Yay!! DEE-FENSE!!! If only great defenders got as much publicity as mediocre scorers. You have three teams and a deep collection of honorable mentions. Nice - the depth is impressive, that third team is really good.
If the Celtics win the championship, and I'm still at 'if' until they win a close game that counts, it will be due to Mazzella and the Jays trusting that great defensive backcourt - on offense. Derrick is the highlight guy, but Jrue is the steady, relentless glue. Each is a good to almost great point guard, but together their skills and professional effort make the the most balanced Boston backcourt since DJ and Ainge. I love watching Jrue lock up bigger players. And it's not because today's bigs have no post game. Jrue's just a master at position and angles, plus he's stronger than dirty laundry. One caveat: he got burned by Jimmy Butler last year in the playoffs repeatedly, but that could be the Bucks inability to adapt. Leaving the same defender on Jimmy in the playoffs is a no-no.
The Celtics have the bench bodies to play defense well enough to win a championship. Brissett, Tillman and Horford, plus Kornet's engineering school close-out on corner shooters are a nice combo. If I'm Jaden Springer, I'm driving Jrue and DWhite to and from practice to pick their brains and to get them to stay after for graduate school level defense tutorials.
As a Bulls fan I'd trade LaVine straight up for Suggs. Or I'd love to mix Dunn in with Caruso and Ayo and Javonte and just terrorize shooters.
Next year's positionless All Defense team could be all bigs: Gobert, Wemby, Chet, Austin and Draymond. Stay healthy big fellas and don't bite on the first fake.
Thanks, Barron! Was wondering how you'd work Javonte in here, I wasn't disappointed haha.
Yeah, the positionless thing is interesting. I'm curious to see what the voters do, we may see a lot more variability in the All-Defensive voting this year thanks to that, which always spurs interesting conversations. The hive mind will eventually settle on a new standard, but this year will be a bit of the wild wild west.
I love Springer, man. Talked about him very early in the year. I hope he finds a way to earn minutes somewhere.
Thanks! SGA probably deserved honorable mention. I did think about him, but so much of his defensive value was in the insane steal totals he put up, particularly in the first part of the season. I know the math says that steals are quite undervalued now when we think about defensive impact, but I still have a hard time putting him over Dort on his own team. Maybe I just need to adjust my thinking on this going forward.
I’m a Cavs fan so I see him a lot, but I think Jarrett Allen deserves consideration for at least honorable mention. When Mobley is out (as he has been much of the year) most of the rest of the Cavs are pretty average to lousy defenders and Allen has really been keeping the team afloat defensively
Allen has been great, and Okoro too. Allen made my honorable mention!
I considered Allen pretty heavily for the last spot on second team, actually, and came to a similar conclusion as to Holmgren. He's great protecting the rim, but fair or not, he doesn't scare ballhandlers away to the level we see of AD, Wemby, Gobert, and even Lopez. Allen might be a bit more nimble than Lopez on the perimeter, which is where you can make an argument.
Ultimately just had to make a subjective call. He's definitely got a case, though
Where is Kentavious Caldwell Pope from the Denver Nuggets on your list? It’s amazing to me that outside of Joker how little respect the Nuggets get. Did you know Joker has never played with an All-Star in his whole career. KCP is definitely worthy of an all defensive team and should be on at least one of your lists. The defending champs are in first place in the west and KCP is one reason why.
Isn’t it odd that the Denver Nuggets never get anybody on an all NBA, all defensive team. Joker will win his third MVP with a bunch of almost close guys I guess. I don’t buy it.
It is odd. but defense is hard to crack with just 10 guys, and All-NBA is tough (though not impossible) if you're the second-best offensive player on your team.
If you had to choose one between KCP and Gordon to take a spot on this list, who would it be?
Gordon. If he doesn't play solid D, Joker has to burn effort and energy at his weakest aspect of the game. KCP's defense is solid, but is it a game changer? He only has to play better than average on D for the Nuggets to win, and has Braun, Murray and Jackson that can help. There's a bigger drop from Gordon to the next big defender.
I don’t see Gordon on the list either. Even Shaq said Gilbert is overrated. I’s take KCP over almost anybody you have on this list. Alex Caruso, great defensive player but not better than KCP and look where the Chicago Bulls are finishing. Doesn’t winning count for anything when people make up these lists? Anyway, you accomplished what you wanted. You got somebody like me to get into a discussion with you because you’re never gonna change my mind and I’m never gonna change yours. Good luck to you.
Yay!! DEE-FENSE!!! If only great defenders got as much publicity as mediocre scorers. You have three teams and a deep collection of honorable mentions. Nice - the depth is impressive, that third team is really good.
