Wednesday, February 16th, 2011 at 8:30 am  |  33 responses

Polladaday: Best Defender?

It’s always tough to judge who the best one-on-one defenders are, because stats never tell the entire story. But who do you think is better than the others?

Who's the League's best man-on-man defender?

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  • Orange

    Shane Battier

  • memyselfand9

    u must be kidding with that kobe option!?

  • Felix

    Aren’t best post defender and best perimeter defender two different questions? Also, guarding wings is different than guarding point guards… seems like three best defenders, 1 wing, 1 point, 1 big… Like cp3 is the best point defender (maybe) but he can’t guard bigs, Tony Allen can guard the wing but not post and maybe not the 1, and someone like Kendrick Perkins can battle anyone in the paint, but DRose would torch him from the top of the arc to the hole…so Ill go big wing, like Artest (if his mind’s right) or Kobe.

  • rich

    Rondooooooooooooooooooo or thabo sefalosha who should b on the list

  • http://masterx1983@hotmail.com marchalmadness

    lately im very impressed bij LBJ his defence.
    So i voted for him, shane gets old. D12 also a good option though

  • http://www.slamonline.com Stepfan

    It’s between Shane Battier or Tabo Sefalosha.

  • Lz – Cphfinest3

    Hahahaha Kobe Bryant??? Maybe (maybe) 5 years ago… Thabo, T. Allen, Luc Mbah a Moute, K. Perkins, Westbrook, Affalo, KG, S. Marion, Crash Wallace, Stephen Jackson, Sideshow Varejão, Andy Bogut, Matt Barnes and Hibbert should all make the list before Kobe. We have come to expect that the NBA All-Defensive teams is a popularity contest but come on SLAM you should be better than this? Kobe is not even the second best defender on his own team.

  • Riggs

    Rondoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo should have more votes.

  • B*nasty

    Mbah a Moute

  • http://www.nba.com/celtics lightsout

    If we’re talking perimeter. It’s gotta be Shane. TA is right up there with him, and Rondo’s not too far behind those two when he gives the effort. Ron Ron is only effective for the most part against the less athletic guys like Melo and Pierce. Lebron and Kobe are good defenders when they want to be, but don’t guard off the ball well. As for low post, it’s Perkins, Howard, and Bogut. Big Baby can be effective against certain guys too.

  • Omar

    So LBJ is today’s D. Rose option of yesterday’s question. GTFOH!

  • dsleepy

    …alright who made this list…lebron (help defender) and cp3 (mainly plays passing lanes) should not even be on here. kobe’s had some slippage lately. rondo is vicious, but i gotta give it to battier for his versatility/ability to lock down multiple positions not just the pg.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    where’s Thabo and Tony Allen? Kobe Bryant, you put Kobe Bryant in their, because Laker fans will flame their faces off if he isn’t? uhhh

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    And luc richard mbah moute?

  • LakeShow

    naw i think laker fans would be fine w/o kobe as an option. 3, or 4 years ago yes but we all know Kobe is not what he once was. he’s still better than most but he shouldn’t be on this list.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    and Andrew Bogut!

  • unrel

    kobe’s on ball d is nice.. in spurts, now.. but he can still hold his own.. i voted for ron.. although he’s lost a step of 5.. he’s the only one on the list that has lock-down capability on the perimeter and in the post.. and also has better denial d than shane, in my opinion.. but it was a toss up between he and shane for me..

  • http://bulls.com airs

    are you kidding me, people rondo is THAT much a better man-on-man defender than dwight? gtfoh.

  • http://bulls.com airs

    y’all did mean man-on-man defender right? cuz there are other players in this league that could torch these most of these guys any given night, but i dont see anyone dominating dwight.

  • Mamba

    Defense is not spelled defence, lol

  • Mamba

    Kobe gambles on defense and leave his man open alot too.

  • Mamba

    Lebron cannot check anyone one on one…all his blocks are from behind after he turned the ball over, lol, thats why he in top 5 in NBA in turnovers.

  • Mamba

    Artest is washed up it seems. How did he go from a SG to Lebrons size. In CHI Artest was a scorer and could dunk on people. What happened Ron-Ron?

  • http://nobulljive.com/ Enigmatic

    Thabo in my opinion. That dude gets all up in cats.
    I wish the Bulls hadn’t gotten rid of him, he would be HELLA nice with Thibs coaching him.

  • http://http//portlandfan1203.blogspot.com Karley

    Nic Batum.. Maybe not as good as some of the names listed but i think he matches equally or well above some.. Batum should be listed

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=547860583 bashmo

    Artest without a question. He really does body his player and give them a hard time manuevering on the court and is excellent at defending short passes. Solid post defender as well. He really is the best overall perimeter defender in this league, hell best OVERALL defender in this league.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=547860583 bashmo

    oh and of course check out how Artest defended Durant in the opening series of last years playoffs. Held Durant to 35% from the field over six games, but Durant still put up 25 PPG. Shows you how great of a defender Artest is, its not easy to defend a great scorer like Durantula.

  • http://www.slamonline.com AllDayEveryDay

    these choices are just based on reputation and name power… best man on man / on the ball defense poll and theres no:
    THABO SEFOLOSHA
    TONY ALLEN
    LUC RICHARD MBAH A MOUTE
    smh…

  • http://www.slamonline.com AllDayEveryDay

    SLAM… thought yall had some real bball knowledge and kept it real… if u guys ran the nba, u guys would vote the same people in for the all defensive 1st teams that the nba does, which is ridiculous

  • http://www.nba.com/celtics lightsout

    cosign AllDayEveryDay. Those three are great defenders who won’t make all defensive teams because they don’t put up gaudy stats. @bashmo: you’re right to point out the great job Ron did on Durant in the playoffs last year, but as he’s slowed down, Ron’s become pretty limited on defense. he can really only guard the less athletic players effectively. lebron torches him.

  • http://Slamonline.com Caboose

    In this poll, I’d go Battier. League-wide, I’ll take Mbah a Moute. However, Dwight is the best at controlling the defensive tempo of the game. That’s why he got (and will keep getting) DPOY.

  • http://www.kylestack.com Kyle Stack

    It’s either Rajon Rondo or Tony Allen.

  • mick

    why is kobe on this list.

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