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Is Battier the BEST perimeter defender in the NBA right now? In past years that distinction has gone to Bruce Bowen, Kirilenko, Artest or Raja Bell. But with the way he shuts down/annoys who ever he is defending he has to be considered THE BEST DEFENDER IN THE LEAGUE. I don't have stats but people who usually score in the 20s (not the elite players mind you Kobe/Lebron/Wade) wind up with single figures (Peja twice and Rudy Gay twice)

Discuss.

Yes if he shuts down melo next game, i think he's top 3

You people are fickle.

^^ haha... I recall that people were calling him one of the more overrated defenders in the league.

I have always believed that he's a Top 3 perimeter defender (with the other two being Bruce Bowen and Ron Artest). Imo Battier's only downside is that his lateral quickness is not as good as some of the greatest defenders I have seen in my life: Frazier, Payton, MJ, Pip, Bobby Jones, Sidney Moncrief, etc. However, the guy has tremendous bball IQ and has a great defensive awareness that make up for what's slightly missing. Other than that he's almost perfect. There's been many occasions on the national TV where the TNT/ESPN crews showed him attacking the shooter's shot pocket. It often amazes me how precisely he does it. He's simply one of the hardest players we have in this league. We should all be well aware that Battier has been an integral part of our success.

I think Battier's main strength is that he is consistent on defense. He studies his opponents and has a high bball IQ to take advantage of that knowledge.

All of that makes him an elite team defender IMO, but he's probably not even a top 5 individual defender. Sure he can shut certain people down like Peja as you've said, but Peja isn't a scorer, he's just a very, very good spot-up shooter. Battier isn't going to stop/slow the elite scorers as well as some other players can (and no, Battier does not shut down Kobe or Lebron enough to have them scoring in single figures).

BaYBaller wrote:I think Battier's main strength is that he is consistent on defense. He studies his opponents and has a high bball IQ to take advantage of that knowledge.

All of that makes him an elite team defender IMO, but he's probably not even a top 5 individual defender. Sure he can shut certain people down like Peja as you've said, but Peja isn't a scorer, he's just a very, very good spot-up shooter. Battier isn't going to stop/slow the elite scorers as well as some other players can (and no, Battier does not shut down Kobe or Lebron enough to have them scoring in single figures).

no one singlehandedly can shut kobe or lebron in single figures....................

aznkillabeezZz wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

no one singlehandedly can shut kobe or lebron in single figures....................

you should atleast hold them below their usual scoring average. Everytime i c Kobe against us i would expect a 30+ game

Not at all imo , he is still overrated as a man to man defender.
He can never be a lock down defender because he lacks the athleticism and quicknes.
He will do very good against guys like Peja , Gay and even Melo that can't out quick him but he will struggle against quicker guys.
Battier is still a very good one on one defender but the fact that you cosider him are some people consider him the bst perimeter defender in the NBA makes him overrated.

hes nowhere close to bowen and artest. and if i thought about it more i could probably find other people better than him also

But if green was like him in defense and could follow game plans.
WOW!

No doubt. Shane Pippier top 3 perimeter defender of all time.

Is Battier the best? No. He's certainly up there though.

I agree he's not the best, but in the argument that "Shane should at least keep Kobe/Lebron etc under 30 points" crap...look at the first game of the season as a good example. Kobe drops ZOMG 44 POINTZ ON BATTIER! HE SUXORS!

And then you notice he took a ton of shots to get there, shot less than 40% from the field, and was bailed out so many times by the ref he had a career high in FTA.

I don't give a crap if Kobe scores 60 points on Battier, if he is doing it on poor efficiency. That way, the box score will look like:

Kobe 60
Tmac 25

Lakers 60
Rockets 100

^
And that's all I really care about.

He isn't the best, that still belongs to Bowen or Artest but he's definitely up there in terms of top perimeter defenders.

He's not the best. I'd say he's in the top 5.