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Better Defensively: Ben Wallace or David Robinson

What

Wallace.. close thread

Im one to always pump up Robinson on this board. But with that said, Ben Wallace is still the best defensive player Ive ever seen.

I voted DRob

I’ve never been more in awe of a defender than I was of a prime Ben Wallace. He is basically Draymond Green without the antics and stronger and more athletic.

There was a game against Philly and they had AI and watching Ben switch onto him block him, recover, block someone else, board and growl was one of the best sequences of basketball i’ve ever seen. He was an absolute menace out there. Impeccable timing, next level strength, desire, etc. His only weakness would be guarding one on one against a significantly bigger player that has post game like say a Joker in the post. That’s the sort of guy you’d be better throwing Rasheed on.

From my rankings Ben is a top 3 defensive player of all time. It’s a travesty in my eyes how overlooked he is when it comes to stuff like hall of fame and top ever player lists. I’d absolutely start a team with him.

People discounting the Admiral though. This is a lot closer than people are saying. Admiral could arguably be a top 10 defender of all time also.

moderndarwin wrote: From my rankings Ben is a top 3 defensive player of all time. It’s a travesty in my eyes how overlooked he is when it comes to stuff like hall of fame and top ever player lists. I’d absolutely start a team with him. .

He had a really short prime, though, and also played in an era that maximized the impact of a guy like him. He wan't a starter til age 25 season and was pretty much done as a difference-maker by age 33 season. Somehow only made 4 AS teams too (tho probably deserved a couple more).

jkvonny wrote:I voted DRob

Same. I'm just a sucker for the Admiral too though. The way he turned defense into offense was a thing of beauty.
Loved watching him block a shot, sprint down the floor, and get it back for a 2 handed slam off two feet.

And that's not the only reason I chose DRob. Don't forget this dude averaged 3 blocks per game over his career and went up against the greatest era of centers ever.
Both had a 95.6 Drtg.

Admiral had more blocks, more steals, same defensive rating so he was just as good with his feet, positioning and stopping the opposition. It's a good question, but ultimately the Admiral gets the nod.

OxAndFox wrote:

jkvonny wrote:I voted DRob

Same. I'm just a sucker for the Admiral too though. The way he turned defense into offense was a thing of beauty.
Loved watching him block a shot, sprint down the floor, and get it back for a 2 handed slam off two feet.

And that's not the only reason I chose DRob. Don't forget this dude averaged 3 blocks per game over his career and went up against the greatest era of centers ever.
Both had a 95.6 Drtg.

Admiral had more blocks, more steals, same defensive rating so he was just as good with his feet, positioning and stopping the opposition. It's a good question, but ultimately the Admiral gets the nod.

True!
He was a block machine, too!

He had the longer peak years career too.

Definitely David Robinson for me.

The 95-96 Spurs lost Dennis Rodman (although probably a case of addition by subtraction) from the previous season and started a combination of arguably the slowest/undersized backcourt in NBA history in Vinny Del Negro and Avery Johnson.

Everyone else on the Spurs' roster that season defensively wasn't anything to write home about. And Bob Hill was a lousy coach on top of that.

Yet San Antonio finished the year ranked 3rd in Dtrg.

When has Ben Wallace ever meant as much to a team defensively as 95-96 David Robinson?

Answer: Never!

FuShengTHEGreat wrote:Definitely David Robinson for me.

The 95-96 Spurs lost Dennis Rodman (although probably a case of addition by subtraction) from the previous season and started a combination of arguably the slowest/undersized backcourt in NBA history in Vinny Del Negro and Avery Johnson.

Everyone else on the Spurs' roster that season defensively wasn't anything to write home about. And Bob Hill was a lousy coach on top of that.

Yet San Antonio finished the year ranked 3rd in Dtrg.

When has Ben Wallace ever meant as much to a team defensively as 95-96 David Robinson?

Answer: Never!

03-04

MrBigShot wrote:

FuShengTHEGreat wrote:Definitely David Robinson for me.

The 95-96 Spurs lost Dennis Rodman (although probably a case of addition by subtraction) from the previous season and started a combination of arguably the slowest/undersized backcourt in NBA history in Vinny Del Negro and Avery Johnson.

Everyone else on the Spurs' roster that season defensively wasn't anything to write home about. And Bob Hill was a lousy coach on top of that.

Yet San Antonio finished the year ranked 3rd in Dtrg.

When has Ben Wallace ever meant as much to a team defensively as 95-96 David Robinson?

Answer: Never!

03-04

Nah

jkvonny wrote:

OxAndFox wrote:

jkvonny wrote:I voted DRob

Same. I'm just a sucker for the Admiral too though. The way he turned defense into offense was a thing of beauty.
Loved watching him block a shot, sprint down the floor, and get it back for a 2 handed slam off two feet.

