Is Norris Cole a better defender than Avery Bradley?

[Nick Saban]

I'd say yes. Norris is shutting down everybody

[Heat_Fan_87]

I don't think so. Mainly because bradley can guard bigger guys also.

[DivineFury]

I don't think so. Mainly because bradley can guard bigger guys also.

Pretty much. Think Wade vs Noco, not sure he would be as good vs a stronger/bigger guard. Think Bradley would do better, but Noco still should be commended for his improvements.

[Buju]

Nope, but I wont be surprised if he catches up - which is very possible.

[RexBoyWonder]

Not sure, But he's a better offensive player.

[SWadeUP]

Norris cole is a better all around player than Bradley.

[Ratchet_Rio]

vs. point guards I think Cole is the better defender. Obviously Bradley is bigger so he can guard 2's and some 3's but I cant knock Cole for a physical limitation outside of his control. Bradley got exposed vs the Knicks imo

[fast-break]

No...Bradley's defensive versatility gives him the edge...The boy Cole has made some strides this year though.

[HurricaneKid]

Cole is a terrible defender. He can be a pest 45 feet from the basket but when he is beaten out there it breaks down the defense for no real purpose. Miami on the season is 4.1 points per 100 possessions better when he is off the floor. Thats an enormous figure. He is also madly inconsistent. He can make great plays, but his mistakes are embarrassing mistakes that just can't happen. He makes a great steal with 10 seconds to play in OT and has the ball on the ground. But rather than secure it and hit 2 FTs to win or call a time out he turns it back over allowing Ind to take the lead. Thats NoCo in a nutshell.

[SWadeUP]

Cole is a terrible defender. He can be a pest 45 feet from the basket but when he is beaten out there it breaks down the defense for no real purpose. Miami on the season is 4.1 points per 100 possessions better when he is off the floor. Thats an enormous figure. He is also madly inconsistent. He can make great plays, but his mistakes are embarrassing mistakes that just can't happen. He makes a great steal with 10 seconds to play in OT and has the ball on the ground. But rather than secure it and hit 2 FTs to win or call a time out he turns it back over allowing Ind to take the lead. Thats NoCo in a nutshell.

Stopped reading here.

[DivineFury]

Cole is a terrible defender. He can be a pest 45 feet from the basket but when he is beaten out there it breaks down the defense for no real purpose. Miami on the season is 4.1 points per 100 possessions better when he is off the floor. Thats an enormous figure. He is also madly inconsistent. He can make great plays, but his mistakes are embarrassing mistakes that just can't happen. He makes a great steal with 10 seconds to play in OT and has the ball on the ground. But rather than secure it and hit 2 FTs to win or call a time out he turns it back over allowing Ind to take the lead. Thats NoCo in a nutshell.

He actually threw it to Wade who fumbled it because he didn't see it coming and it was a low pass. It could of just as easily been a easy dunk/win as it could of been a jump ball and who knows what else, but not a dumb move by any stretch. You are correct that Cole is still young and makes silly mistakes.

If I had to choose one of the two though, I would still go with Cole. He has more potential overall I believe.

[DefenseWins]

Cole is a terrible defender. He can be a pest 45 feet from the basket but when he is beaten out there it breaks down the defense for no real purpose. Miami on the season is 4.1 points per 100 possessions better when he is off the floor. Thats an enormous figure. He is also madly inconsistent. He can make great plays, but his mistakes are embarrassing mistakes that just can't happen. He makes a great steal with 10 seconds to play in OT and has the ball on the ground. But rather than secure it and hit 2 FTs to win or call a time out he turns it back over allowing Ind to take the lead. Thats NoCo in a nutshell.

Cole helps with small PG's A LOT. Cole is not a terrible defender, anyone who says that hasn't watched Cole help us through out the year with small PG's. Especially PG's that ate Mario alive. It's a great luxury for Spo to have.

Cole is also in his 2nd year, he will get better offensively and defensively.

That play where he lost the ball in OT, he was giving it to Wade and Wade was rushing it get it. Unfortunate for him, 2 other Pacers came and got it from him (well Hill didn't give up on the play). It was actually a dangerous play to do that, kudos to the Pacer plays to diving on the floor too. If Cole was to hold on to it and get FT's, the team should have yelled it out or Wade. But this team loves those transition baskets. I don't even see how that makes him a terrible defender, he got the ball, he just couldn't hold on to it. "Allowing Indy to take the lead"? Well, WADE did hit him on the arm, was that Cole's fault? Nope.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb44Ew22Oxg[/youtube]

As for better than Bradley, no. Bradley is more bigger and peskier I'd say.

