[Project] Top 5 single season peaks by franchises: The 76ers

[falcolombardi]

a question for users more knowledgeable than me on 70's basketball

why is it take for granted Dr J was a clearly worse player in the nba vs aba?

i always find it interesting because players usually peak a bit off their athletic primes when they are around 30~ years. which for Dr J would be the sixers years

numbers are easily better in the aba, yet the fact the drop off in points was so steep from 76 to 77 makes me think the change must have been situational rather that such a sudden drop in skill or athletism

anyone more familiar with him and the aba knows if somethingh happened (like injuries maybe) post merger? did julius not have the skill/intelligence improvement in his late 20's players usually seem to have that often compensate for waning athletism?

[eminence]

Running through my thoughts in chronological order:

-Schayes the first obvious star, though often a solid cast around him, he's an ironman through the 50's, misses like 3 RS games in the entire decade. Known as a great shooter his overall FG% was actually pretty average, made his bread by getting to the FT line a lot and hitting them (peaking at a 90% FT shooter). Shooting likely had a positive spacing effect. Consistently a top rebounder in the league, I like his passing stats and on film. Doesn't have a huge defensive rep, but personally I think of him as a pretty darn good one, often one of the only rotation bigs on consistently solid to good defenses. Hard to pick a clear peak year, but I'd initially lean towards '54, got the title the next year, but Lakers were tougher competition the year before and they played them tough.

-Next Greer transitions in as the face of the team, notably less successful as a team over this period. Very skilled scorer, but it seems to me the thing keeping him from the next level was his problems getting to the line. Then has a notable period as the next guy's #2. Overall very solid, but I don't think he'll make my top 5 for such a storied franchise (wow, Lakers voting is gonna be ugly).

-Wilt arrives and for my money plays the best basketball of his career with the Sixers. A clear step up from those who came before, and spoiler here, those who came after. Found a good scoring/facilitating balance and it really all came together in the '67 season. An ATG defender at the same time.

-Wilt leaves and it switches to his cast, Greer/Walker/Cunningham. Cunningham is probably the leader here, but overall not very impressed. A true wilderness period as that group moves on. Start to rebuild and it culminates with DrJ arriving.

-DrJ is a pretty obvious pick, but a lot of strong seasons to choose from, I could really see any of the pre-'84 years. I'd go with his '80 season, think he had his best big stage playoff games in that season, but you can't go wrong. Never quite gets the squad over the hump.

-'83 Moses arrives and they rampage through the league, truly an ATG season. DrJ is still great, but I'd say Moses was the #1 here. Team ages out pretty rapidly after that.

-Barkley arrives and the team shifts pretty quickly over to his ownership, there really is no golden era with Barkley, but I'd go with '90 for his best season. Absurd efficiency/volume combo.

-Team once again wanders in the wilderness until they land Allen Iverson in the draft. Takes a year or two, but under Larry Brown they put together a tough nosed defensive identity and let AI handle the other end. Peaking with a finals run in '01.

- A solid team to end the 00's/begin the 10's, but no real clear stars, led by Iguodala. Eventually they blow it up and treat the fans in Philly to some truly terrible basketball.

-Eventually they are rewarded for being so terrible and Embiid arrives (with Simmons and other support). Team has had injury issues curtail several of their runs, might've won it all without some iconic bounces from Kawhi. Hopefully this season they can put it all together.

How I see it overall - 1st is easy, 2-4 is a good discussion, and 5th has a couple of contenders. My votes:
1st '67 Wilt
2nd '83 Moses
3rd '80 Erving
4th '90 Barkley
5th '54 Schayes

Very strong HMs to: '01 Iverson and '19 Embiid. '21 Embiid certainly has a chance to move onto this list.

[eminence]

a question for users more knowledgeable than me on 70's basketball

why is it take for granted Dr J was a clearly worse player in the nba vs aba?

i always find it interesting because players usually peak a bit off their athletic primes when they are around 30~ years. which for Dr J would be the sixers years

numbers are easily better in the aba, yet the fact the drop off in points was so steep from 76 to 77 makes me think the change must have been situational rather that such a sudden drop in skill or athletism

anyone more familiar with him and the aba knows if somethingh happened (like injuries maybe) post merger? did julius not have the skill/intelligence improvement in his late 20's players usually seem to have that often compensate for waning athletism?

