And are any of them even above average on that end of the floor? Ronny Brewer doesn't count obviously. I think we all know by now both Harden and Lin are close to hopeless. Parsons has regressed defensively since his rookie year and constantly gets torched by opposition forwards but it somehow gets swept under the rug. Bev on the other hand is a tenacious on-ball defender and hustler but doesn't have the size, athleticism or length to truly trouble the elite guards. Even the role players are pretty mediocre in that regard aside from maybe Garcia who's played the likes of Durant pretty well.
Brewer if given meaningfull minutes.This guy a few years was limiting a prime tmac who was regarded as the most complete offensive player along with Kobe in the playoffs.
no way a backup SG in rockets will be given any chance(rmb mr anderson?) unless lin told mchale to reduce his mins and give brewer a chance
dont put lin in the same level as harden on the defensive end....samson said that lin and parson need to be better 2 way player and harden GOT TO BE a 2 way player
Brewer is probably the best on the team but sadly can't play on the other end Parsons is the best wing defender currently in the rotation, and that's kind of sad considering how much he's regressed since his rookie season. (Which should be proof that McHale isn't a good defensive minded coach, either he screwed up Chandler's defense or he just allowed him to slack off.)
Our best perimeter defensive option is sitting on the bench and McHale needs to figure out how to use him. I understand his offensive deficiency and inability to shoot could hurt our floor spacing but reality is offense has never been the problem (until 4Q stickiness). Our problem is defense so give Brewer some legit burn.
I really think people underestimate Lin's defense too much. I mean, he is not Paul or Conley but most games and plays he plays pretty solid defense. He does make mental mistakes or gambles too often. I don't think anyone should question his effort on defense though like we can do with some of our other players. Parsons, I think we are over evaluating his defense in his rookie year. He was very solid but he wasn't Tony Allen, Bruce Bowen or Ron Artest good as some people thought he was. He reminded me Shane Battier in that he tend to make the right plays defensively. Last year and this year, he is still solid. But he is gambling too much and overplaying his man instead of playing him straight. Honestly, it seems like Parsons is trying to make his whole game too pretty that he isn't making the right play as often as he was before. Harden, it's all effort for him. It's obvious that when he absolutely wants to and is focused, he could be a good defender. He seems to play good defense against the better competition which is good but he then gets burned by scrubs like Steve Blake, Joddie Meeks and Jared Dudley and that's horrendous.
"Ronny Brewer doesn't count obviously." Um, he's on the team, right? I'm okay with "Ronny Brewer doesn't count". However, that's not obvious. Anywho, Parsons is better than he's been playing and if obvious Brewer is out then he's my vote. Another anywho, what is the point?
