I doubt it. He is too short to front Yao because Yao's teammates would just lob the ball over to Yao.
I don't think so. Maybe Lebron haters, but that guy shut down people ranging from Derrick Rose to Pau Gasol to Danny Granger and Paul Pierce recently. They are/were all all-stars. And holding his opponents to less than 30% shooting over the year is downright amazing (brought up earlier). Hate on his character as much as you want, but don't irrationally hate on his game.
That's a lie. He's a better defender than both and he cares about defense just like those 2. I don't ever remember jordan or pippen holding guys to 30% shooting. In this day and age with no hand checking. You put lebron in the hand checking era and it wouldn't be fair
I'm not irrationally hating on anything. I just think a lot of his defense is overblown and people have forgotten how good those two guys were defensively. There's certain aspects like help defense that I'd say LeBron is better, but I just don't think he's a better overall defender. And no.. it wouldn't be LeBron haters. I'm not saying LeBron isn't a good defender, I just think he's a little overrated defensively just because he's versatile due to his size and strength.
You do know he was the best defensive player according to coaches this year? You do know he finished 2nd place in DPOY award behind Dwight? He is not overrated. You do know MJ was really not that special on defense? Pippen i can understand; he might have been arguably the greatest perimeter defender in NBA history. Arguably, because it is hard to compare generations sometimes.
Again, I'm not taking anything away from LeBron and how he ranks today. I'm merely talking about all-time. Yup not that special. I guess he just won DPOY because of his reputation. His 9-time all defensive 1st teams were all because MJ wasn't special. People really forget how good MJ was defensively. Part of the reason he's regarded as the GOAT is because of how great he was defensively. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0hlhNoK9NZU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
oh the DPOY over Olajuwon? yea ok that was not biased at all. And for the defensive teams, it is the Kobe Bryant affect: did Kobe really deserve to be on an All-Defensive team this year? No. Same happened with Jordan. I am not saying Jordan was a bad defender; he is not near Lebron's level nor on the level some people assume he was.
Biased? What bias? His numbers defensively backed up his honor to win the award if you're just going by numbers. 3.2 SPG and 1.6 BPG for a 6'6" SG. I guess when people say Olajuwon and Jordan were two of the greatest two-way players to ever play the game, they're just lying and biased. Um, unlike Kobe, Jordan actually earned his all-defensive team awards. Just because one player today has gotten some recognition from his reputation doesn't mean everyone got it that way. Just watch some more of Jordan's old games before you say something like "not near LeBron's level".
What? Lebron can be good defender when he wants to be, but he doesn't give full effort for 48 minutes. He is not elite perimeter even right now. He's not on same level as Shawn Marion, Gerald Wallace or Ron Artest. Mostly because he has to do much more on offense.
Jordan didn't guard the best opposing player on the other team when Pippen came to the Bulls, while Lebron has guarded the opposing team's best player at nearly every position. That versatility is huge in pick and rolls and screens. Jordan could not do that. I have watched his games and he has not done for a whole year what Lebron does/did. Jordan cannot guard a PF, a C, and he can maybe guard a PG and SF, which is a stretch (he can obviously guard SG). Lebron on the other hand, could guard everybody.
Like I said, versatility alone doesn't make him a better defender. I think Jordan's man to man defense was better. I think LeBrons help defense was better. I'll just have to agree to disagree. Let me also add that LeBron doesn't always guard the opposing teams best player, numerous instances where I've pointed out on this forum that isn't guarding the other teams best player which I guess would be partly due to him trying to conserve energy for the offensive end. The same went for Jordan.
Did Lebron guarded Dirk last year? I don't remember Lebron guarding any PF or C, who could score. Durant guarded Tyson Chandler last year when Thunder went small, I don't see anything special if Lebron guard Perkins. For someone who can defend all five position should first guard his position like he didn't in game 1 in this finals. Also let's not forget that Durant is averaging career high 30 PPG on 55% shooting and he is not even playing so well. Gary Payton held Jordan under 26 points three games in a row in '96 finals.
But versatility does make him a better defender! versatile = better. Do you remember when Boozer tore apart Yao in the playoffs? It is because Yao was not versatile; he could not go out on the perimeter. And once again, did you see a previous post where Lebron held people under 30% shooting? And his ball defense is worse than MJ's? In addition, help defense is part of being a good defender. I agree, when Lebron guards Perkins or Thabo it is to conserve his energy. But in the 4th, he will lock up on whoever he wants to, which is why Durant has been irrelevant in recent fourth quarters.
No, they had Haslem, who was a semi-"Dirk stopper". and Lebron shut down Pau, a PF. I agree, when Lebron guards Perkins, it is to conserve energy and let Battier guard Durant. BTW, Durant is a great scorer, give him props for playing good offensively. But a lot of points come off of open 3's and transition. What happened in game 3 in the 4th quarter when Lebron guarded Durant? What happened when Lebron guarded Rose, or Pierce, or Granger, etc.?