ABA spacing with the 3pt shot really seemed to help him out, when it was introduced in the NBA it seemed like he immediately took a step forward offensively again.

[Owly]

a question for users more knowledgeable than me on 70's basketball

why is it take for granted Dr J was a clearly worse player in the nba vs aba?

i always find it interesting because players usually peak a bit off their athletic primes when they are around 30~ years. which for Dr J would be the sixers years

numbers are easily better in the aba, yet the fact the drop off in points was so steep from 76 to 77 makes me think the change must have been situational rather that such a sudden drop in skill or athletism

anyone more familiar with him and the aba knows if somethingh happened (like injuries maybe) post merger? did julius not have the skill/intelligence improvement in his late 20's players usually seem to have that often compensate for waning athletism?

With regard to league transitions there's always a bit of guesswork (what is league strength, do rules/fit in one situation favor a player).

His knees were always a concern.
His fit early on in Philly was sub-optimal and there is a feeling he allowed lesser players too great a primacy (McGinnis shooting at a greater rate, and Free at only marginally lesser rate).
Then as he "re-primes" circa 1980 his athletic markers like steals and blocks go up to (admittedly maybe you could do this gambling more, but the limited info impression I have is he tended to gamble anyway on D) possibly suggesting a physical re-invigoration rather than just circumstantial.

This is all otoh so am open to being wrong on details.

[70sFan]

a question for users more knowledgeable than me on 70's basketball

why is it take for granted Dr J was a clearly worse player in the nba vs aba?

i always find it interesting because players usually peak a bit off their athletic primes when they are around 30~ years. which for Dr J would be the sixers years

numbers are easily better in the aba, yet the fact the drop off in points was so steep from 76 to 77 makes me think the change must have been situational rather that such a sudden drop in skill or athletism

anyone more familiar with him and the aba knows if somethingh happened (like injuries maybe) post merger? did julius not have the skill/intelligence improvement in his late 20's players usually seem to have that often compensate for waning athletism?

Julius thrived with spacing, ABA had three point line and less talented bigs on average. On top of that, Sixers never did a good job of building the team around Julius - they were also very talented but never built around Erving strengths. 1977 team is the perfect example, but other teams weren't much better - at least offensively.

[Colbinii]

a question for users more knowledgeable than me on 70's basketball

why is it take for granted Dr J was a clearly worse player in the nba vs aba?

i always find it interesting because players usually peak a bit off their athletic primes when they are around 30~ years. which for Dr J would be the sixers years

numbers are easily better in the aba, yet the fact the drop off in points was so steep from 76 to 77 makes me think the change must have been situational rather that such a sudden drop in skill or athletism

anyone more familiar with him and the aba knows if somethingh happened (like injuries maybe) post merger? did julius not have the skill/intelligence improvement in his late 20's players usually seem to have that often compensate for waning athletism?

Erving joined the 76ers and they went to the NBA Finals in 1977 and he played great in the post-season and was fantastic in the post-season.

The team in the regular season improved by ~3 SRS and they went from an average team to a good team with Dr J.

Dr J did have improvement--its why 70sFan and myself were insisting on Erving being better in the 1980s and we noted his defense in particular.

[Djoker]

1. 1966-1967 Wilt Chamberlain

This was an easy choice. Even though I think I value WIlt’s offense less than most people he’s probably the best offensive player on this list and he was just a monster on defense. He’s one of the most impactful players ever.

With 2. through 4. I had a tough time choosing but I ultimately decided on this.

2. 1982-1983 Moses Malone

I gave this one a lot of thought but I went with Mo’ Mo’ Mo’. Yes I know he wasn’t an amazing defender but he definitely wasn’t a liability either and from what I’ve been reading he was a pretty good defender in 1983. Offensively I feel like his limited bully ball style and the stats don’t give him enough credit. This man was dominant. Like Shaq, his aggression and a knack for destroying the offensive glass put entire frontcourts in foul trouble (including Kareem in many of their matchups) and all the points scored from rebounding his own misses means his true efficiency is probably significantly higher than his TS%. For instance if he got his own miss two times in a game, his true efficiency per possession (with two fewer FGA) for the 1983 playoffs becomes 64.5%. Bigs who give 24/14 per 75 on ridiculous efficiency are very valuable and I think Moses also scales pretty well on really good teams. You can’t really run the offense through him because of his limited passing but you don’t need to pass him the ball on the block as he can get it by himself.

