Who is our best defender?

I_Like_Dirt · Post #41 » by **I_Like_Dirt** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 2:40 pm

Last season I think the answer was Rasho by a hair over Parker and Garbajosa. This season Parker and Rasho have both taken steps back and Garbajosa is hurt so I think the answer is probably Bosh by a hair over Delfino and Moon. And I while I know Bosh gets criticized for getting attacked by guys, most recently Al Thornton, that has a LOT to do with the fact that opposing teams realize that if they attack anybody else Bosh will more often than not be the guy who provides backup defense whereas if they attack Bosh they usually wind up with Bargnani providing support, or a wing like Delfino, Moon, Kapono, etc. I suspect Garbajosa would top the list were he healthy, though.

The_Hater · Post #42 » by **The_Hater** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 4:11 pm

The way I see it...

Our best man interior defender is Rasho.

Our best man perimeter defender is Delfino.

Our best help/team defender is Moon.

Our most overrated defender is Parker (he's slipped a ton from last season).

And I believe that Moon is our most valuable defensive player because of his versitility (guarding multiple players on switches, plyaing PF when we go small), the number of deflections, blocks, alterted shots he causes and his overall hustle.

ponder276 · Post #43 » by **ponder276** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 4:13 pm

I_Like_Dirt wrote:Last season I think the answer was Rasho by a hair over Parker and Garbajosa. This season Parker and Rasho have both taken steps back and Garbajosa is hurt so I think the answer is probably Bosh by a hair over Delfino and Moon. And I while I know Bosh gets criticized for getting attacked by guys, most recently Al Thornton, that has a LOT to do with the fact that opposing teams realize that if they attack anybody else Bosh will more often than not be the guy who provides backup defense whereas if they attack Bosh they usually wind up with Bargnani providing support, or a wing like Delfino, Moon, Kapono, etc. I suspect Garbajosa would top the list were he healthy, though.

Excellent point! Bosh's man d definitely looks worse because the help d is so poor (nobody standing in the paint blocking shots if he gets beat off the dribble), while other players look better cause Bosh is there to provide help.

The_Hater · Post #44 » by **The_Hater** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 4:17 pm

hsb wrote:Agreed. I blame Sam for not realizing the mis-match, rookie or not.

I don't believe that anybody in that building or watching the game at home thought it was a mis-match until Bosh after started getting schooled. As good as Thornton looked, Bosh was equally as bad on the other side.

Bosh simply had to gut it up and play better D than he did.

AllStar#4Bosh · Post #45 » by **AllStar#4Bosh** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 4:42 pm

I would say its either Parker, Delfino, or Rasho. Moon's defense is overrated because of his shot blocking abilities. He actually gets abbused off the dribble a lot of the time. I remember Paul Pierce completely took him to school during one game.

kavan · Post #46 » by **kavan** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 4:55 pm

Tha Cynic wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Athletic Small Forward

Well, best defence by postion changes the topic. Nestro cant hold up too well against some of the C out there either.

Defence wise Shot Blocking is considered good defence.

Drawing charges (Delfino) is considered good defence.

Steals (Ford) is considerd good defence.

Post #47 » by **Alfred** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 5:16 pm

Axl wrote:I believe the losses of mopete and garbo really hurt AP's defence, with no one to spell him off, he's got less energy to go at 100%.

Delfino is a better defender than Mo Pete.

Post #48 » by **Nolan** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 7:49 pm

Parker is our best man to man defender followed by Bosh. Parker has great footwork and doesn't let anyone get clean looks.

We really don't have any great defenders on this team but we play very good team defense, which is all that really matters.

I_Like_Dirt · Post #49 » by **I_Like_Dirt** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 8:17 pm

AllStar#4Bosh wrote:I would say its either Parker, Delfino, or Rasho. Moon's defense is overrated because of his shot blocking abilities. He actually gets abbused off the dribble a lot of the time. I remember Paul Pierce completely took him to school during one game.

Other than wondering who doesn't get abused by Pierce off the dribble I'd suggest you take a look at why exactly Moon sometimes does get taken off the dribble. He's the only guy other than Bosh who really intimidates attacks in the paint this season and when either guy is busy with their man it really limits the Raptors' ability to prevent penetration. I actually think Moon could be the team's best defender next season, provided he's still on the team, once he learns from his mistakes and gets a bit more consistency overall.

Hater, I think you need to watch Rasho a bit more this season. Last season he was the team's best defender but there were still several situations where he was completely overwhelmed and was taken off the floor at that point. This season he seems to have regressed ever so slightly (to be expected as he ages) and there are even more of those situations popping up. Some shifts/games he gets out there and you can tell within a couple minutes that he won't be effective on either end of the court and Mitchell often winds up yanking him pretty quickly in those instances. When he's effective he's still probably the team's best defender but those situations are getting so rare that I can't call him the team's best defender when he's really only good for an average of 15 mpg.