since when did people decide to designate LeBron as an elite defender? There are players in the NBA today who can defend better than LeBron can.
Vernon was a great 1-1 defender, also let's not forget the team defense was great and that Hakeem manned the middle. It's not revisionist history, it's real history: http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1993_1108793 Rockets 94, Bulls 83 Rudy Tomjanovich was ecstatic after what might become one of the most important victories of the season. Michael Jordan was slumped in disappointment. Yet they reflected on the Rockets' thorough slamming of the Chicago Bulls at The Summit and came up with the same analysis. "We were very focused and very intense," said the Rockets' coach. "I just wish we could be that way against some of the sub-.500 teams. If we could, we'd be sitting up there with a great record right now." Countered Jordan, "Maybe if they played us every night, they would have a better record." It was just like old times. The house was full, the Rockets were rolling and the Bulls were beaten soundly. The Rockets knocked off Chicago in front of the first sellout of the season, a gathering that included former President George Bush and a squad of stunned, lifeless Bulls. The Bulls lost for the fifth consecutive season in their annual visit to Houston. Only one of those five Rockets wins was a nail-biter. Overall, the Rockets have won five of six from the Bulls over the last three seasons. This victory was as dominating as one over the twice-defending world champions could be. Chicago needed to score the last eight points just to make it respectable. Chicago shot just 42 percent from the field, had its second-lowest point total of the season and gave up 51 percent shooting to the Rockets. Vernon Maxwell led some of the best defense the Rockets have played by clamping down on Jordan. With Hakeem Olajuwon playing goalie under the basket, Maxwell was able to confront and, at times, agitate Jordan into 12-for-27 shooting. Jordan's 26 points were six less than his season average, and none of the other Bulls had their shooting lenses on. As a result, the Rockets humiliated the Bulls for much of the game. And they did it without Olajuwon scoring a basket in the second half. But he was ever the force with his shot blocking, intimidation and rebounding. When it was done, the Rockets had halted a two-game losing trend before it became one of those all-out streaks. The Rockets did what they had to to stump the Bulls. They kept Chicago from getting out on the fast break by outrebounding the Bulls 46-33. The Rockets got good shots and they got to the free-throw line 25 times compared to eight for the visitors. And, of course, The Maxwell Spell on Jordan continued. Two segments capsulized the entire game. The first came at the end of the first half. With the Rockets up 38-34 2:53 before halftime, Scottie Pippen (17 points, 7-for-17 shooting) was called for an offensive foul under the basket. At the same time, Jordan and Maxwell got tangled up and pushed off each other. The pair exchanged angry glares and even more angry words. Maxwell could be heard saying: "You're going down. You're going down." Jordan responded constantly, although his words were inaudible. Maxwell said Jordan elbowed him in the neck. "I just told him if he did it again, I was going after him," Maxwell said. What followed was three minutes of impressive one-on-one battling. Robert Horry took a nice lob feed from Maxwell, who made the right decision by not trying to force something silly on Jordan, who was guarding him tightly. Horry was fouled and sank one of two free throws. Olajuwon connected after a Pippen turnover, but the Bulls came right back with a lob from Pippen to Jordan that resulted in a beautiful slam on a play on which Maxwell was fooled. Maxwell then worked on Jordan and was fouled on a move to the basket. That tied the individual score at 1. The next two possessions ended in turnovers. Maxwell forced a bad pass by Jordan, then Jordan stole a pass from Otis Thorpe to Maxwell. The Maxwell-Jordan scorecard stayed tied; the game certainly didn't. The half, which ended with the Rockets holding a stunning, and well-earned, 48-38 advantage, ended with a Jordan jumper and four Kenny Smith points. The Rockets finished the half with a 17-8 run. Jordan said the second period sealed the Bulls' fate. In the third quarter, the Rockets built a 15-point lead, then saw it reduced to 66-60 when the Bulls opened the fourth with a bucket. But the Rockets had avoided the pitfall. In the final two minutes of the third quarter, the Bulls were shut out. The Rockets got only two points, but they came in dramatic fashion. A bucket by Horry was disallowed when the acrobatic forward hung on the rim to fire in his own missed dunk. That's a no-no. But when Thorpe followed Scott Brooks on a fast break, it paid off because Thorpe got a tip-in at the third-quarter buzzer. That bonus bucket changed the tone of the game. The Rockets buried the Bulls with a 12-2 run early in the fourth quarter, a surge capped by Maxwell's 3-pointer. The Rockets never had to sweat down the stretch.
for the record, i said yes. this is because it's lebron and dwade. just like when Maxwell d-ed up Jordan in the early 90s with the Rockets, Max had some dude named Hakeem playing goalie . I think late 90s Jordan was a better player and I don't think Max could d him up without the help with Dream, but Max was never scared of him. Holding the guy under his average is probably the best thing someone can do.
Thanks for that article on that game where Jordan was supposedly "clamped down". Now explain the stats over multiple/all games that was posted earlier. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the 6 games I see, Jordan averaged 29 pts on 48% FG shooting, 5.8 rebs, 4.8 assists, and 3 steals. Max was a good defender, even a great defender, possibly the greatest defender Jordan ever faced! Jordan still got his stats. I'm not even going to bother looking at his games when he was in Philly, SA, etc. because it would get even sillier.
Max gets a lot of credit for Hakeem's influence, he couldn't really guard Jordan, neither could Drexler, but Hakeem in the paint always made Michael a little tentative to drive (ever wonder why Michael took note of his ability to steal? it's because it greatly crippled his ability to dish it out on the help cover), so it seemed like the both of them were better defenders than they were. And if you need to see what I mean, watch a game from say '96 and watch Michael's scoring.
Since about 4-5 years ago when Lebron decided to commit himself to actually playing good defense. I think his defense was overrated at first because of all the chase down blocks he was getting (shotblockers are usually overrated defensively), but he's really developed into a strong on-ball and team defender. I think he's still far from having the best fundamentals defensively, but his length and quickness make up for that for now.