3. 1989-1990 Charles Barkley

Choosing between him and Doctor J was really really really difficult but I went with Chuck. HIs offensive repertoire is just staggering. Super high efficiency, ball handling, good passing, coast to coast pressure. Barkley was a one man wrecking crew. His defense is an issue. He’s basically even more efficient than Moses and has better passing but doesn’t protect the rim at all which is bad for guy who played at PF much of the time. Unless you put a dominant rim protector around him (something Chuck never had) your defense won’t be good enough to win a championship. I still am unsure of this. I may move the Doctor up.

4. 1976-1977 Julius Erving

Erving is one guy I used to be high on historically but looking at his career under more scrutiny I find myself less impressed with him. He could drive to the rim and finish exceptionally and he could do most things on the court fairly well but I don’t think he peaked at quite the same level as the true greats. Compared to Barkley he gave less points per 75 on worse efficiency and his passing didn’t move the needle much. The Doctor also wasn’t a big threat outside of 10 feet. His defense especially off-ball is underrated but I think he’s still not an All-NBA defender caliber presence. His defense can put him over Sir Charles but I’m not convinced as of now.

5. 2000-2001 Allen Iverson

I wrote an article about him recently. It’s easy to hate on his scoring efficiency but he had historically low turnover rates which largely made up for that. He also had no scoring help to take the pressure off of him. I think he gets the nod here. He averaged 32.9 ppg in the playoffs on a team averaging 92.3 ppg. I think carrying that level of scoring load gets incredibly underrated in modern discussions. Another thing with AI is that instead of always having mediocre shooting he’d have a few awful shooting nights and some good shooting nights with his good nights generally getting his team wins. Series averages sometimes underscore the nightly performance quality. AI had about ten magnificent games in that year’s playoff run which not a lot of players can say.

Embiid’s current season isn’t finished and shouldn’t be included IMO. Schayes could have made it and maybe Cuninngham or Greer but I feel more comfortable with AI.

EDIT: Just read Odinn's post on Moses' defense. I feel even more comfortable with him at 2.

[LA Bird]

1. 1967 Wilt Chamberlain
GOAT level two way peak

2. 1983 Moses Malone
3. 1990 Charles Barkley
4. 1982 Julius Erving
We have several years of raw plus minus data where Julius's defensive on/offs aren't anywhere near his defensive box scores and it's probably not a coincidence that the Sixers' defensive improvement happened with the arrival of Bobby Jones and Cheeks. Dr J's offensive numbers improved in the early 80s but it's still not on the level of Moses and especially Barkley who I consider to be one of the best offensive bigs ever. We adjust the stats of historic players relative to the league they played in but stylistically, they are often judged relative to the league today instead. Moses's offensive style may not fit the modern ideal but it was very effective in the times he played in and he should not be penalized for it.

5. 1954 Dolph Schayes
Played in a relatively weak era but he was a lot closer to Mikan and Pettit than most people think. The 54 Nationals were the only team to ever top Mikan's Lakers in SRS and DRtg and Schayes was putting up Mikan level numbers before the Celtics injured him. Embiid would be a fine choice too but his 2021 season isn't eligible. Not too high on Iverson but he's probably next up.

[trex_8063]

1. '67 Wilt Chamberlain - Well, this just seems like the obvious pick. Referencing my scaled PER and WS/48 project, '67 Wilt represents the 28th-highest rs scaled PER of all-time, the 2nd-highest all-time scaled rs WS/48......and this while averaging a monstrous 45.5 mpg.
He's also top 65 all-time in playoff scaled PER and top 50 in scaled WS/48, while playing basically every single minute of the playoffs [en route to a title, and the most dominant season seen to that point].

Moderate volume scoring on utterly absurd shooting efficiency, with solid big-man playmaking, defensive dominance, AND the league's best rebounder.


2. '90 Charles Barkley - Peak Barkley was an utterly phenomenal scorer; like a rich man's Zion Williamson. >25 ppg @ a league-leading +12.4% rTS that year, while averaging 11.5 rpg and nearly 4 assists. This came as he anchored the 2nd-best offense in the league with the following supporting cast: Johnny Dawkins, Hersey Hawkins, Mike Gminski, Rick Mahorn, Ron Anderson, Derek Smith, and Scotty Brooks.
And '90 Barkley wasn't as poor defensively as he would be in '91 and especially '92, too [motivation and morale were a serious issue for Barkley by '92].


