Where do you rank Dwight Howard defensively all-time?

cam24thomas · Post #1 » by **cam24thomas** » Tue May 9, 2023 9:32 am

When compared to other all-time great big defenders?
I put the bigs that won DPOY in the poll (10 of them, because that's the limit of options, so didn't include Noah, Gasol or Chandler) but you can comment on Bill Russell and others too.

One Last Shot · Post #2 » by **One Last Shot** » Tue May 9, 2023 10:00 am

Tim Duncan is arguably one of the best defender of all-time, 15x All-Defensive most in NBA history but never won a single Defensive Player of the Year award.

socal74 · Post #3 » by **socal74** » Tue May 9, 2023 10:25 am

One Last Shot wrote:Tim Duncan is arguably one of the best defender of all-time, 15x All-Defensive most in NBA history but never won a single Defensive Player of the Year award.

Cmon man, Timmy was great but he was not one of the best defenders of all time. He ws so good, even when they had Bruce Bowen, Kobe took a **** on them in the playoffs?

One Last Shot · Post #4 » by **One Last Shot** » Tue May 9, 2023 10:36 am

socal74 wrote:
One Last Shot wrote:Tim Duncan is arguably one of the best defender of all-time, 15x All-Defensive most in NBA history but never won a single Defensive Player of the Year award.

Cmon man, Timmy was great but he was not one of the best defenders of all time. He ws so good, even when they had Bruce Bowen, Kobe took a **** on them in the playoffs?

Duncan led the #1 defense in the league 5 different times in his prime(1999, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006) including the greatest defensive rating in Modern Era(2004) and Spurs were Top 3 every single season from 1998 to 2008 yet he never won DPOY.

He was also the starting center on the 2016 Spurs which was also the #1 defense. While obviously that team had the DPOY in Kawhi and Duncan didn't play heavy minutes in his last season, also shows that even as 40 year old and after declining that Big Fundamental was still great on defense.

Absolute abomination that Duncan never won DPOY.

ORLMagicGirl15 · Post #5 » by **ORLMagicGirl15** » Tue May 9, 2023 10:42 am

Not sure how to interpret the poll, however Dwight should have won DPOY at least 4 times. Being able to watch him at his peak, his defensive was something special. That’s what won us the game most night. I wonder how far would he have gone if it wasn’t for his back injury.

LakersLegacy · Post #6 » by **LakersLegacy** » Tue May 9, 2023 11:13 am

Dwight smiles a lot. He’s not going to injure. Or be all that competitive. He is going to get his feelings hurts if a competitor doesn’t help him up because they won a gold medal on TeamUSA together.

Dwight is a great rebounder and has great motor. I would rather take Anthony Davis over Dwight defensively. I like a defensive leader that scowls. That has a different approach to the game.

Props to Dwight. I liked him more than most in LA. He really was great with his approach the second time he was here. And he really was the 4th best player on that championship team behind Rondo, LeBron and Davis.

Dwight brand of defense is better than Gobert’s. Dwight’s offense makes him better than some in the list. Great dunker. So much energy expelled is really what makes Dwight special. He puts out energy on both sides of the floor. But the part of his game that isn’t complete is certain strategies, tactics, and skills.

The awards are just the awards. JJJ is a far more imposing presence than Dwight. Just in size and potential injury from force. Dwight is going to hit you with a bow. JJJ could break someone before a new contract. That changes the approach of the offensive player

LakersLegacy · Post #7 » by **LakersLegacy** » Tue May 9, 2023 11:16 am

Dwight’s defensive super power was his rebounding and rebounding position and motor. He put out a lot of energy and he tried

LakersLegacy · Post #8 » by **LakersLegacy** » Tue May 9, 2023 11:16 am

Sorry - cell phone glitch with internet. Not intended

LakersLegacy · Post #9 » by **LakersLegacy** » Tue May 9, 2023 11:16 am

Sorry - cell phone glitch with internet. Not intended

Medbrat · Post #10 » by **Medbrat** » Tue May 9, 2023 11:20 am

I'd say only Ben and Rodman are clearly better without any argument.

ChiTownHero1992 · Post #11 » by **ChiTownHero1992** » Tue May 9, 2023 11:28 am

I will put 6 maybe 7 of them above prime defensive Dwight. Zo, Big Ben, Rodman, Mutumbo, Hakeem and Robinson were definitely better, Eaton is similar i argue back and forth. Dray, Gobert and Giannis are not quite the same.

