The question wasn't whether I thought Shaq was good; but he will hold the 1st team title, probably, 'til he retires. Honestly I haven't caught that many Wallace games, but when I have, I have been underwhelmed. Shaq just hung, what, 37 on him?? The "best" shouldn't be dominated by anybody like that.
Nice to see someone mentioned Jerome Williams. The guy is a stud, he had to guard SFs last yr, PFs this year, still rebounds, steals a lot of balls and is a general pain in the ass for the other team. I believe he has 15 someodd Double Doubles this yr, 11/13 in January, 11/11 in February and 12/9 in March so far. People say he's overpaid, but I disagree, he's been a great player since coming to Toronto.
Want to play a little game I invented which will totally dispell this myth for you? Horry gets toasted plenty when Shaq's not backin' him up.
I feel that Artest has got to be the best defender in the league. He basically shuts down everyone and he's versatile as well since he guards every position except Center. Also, the dude is just flat out scary. He can intimidate you by just walking on the court. I would rather run into some rusty barbed wires then having to face Artest when he's mad. Coming in second would probably be Ben Wallace. I might have considered him the best if he wasn't so one dimensional and also because of the fact that all of his energy is used on the defensive end so it makes it easier for him to play defense.
I think I would go: 1-Wallace 2-Artest 3-KG 4-Bowen Artest is like Bowen with more strength. KG could be the best but unlike Wallace he can't focus just on defense. Incidently, KG could not stop Webber 1 on 1 last night with the game on the line. Just another case showing the elite offensive players have an advantage even over the elite defensive players when they are 1 on 1.
perimeter defenders: kirilenko, bowen, artest, christie, eddie jones, pippen, sprewell inside defenders: duncan, wallace
The best primeter on-ball defender: KG. No kidding, he can handle T-mac and Nash easily, who else can do that? Only two guys KG can't defend: Shaq and Dirk The best low post on-ball defender: Shaq & Duncan Shaq can stop any low post guy except Duncan. Duncan can stop any low post guy except Shaq. The best primeter off-ball defender: AI when he's healthy The best low post help defender and rebounder: Ben Because
iOrange, with the game on the line the other day KG couldn't stop Webber 1 on 1. He is a great defender I agree, but no he can't shut down other great offensive players by himself. No shame in that, Hakeem was the best defender ever and Robinson, Ewing and Shaq could still get most of their average on the offensive end when left 1 on 1.
dont get me wrong. I rate KG as the best perimeter defender, not at low post. He can not guard those great offensive PFs and Cs. But no guards can beat him off the dribble.
I disagree. KG defends low post as well as anyone despite his relatively skinny body. No great defenders can really stop great offensive low-post players. That's why great offensive low-post players are so valuable. Even when Hakeem (who's one of greatest defenders of all time IMO) was in his prime, he still couldn't stop Shaq going off 20+ points on him.
I'd go with KG. And I think big guys are important, so I'd put Ben Wallace ahead of Ron Artest and then Doug Christie. Plenty of you guys already made a case for all the players I mentioned.
