.0%</td><td>0</td><td>6.5%</td><td>28.3%</td><td>41.9%</td></tr> <tr><td>Kyle Lowry</td><td>26.3%</td><td>46</td><td>0.8</td><td>43</td><td>15</td><td>46</td><td>7</td><td>28</td><td>0.0%</td><td>0</td><td>0.0%</td><td>32.6%</td><td>40.2%</td></tr> <tr><td>Steve Nash</td><td>27.1%</td><td>45</td><td>0.84</td><td>61</td><td>14</td><td>42</td><td>6</td><td>23</td><td>4.4%</td><td>0</td><td>2.2%</td><td>35.6%</td><td>40.5%</td></tr> <tr><td>Jarrett Jack</td><td>33.5%</td><td>66</td><td>0.92</td><td>86</td><td>19</td><td>58</td><td>16</td><td>44</td><td>6.1%</td><td>0</td><td>4.5%</td><td>34.8%</td><td>46.6%</td></tr> <tr><td>Ricky Rubio</td><td>19.9%</td><td>32</td><td>0.97</td><td>96</td><td>13</td><td>31</td><td>5</td><td>20</td><td>0.0%</td><td>0</td><td>3.1%</td><td>40.6%</td><td>50.0%</td></tr> <tr><td>Derek Fisher</td><td>32.3%</td><td>43</td><td>0.98</td><td>107</td><td>15</td><td>41</td><td>10</td><td>32</td><td>2.3%</td><td>0</td><td>2.3%</td><td>37.2%</td><td>48.8%</td></tr> <tr><td>Raymond Felton</td><td>14.9%</td><td>28</td><td>1</td><td>112</td><td>10</td><td>26</td><td>5</td><td>14</td><td>7.1%</td><td>0</td><td>0.0%</td><td>42.9%</td><td>48.1%</td></tr> <tr><td>Mike Conley</td><td>22.4%</td><td>34</td><td>1.03</td><td>121</td><td>12</td><td>31</td><td>9</td><td>25</td><td>5.9%</td><td>0</td><td>2.9%</td><td>41.2%</td><td>53.2%</td></tr> <tr><td>Russell Westbrook</td><td>24.0%</td><td>36</td><td>1.06</td><td>130</td><td>14</td><td>35</td><td>9</td><td>25</td><td>0.0%</td><td>1</td><td>2.8%</td><td>38.9%</td><td>52.9%</td></tr> <tr><td>Ty Lawson</td><td>31.8%</td><td>50</td><td>1.08</td><td>141</td><td>19</td><td>44</td><td>13</td><td>32</td><td>4.0%</td><td>0</td><td>8.0%</td><td>42.0%</td><td>58.0%</td></tr></table>
At the NBA level there's just no such thing as a PG who can play lock-down, m2m defense and single-handedly deny dribble penetration. Watch an entire game and you'll see that. Point guards are just too quick. Gary Payton's maybe the closest ever, and even he was much more adept at covering scoring 2 guards. Defensively, Lowry is able to do as much as one can possibly ask of a player at his position, and that to me makes him one of the best defensive points in the game.