[Heat_Fan_87]

Cole is a terrible defender. He can be a pest 45 feet from the basket but when he is beaten out there it breaks down the defense for no real purpose. Miami on the season is 4.1 points per 100 possessions better when he is off the floor. Thats an enormous figure. He is also madly inconsistent. He can make great plays, but his mistakes are embarrassing mistakes that just can't happen. He makes a great steal with 10 seconds to play in OT and has the ball on the ground. But rather than secure it and hit 2 FTs to win or call a time out he turns it back over allowing Ind to take the lead. Thats NoCo in a nutshell.

Cole helps with small PG's A LOT. Cole is not a terrible defender, anyone who says that hasn't watched Cole help us through out the year with small PG's. Especially PG's that ate Mario alive. It's a great luxury for Spo to have.

Cole is also in his 2nd year, he will get better offensively and defensively.

That play where he lost the ball in OT, he was giving it to Wade and Wade was rushing it get it. Unfortunate for him, 2 other Pacers came and got it from him (well Hill didn't give up on the play). It was actually a dangerous play to do that, kudos to the Pacer plays to diving on the floor too. If Cole was to hold on to it and get FT's, the team should have yelled it out or Wade. But this team loves those transition baskets. I don't even see how that makes him a terrible defender, he got the ball, he just couldn't hold on to it. "Allowing Indy to take the lead"? Well, WADE did hit him on the arm, was that Cole's fault? Nope.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb44Ew22Oxg[/youtube]

As for better than Bradley, no. Bradley is more bigger and peskier I'd say.

Have you found a video where it shows wade hitting george on the arm, all the angles i have seen dont make it clear.

[DefenseWins]

I don't even know if Wade actually did hit him, I just know it was called on him, but I am surprised as anyone else it was called. Either way, the foul called on Wade had nothing to do with Cole. Even in the video you see Wade not grabbing the ball when Cole dropped it off for him. That sure says "Hey hold the ball and get FT's!". Not Cole's fault, when was the last time Wade stole the ball himself and held it for FT's. He always tried to score it.

What's sad is these days it's risky to put up your hand to contest any shot, with all these phantom calls these days with the ref "assuming" a player hits someone when they don't see it. There should be instant reply for plays like that.

I am just glad we escaped that mess.

[MastaKiiLA]

I don't think so. Mainly because bradley can guard bigger guys also.

Pretty much. Think Wade vs Noco, not sure he would be as good vs a stronger/bigger guard. Think Bradley would do better, but Noco still should be commended for his improvements.

Funny thing is that Cole has guarded wade in practices since day1. It was mentioned in the red and black game last year. I think he's tenacious enough that he doesn't need the length. He can bother guys' handles enough to offset. Only issue is post defense where he'd get outmuscled. Even then, he's got great positioning.

Cole will get even better with time. He's a student of the game and bright to boot. Having Battier on this team is paying huge dividends as he's learning how to defend intelligently.

Ray is helping our shooting and Shane is helping our defense. Look how many guys use face guarding now. Major change from 2011. I believe this is also why LeBron is fouling less over the season. He's contesting less and using face guarding to alter shots.

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[Mundo]

I think he rushes a bit. Specifically, in that last play, he should have just held onto the ball or called time out. There was a few other plays in the game where he was so anxious to make the big play that he wasn't able to secure the possession. One play earlier in the game he had a loose ball, but failed to control it since he was rushing to throw an pass to a streaking Wade. I was not at all surprised that he fumbled the ball in that last second play, due to earlier events. Once he got it I was certain that was going to happen. But the truth is that is something that we are going to have to live with Cole. Just like the Spurs live with Ginobilis wild decisions at time. But the thing that Norris has that Bradley does not have is confidence. I'd take Norris over Bradley purely based on that. Norris Cole might have one bad game, but he will bounce back. If Bradley starts playing terrible, he dwells on it too much.

[dshearn]

I go Bradley over Cole on pure defense.

Cole brings more to this team then Bradley would though.

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[Nick Saban]

Bradley didn't look that great vs Raymond Felton...

[MastaKiiLA]

I go Bradley over Cole on pure defense.

Cole brings more to this team then Bradley would though.

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Yeah. Avery is some kind of terrible on offense. Poor ball handler, passer, shooter and playmaker. And Felton was chewing his ass up in that first round.

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[jehosafats]

They're both exceptional on the ball defenders. Bradley has the size over Cole but that doesn't really matter. Cole is the better off the ball defender. See Hubie Brown: "Yeah, Bradley fell asleep. You can't fall asleep on a cutter like Wade." (4th qtr, 3/18/13)