3. '83 Moses Malone - Yeah, he's a black hole, and yeah he's a little turnover-prone, and yeah his shooting efficiency is merely good [not great]. But his offensive rebounding is utterly off the charts. Offensive rebounding made even guys like Dennis Rodman solid positives on offense; Moses could actually put the ball in the bucket [and had a fair bit of gravity], too.
Moses simultaneously got All-Defensive 1st Team this year. Admittedly, I don't believe he deserved that particular honour, but suffice to say he was a solid defensive center while also controlling the offensive glass and scoring a ton. And he anchored one of the greatest teams ever while doing so. It's pretty impressive.


4. '82 Julius Erving - PEAK Dr. J [which I consider to be '76] would be 2nd on this list for me. He was a bit past that by the early 80s, but '82 Erving is no joke at all. 24.4 pts [on nearly +5.5% rTS]/6.9/3.9 with just 2.6 tov. Plus 2.0 stl and 1.7 blk [avg a monstrous 5.2 stl+blk per 100]; I know he gambled some and had certain short-comings in half-court defense, but that's still awfully impressive for a wing.


I'm pretty set on those top 4. #5 gets hard.
I'm going to make a potentially controversial pick....

5. '58 Dolph Schayes - Schayes was producing a 25/14/3 statline on nearly +6% rTS [even his RAW shooting efficiency more or less matches a prime Iverson, despite having no 3pt line and heavy ball-handling restrictions]; his defensive reputation isn't bad, too. This is a league that has Bill Russell, Bob Pettit among other notables. Baylor is just a year away, Wilt just two. Paul Arizin is only 29 years old [same as Schayes], but already sort of dwindling in this late 50s league.

Schayes had the 2nd-highest PER in the league [only about 2 pts behind Bob Pettit, whose late-50s scaled PER's are some of the highest all-time], and the 2nd-highest WS/48 [behind only limited-minute Frank Ramsey]. Schayes did this averaging more minutes than either Pettit or Ramsey [>40 mpg].
Helluva good playoff run too [though only 3-game sample].

Certainly can't argue anyone going with '01 Iverson [or perhaps even '20 Embiid?? at least if he didn't miss so many games]. But this is the way I'm [tentatively] going.

[trex_8063]

.

5. 1954 Dolph Schayes
Played in a relatively weak era but he was a lot closer to Mikan and Pettit than most people think. The 54 Nationals were the only team to ever top Mikan's Lakers in SRS and DRtg and Schayes was putting up Mikan level numbers before the Celtics injured him. Embiid would be a fine choice too but his 2021 season isn't eligible. Not too high on Iverson but he's probably next up.

Here I thought I was being contraversial going with Schayes, but I see you guys already broke the ice on him.

For my part, I've gone with '58. I just have more faith in that year because it represents excellence proven in a much more competitive environment (the league/game was developing SO fast thru the 50s and early 60s.....even four years means a lot in that time period).

[Doctor MJ]

Key question I'm realizing:

How are we treating '20-21? Does this year count? Any guidelines for consideration of the as of yet unfinished year?

[HeartBreakKid]

Key question I'm realizing:

How are we treating '20-21? Does this year count? Any guidelines for consideration of the as of yet unfinished year?

Doesnt count.

[Doctor MJ]

Key question I'm realizing:

How are we treating '20-21? Does this year count? Any guidelines for consideration of the as of yet unfinished year?

Doesnt count.

Poor Joel.

[Doctor MJ]

I'm putting my thoughts at this time without Embiid, but he may move into my list.

1. '66-67 Wilt Chamberlain - the year it all came together, easy choice

2. '82-83 Moses Malone - again a year it all came together, less easy of a choice even still

3. '89-90 Charles Barkley - one of his monster years, definitely has a case above Moses, but also below Erving

4. '81-82 Julius Erving - really hard to know which year to pick for Dr. J

5. '18-19 Joel Embiid - a force of nature, putting him in even though the superior '20-21 is ineligible.

I do appreciate the votes for Schayes, but I can't honestly say I think he was better than the 5 above.