And that's not the only reason I chose DRob. Don't forget this dude averaged 3 blocks per game over his career and went up against the greatest era of centers ever.
Both had a 95.6 Drtg.

Admiral had more blocks, more steals, same defensive rating so he was just as good with his feet, positioning and stopping the opposition. It's a good question, but ultimately the Admiral gets the nod.

True!
He was a block machine, too!

He had the longer peak years career too.

Well. Just so people understand.
David Freaking Robinson made the All Defensive Team a total of 8 times in times in his 14 seasons.
Ben Wallace, another all time great, made the All Defensive Team a total of 6 times in 16 seasons.

Wallace has the defensive player on the year award 4 times to 1 which is significant the other way.
You let us know if it looked a little easier during Ben Wallace's prime versus Robinsons.

1989-90 to 2002-03
Rodman
Rodman
Admiral
Hakeem
Hakeem
Mutombo
GP 1.0
Mutumbo
Mutumbo
Mourning
Mourning
Mutumbo
Wallace
Wallace

1996-97 to 2011-12
Mutumbo
Mutumbo
Mourning
Mourning
Mutumbo
Wallace
Wallace
Artest
Wallace
Wallace
Camby
Garnett
Howard
Howard
Howard
Chandler

I'm a big David Robinson fan and I think he's underrated in most all-time lists... he's a top 10 defender of all-time but he wasn't as impactful as Ben Walllace was as a team defender. I David was better as a man to man low post defender but Ben moved so well all over the place and really elevated the defensive level of his entire team with the way he would go to work on that end. Also the longevity issue I don't think is a great argument for David Robinson either because he entered the NBA at age 24 and he was amazing his first 7 years and then got injured for an entire season, they got Duncan and then David immediately took a back seat to Duncan. David's first 7 years in the league tho are probably top 5 all-time as far as a 7 year stretch to start an NBA career.

MrBigShot wrote:

FuShengTHEGreat wrote:Definitely David Robinson for me.

The 95-96 Spurs lost Dennis Rodman (although probably a case of addition by subtraction) from the previous season and started a combination of arguably the slowest/undersized backcourt in NBA history in Vinny Del Negro and Avery Johnson.

Everyone else on the Spurs' roster that season defensively wasn't anything to write home about. And Bob Hill was a lousy coach on top of that.

Yet San Antonio finished the year ranked 3rd in Dtrg.

When has Ben Wallace ever meant as much to a team defensively as 95-96 David Robinson?

Answer: Never!

03-04

To be fair. Ben had Rasheed and Tay on the team. Sure it was a historic defense, but not sure that's what he was asking.

Oh, Doc Rivers was the pesky defensive guard with DRob, for 15mpg, and other than that it was nothing. Sean Elliott was a god awful defender and they had old man Chuck Person then too. Crazy.

OxAndFox wrote:

MrBigShot wrote:

FuShengTHEGreat wrote:Definitely David Robinson for me.

The 95-96 Spurs lost Dennis Rodman (although probably a case of addition by subtraction) from the previous season and started a combination of arguably the slowest/undersized backcourt in NBA history in Vinny Del Negro and Avery Johnson.

Everyone else on the Spurs' roster that season defensively wasn't anything to write home about. And Bob Hill was a lousy coach on top of that.

Yet San Antonio finished the year ranked 3rd in Dtrg.

When has Ben Wallace ever meant as much to a team defensively as 95-96 David Robinson?

Answer: Never!

03-04

To be fair. Ben had Rasheed and Tay on the team. Sure it was a historic defense, but not sure that's what he was asking.

Oh, Doc Rivers was the pesky defensive guard with DRob, for 15mpg, and other than that it was nothing. Sean Elliott was a god awful defender and they had old man Chuck Person then too. Crazy.

Yes. The year after Ben Wallace left Detroit for Chicago they only slipped 2 spots from the previous season in Dtrg and were in the top 10 in the league.

You take Robinson away from the 95-96 Spurs and they probably couldn't even stop the NCAA champion Kentucky Wildcats that year much less a NBA team. I dont see any version of Ben Wallace capable of leading that Spurs team to a #3 ranked defense.

Robinson was better.

I can't think of more than a few better defensive players than Wallace. Rodman probably? Robinson arguably? Who else?

I'd say Ben Wallace here.

Obviously DRob was the much better player though.

Ben Wallace, it's not that close

Ben Wallace.

He's the best defensive player I have ever seen. Hands down.

jpengland wrote:Ben Wallace.

He's the best defensive player I have ever seen. Hands down.

better than me?