why are you people wasting your time arguing with that dumbass? Anyway... 1. Bill Russell 1a. Hakeem Olajuwon 3. Ben Wallace 4. Kevin Garnett 5. Tim Duncan 6. David Robinson 7. Dikembe Mutombo 8. Michael Jordan 9. Bobby Jones 10. Alvin Robertson Honorable Mention: Dennis Rodman Sidney Moncrief Dave DeBusschere Scottie Pippen Gary Payton
Zboy, Rudy T said there will be non-believers along the way. It's our life long duty to protect Clutch City from...liars
I said hakeem was a great individual defender. If he was defending ewing one on one that doesn't despel what i said, does it?
Walt Frazier. Go ask Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Earl the Pearl, Pete Maravich, Dave Bing, etc what they say about going up against Clyde Frazier.
Frazier made the 1st team All-Defensive team 7 yrs straight ('69-'75). On top of that he made the All-NBA 1st team 4 times ('70, '72, '74 & '75) and 2nd team All-NBA 2 times ('71 & '73). So he wasn't just a defensive specialist.
I have to give what a little support here, since to his credit he finally saw the light on Rudy Gay. I'm not saying what is right about Hakeem. I think Dream is a pretty clear #1 or co-#1 with Russell. Still, defense has changed a lot since Hakeem's era. With the rise of 3pt shooting, positional defense and decisions on switching have become a lot more important than before. Marc Gasol, Chandler, and Duncan are current masters at this from the big man slot, and Dream was never truly tested in that way. On the other hand, even in the modern era Howard has a giant impact on defense despite mostly being an athletic mistake eraser, and Dream was much better at that. Dream was also more mobile than any of Gasol, Chandler, and Duncan. He was also the best 1 on 1 defender of any of these guys. With all the tools Dream had, it's very easy to believe he'd learn when to switch a pick and roll.
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That among other things. Olajuwon was a great help defender. Olajuwon guarded his man. Late in the the shot clock, Olajuwon would switch onto the guard after a PnR. Rockets were a defense first NBA Championship Team.
I was actually surprised how reasonable the list was relative to my expectations for a list from SI. No Kobe Bryant on the list, not having Lebron at #2 all-time. It could have been MUCH worse.
Lebron doesn't belong. What a joke. How can any of you argue MJ being on the list or even being high on the list? He is the greatest perimeter defender the game has ever seen. He wasn't hype. He was lock-down, assassin defender for the first 10 years of his career.
His point is, he just showed you Hakeem switching on a pick and making a great play out on the perimeter, something which you wondered how he good he would be at. (BTW, same play that Duncan's own coach did not have faith in him and took him out for in the finals). So lets see.... ...he could defend man to man (play position or block his own guy's shots)... ...he could come off the weak side for help defense... ...he could steal ball in the low post or in the passing lanes... ...he could defend pick and roll.... So what exactly is this "position" defense that people are questioning his ability to play? Hakeem and Jordan had better defensive IQ than anyone I have watched play in last 25+ years. What made them even more formidable was they were athletic freaks.
Except hat Olajuwon wasn't just a help defender. He was a great post defender and he also moved his feet better than any big man on history which also allowed him to stay in front of guards on switches. Not to mention that his hands were so quick that he routinely stole the ball from even the best of guards. Hakeem was a freakish athlete who also had tremendous strength. From your description it sounds like you didn't see Olajuwon play. Hakeem played great positional defense but he also had the unreal athleticism to add to it.
It just sounds like the guy watched a bunch of hakeem block vids and labeled him as a help defender. Hakeem and Jordan were guys you literally had to scheme your offense to run on the opposite side of the floor. Their overall defense was game-changing good.