Also want to give a shout out to Wilt's '67 teammates (Greer, Walker, Cunningham) and Moses & Erving's '83 teammates (Jones, Cheeks, Toney) along with the iconic AI.

[Odinn21]

5. '18-19 Joel Embiid - a force of nature, putting him in even though the superior '20-21 is ineligible.

I do appreciate the votes for Schayes, but I can't honestly say I think he was better than the 5 above.

Also want to give a shout out to Wilt's '67 teammates (Greer, Walker, Cunningham) and Moses & Erving's '83 teammates (Jones, Cheeks, Toney) along with the iconic AI.

I agree that 2021 Embiid (if he wouldn't suffer from anything) would be a clear cut choice.

Though I think it's quite a race between Embiid, Schayes, Iverson and Cunningham. (Greer and Walker feel a step down respectively)
Embiid had durability issues. Also there's a trade off between 2019 and 2020 versions. 2019 version was quite high in RAPM, 2020 version not so much. But he definitely had a better postseason showing in 2020.
With Iverson, durability is not an issue. He was consistent throughout the season in 2001. I think his edge in motor is bigger than Embiid's edge in quality.
Cunningham was a top 5 player in 1970. Right after Kareem, West, Frazier and Reed. That's quite the company. Considering their position to the top players, Cunningham looks better than Iverson I guess? 26/14/4 in regular season with slightly above average efficiency. Despite the slightly low W numbers, he led the Sixers to top 3 SRS in the season. Then 29/10/4 in playoffs. The only major drawback is his turnover numbers in ABA suggest that he was more turnover prone than he should've been.
TBH, I'm always too sceptical about the '50s because my knowledge about the decade is so little compared to the '60s or onwards. That was why I initially went with Iverson over Schayes.

[Jaivl]

...

You do not say it on your post, but I did not notice that 76ers were not only missing Caldwell Jones, but ALSO Dawkins - 83 Moses does probably deserve a boost on defense. He'd be #3 then.

[Odinn21]

...

You do not say it on your post, but I did not notice that 76ers were not only missing Caldwell Jones, but ALSO Dawkins - 83 Moses does probably deserve a boost on defense. He'd be #3 then.

Yeah. Dawkins was also a major contributor to the 76ers defense in general. Though the reason I left him out in my comment was Dawkins was not fully healthy in 1982, missed nearly half of the season and also his min per game numbers was the lowest of his prime.

1982 Sixers; +2.7 rORtg & -3.0 rDRtg in reg. season / +3.5 rORtg & -2.9 rDRtg in playoffs
1983 Sixers; +3.6 rORtg & -3.8 rDRtg in reg. season / +5.9 rORtg & -4.8 rDRtg in playoffs

That's quite a jump on defense with Moses, especially considering the players the 76ers gave up to get him.

[Ryoga Hibiki]

1. Wilt Chamberlain 1967

2. Julius Erving 1982

It took Erving a couple/few years to fully adjust to the NBA style, but once he did he was arguably the best perimeter player in the league (1980-1982). He was efficient scoring the ball and figured out how to defend at a high-level. All-time greats improve every year barring a major set-back or physical decline and Erving was still a physical anomaly in 1982. In comparison to Chuck and Moses, I like what Erving brings to the table as a playmaker and defender and he was multi-faceted as an offensive weapon.

3. Charles Barkley 1990

There are no shortages of elite offensive big men on this list and Chuck comes in at #2 for me. His offensive rebounding and scoring near the rim allowed him to be a unique offensive talent with efficiency and volume never seen before. Defensively Chuck had some shortcomings which puts him below my top-2 here but those shortcomings weren't necessarily detrimental to his impact on winning as much as others.

4. Moses Malone 1983

It isn't often a top 30 Peak is to be ranked 4th on a franchise, but alas here we are. Great offensive player with scoring and rebounding, left something to be desired as a playmaker given his talents and while his defense wasn't elite he could still hold his own against the best of the best. I'm a little biased here and open to hearing considerations ahead of Barkley and even Dr J.

5. Joel Embiid 2020

Yes, I went there. He is a better offensive player than Jones, Iverson and Iguodala while being a better defender than each (Jones being close). Unfortunately with Simmons injury we didn't see post-season team success but we saw his individual ability full-force. I'm trying not to let this season get in the way too much of what he was in 2020--which is clearly worse than this season--but I can't help to think Embiid wasn't a half-step away from 2021 in 2020.