ChiTownHero1992 · Post #12 » by **ChiTownHero1992** » Tue May 9, 2023 11:29 am

sorry internet glitch

ChiTownHero1992 · Post #13 » by **ChiTownHero1992** » Tue May 9, 2023 11:29 am

sorry internet glitch

dans1230 · Post #14 » by **dans1230** » Tue May 9, 2023 11:33 am

He was very good when he was engaged defensively. His comps would probably be Duncan and Garnett which i think were better more versitile defenders. They didnt turn it on and off.

sashaturiaf · Post #15 » by **sashaturiaf** » Tue May 9, 2023 11:46 am

If people are complaining about Tim Duncan not being on this poll due to not having a DPOY, then Anthony Davis should be on here too.

MemphisX · Post #16 » by **MemphisX** » Tue May 9, 2023 11:56 am

socal74 wrote:
One Last Shot wrote:Tim Duncan is arguably one of the best defender of all-time, 15x All-Defensive most in NBA history but never won a single Defensive Player of the Year award.

Cmon man, Timmy was great but he was not one of the best defenders of all time. He ws so good, even when they had Bruce Bowen, Kobe took a **** on them in the playoffs?

You should stop talking about the NBA. Try Roblox or gardening.

Post #17 » by **cupcakesnake** » Tue May 9, 2023 1:13 pm

Dwight's 2-footed bounce was teleportation. An elevator that instantly got him to the top floor. It was kind of like Ben Wallace, but Dwight was 3-4 inches taller. He barely needed to load up to get to his peak vertical. Some plays it looked like he barely bent his knees and just sort of bounced up flat-footed to be 11 feet in the air. He had kind of stiff hips so wasn't an amazing perimeter defender, but his prime happened in an era where it was easier to keep your big near the basket. His foot speed was solid enough to not get brutalized in pick & roll.

Dwight played at an elite DPOY level for about 6 years and then post-back surgery he lost all his superpowers. He remained a good defensive big for his career, but without that vertical explosion (and how easy he could get to that peak vertical) he didn't have that thing that made him special. I thought he was pretty good in Atlanta when paired with Millsap and Sefolosha. He was clearly still able to contribute defensively alongside a good defensive personnel, but he stopped being an anchor in 2012.

In terms of the players you chose for your poll, I'd have Dwight in a tier with Rodman, Giannis, Eaton, and Zo. I think he's most stylistically similar to Zo. I'd add a lot of players in this tier: Ewing, Artis Gilmore, Bobby Jones.

Defenders I think are better over their careers than Dwight: Ben, Timmy, Draymond, Dikembe, Hakeem, Admiral, Gobert, KG, Thurmond, Bill Russell, Wilt, Bill Walton.

cam24thomas · Post #18 » by **cam24thomas** » Tue May 9, 2023 1:33 pm

LakersLegacy wrote:Dwight’s defensive super power was his rebounding and rebounding position and motor. He put out a lot of energy and he tried

Did Dwight not try usually?

cam24thomas · Post #19 » by **cam24thomas** » Tue May 9, 2023 1:39 pm

cupcakesnake wrote:In terms of the players you chose for your poll, I'd have Dwight in a tier with Rodman, Giannis, Eaton, and Zo. I think he's most stylistically similar to Zo. I'd add a lot of players in this tier: Ewing, Artis Gilmore, Bobby Jones.

Defenders I think are better over their careers than Dwight: Ben, Timmy, Draymond, Dikembe, Hakeem, Admiral, Gobert, KG, Thurmond, Bill Russell, Wilt, Bill Walton.

Artis Gilmore is amazingly athletic defensively and offensively and is the best center I've ever tried in nba2k games, but I've never tried Wilt or Russsell but I've tried Jabbar, Shaq, Robinson, Olajuwon, Mutombo, Ewing, Dwight Howard, Duncan, KG etc.

Creativetran · Post #20 » by **Creativetran** » Tue May 9, 2023 1:55 pm

socal74 wrote:
One Last Shot wrote:Tim Duncan is arguably one of the best defender of all-time, 15x All-Defensive most in NBA history but never won a single Defensive Player of the Year award.

Cmon man, Timmy was great but he was not one of the best defenders of all time. He ws so good, even when they had Bruce Bowen, Kobe took a **** on them in the playoffs?

This site really needs a down vote button

Was Dwight Howard "as good or better" defender compared to these DPOY bigs?