If the Celtics win the championship, and I'm still at 'if' until they win a close game that counts, it will be due to Mazzella and the Jays trusting that great defensive backcourt - on offense. Derrick is the highlight guy, but Jrue is the steady, relentless glue. Each is a good to almost great point guard, but together their skills and professional effort make the the most balanced Boston backcourt since DJ and Ainge. I love watching Jrue lock up bigger players. And it's not because today's bigs have no post game. Jrue's just a master at position and angles, plus he's stronger than dirty laundry. One caveat: he got burned by Jimmy Butler last year in the playoffs repeatedly, but that could be the Bucks inability to adapt. Leaving the same defender on Jimmy in the playoffs is a no-no.
The Celtics have the bench bodies to play defense well enough to win a championship. Brissett, Tillman and Horford, plus Kornet's engineering school close-out on corner shooters are a nice combo. If I'm Jaden Springer, I'm driving Jrue and DWhite to and from practice to pick their brains and to get them to stay after for graduate school level defense tutorials.
As a Bulls fan I'd trade LaVine straight up for Suggs. Or I'd love to mix Dunn in with Caruso and Ayo and Javonte and just terrorize shooters.
Next year's positionless All Defense team could be all bigs: Gobert, Wemby, Chet, Austin and Draymond. Stay healthy big fellas and don't bite on the first fake.
Thanks, Barron! Was wondering how you'd work Javonte in here, I wasn't disappointed haha.
Yeah, the positionless thing is interesting. I'm curious to see what the voters do, we may see a lot more variability in the All-Defensive voting this year thanks to that, which always spurs interesting conversations. The hive mind will eventually settle on a new standard, but this year will be a bit of the wild wild west.
I love Springer, man. Talked about him very early in the year. I hope he finds a way to earn minutes somewhere.
Leading the league in steals and deflections, while dominating the offensive end ... SGA deserves mention. Great list, great reasoning though.
Thanks! SGA probably deserved honorable mention. I did think about him, but so much of his defensive value was in the insane steal totals he put up, particularly in the first part of the season. I know the math says that steals are quite undervalued now when we think about defensive impact, but I still have a hard time putting him over Dort on his own team. Maybe I just need to adjust my thinking on this going forward.
I’m a Cavs fan so I see him a lot, but I think Jarrett Allen deserves consideration for at least honorable mention. When Mobley is out (as he has been much of the year) most of the rest of the Cavs are pretty average to lousy defenders and Allen has really been keeping the team afloat defensively
Allen has been great, and Okoro too. Allen made my honorable mention!
I considered Allen pretty heavily for the last spot on second team, actually, and came to a similar conclusion as to Holmgren. He's great protecting the rim, but fair or not, he doesn't scare ballhandlers away to the level we see of AD, Wemby, Gobert, and even Lopez. Allen might be a bit more nimble than Lopez on the perimeter, which is where you can make an argument.
Ultimately just had to make a subjective call. He's definitely got a case, though
Where is Kentavious Caldwell Pope from the Denver Nuggets on your list? It’s amazing to me that outside of Joker how little respect the Nuggets get. Did you know Joker has never played with an All-Star in his whole career. KCP is definitely worthy of an all defensive team and should be on at least one of your lists. The defending champs are in first place in the west and KCP is one reason why.
He is in my honorable mentions. He's very good, as is Aaron Gordon! But winnowing down to the top 10 is difficult.
Isn’t it odd that the Denver Nuggets never get anybody on an all NBA, all defensive team. Joker will win his third MVP with a bunch of almost close guys I guess. I don’t buy it.
It is odd. but defense is hard to crack with just 10 guys, and All-NBA is tough (though not impossible) if you're the second-best offensive player on your team.
If you had to choose one between KCP and Gordon to take a spot on this list, who would it be?
Gordon. If he doesn't play solid D, Joker has to burn effort and energy at his weakest aspect of the game. KCP's defense is solid, but is it a game changer? He only has to play better than average on D for the Nuggets to win, and has Braun, Murray and Jackson that can help. There's a bigger drop from Gordon to the next big defender.
I don’t see Gordon on the list either. Even Shaq said Gilbert is overrated. I’s take KCP over almost anybody you have on this list. Alex Caruso, great defensive player but not better than KCP and look where the Chicago Bulls are finishing. Doesn’t winning count for anything when people make up these lists? Anyway, you accomplished what you wanted. You got somebody like me to get into a discussion with you because you’re never gonna change my mind and I’m never gonna change yours. Good luck to you.
He is in my honorable mentions, too, and was one of my last cuts. Sorry you didn't enjoy the article, same to you!