What would you think could be the ceiling for Embiid?
To be honest, when he's been playing he's been as good as any center I have witnessed

[Colbinii]

1. Wilt Chamberlain 1967

2. Julius Erving 1982

It took Erving a couple/few years to fully adjust to the NBA style, but once he did he was arguably the best perimeter player in the league (1980-1982). He was efficient scoring the ball and figured out how to defend at a high-level. All-time greats improve every year barring a major set-back or physical decline and Erving was still a physical anomaly in 1982. In comparison to Chuck and Moses, I like what Erving brings to the table as a playmaker and defender and he was multi-faceted as an offensive weapon.

3. Charles Barkley 1990

There are no shortages of elite offensive big men on this list and Chuck comes in at #2 for me. His offensive rebounding and scoring near the rim allowed him to be a unique offensive talent with efficiency and volume never seen before. Defensively Chuck had some shortcomings which puts him below my top-2 here but those shortcomings weren't necessarily detrimental to his impact on winning as much as others.

4. Moses Malone 1983

It isn't often a top 30 Peak is to be ranked 4th on a franchise, but alas here we are. Great offensive player with scoring and rebounding, left something to be desired as a playmaker given his talents and while his defense wasn't elite he could still hold his own against the best of the best. I'm a little biased here and open to hearing considerations ahead of Barkley and even Dr J.

5. Joel Embiid 2020

Yes, I went there. He is a better offensive player than Jones, Iverson and Iguodala while being a better defender than each (Jones being close). Unfortunately with Simmons injury we didn't see post-season team success but we saw his individual ability full-force. I'm trying not to let this season get in the way too much of what he was in 2020--which is clearly worse than this season--but I can't help to think Embiid wasn't a half-step away from 2021 in 2020.

What would you think could be the ceiling for Embiid?
To be honest, when he's been playing he's been as good as any center I have witnessed

Well his foul draw rate is equivalent to Peak Shaq. He is a more diversified scorer already than him and a significantly better defender.

I would say his realistic peak could be GOAT big-man but health, like Shaq, will be a factor.

[70sFan]

1. Wilt Chamberlain 1967

2. Julius Erving 1982

It took Erving a couple/few years to fully adjust to the NBA style, but once he did he was arguably the best perimeter player in the league (1980-1982). He was efficient scoring the ball and figured out how to defend at a high-level. All-time greats improve every year barring a major set-back or physical decline and Erving was still a physical anomaly in 1982. In comparison to Chuck and Moses, I like what Erving brings to the table as a playmaker and defender and he was multi-faceted as an offensive weapon.

3. Charles Barkley 1990

There are no shortages of elite offensive big men on this list and Chuck comes in at #2 for me. His offensive rebounding and scoring near the rim allowed him to be a unique offensive talent with efficiency and volume never seen before. Defensively Chuck had some shortcomings which puts him below my top-2 here but those shortcomings weren't necessarily detrimental to his impact on winning as much as others.

4. Moses Malone 1983

It isn't often a top 30 Peak is to be ranked 4th on a franchise, but alas here we are. Great offensive player with scoring and rebounding, left something to be desired as a playmaker given his talents and while his defense wasn't elite he could still hold his own against the best of the best. I'm a little biased here and open to hearing considerations ahead of Barkley and even Dr J.

5. Joel Embiid 2020

Yes, I went there. He is a better offensive player than Jones, Iverson and Iguodala while being a better defender than each (Jones being close). Unfortunately with Simmons injury we didn't see post-season team success but we saw his individual ability full-force. I'm trying not to let this season get in the way too much of what he was in 2020--which is clearly worse than this season--but I can't help to think Embiid wasn't a half-step away from 2021 in 2020.

What would you think could be the ceiling for Embiid?
To be honest, when he's been playing he's been as good as any center I have witnessed

Well his foul draw rate is equivalent to Peak Shaq. He is a more diversified scorer already than him and a significantly better defender.

I would say his realistic peak could be GOAT big-man but health, like Shaq, will be a factor.

I think that playoffs will tell us a lot this year (and next years). To reach GOAT level, you need to prove that you can't be stopped when it matters. So far Embiid was far from GOAT in the playoffs, but he still has a lot of time to prove himself.

I don't think that his defense alone is enough to reach that level to be honest.