The following numbers are an average of the 7-years prime of each player if not noted otherwise.
Jerry West: STLx100poss 3.6, BLKx100poss 1.0, DRBx100poss 3.8, DWS 3.1 (1965-1968, 1970-1973 for DWS, 1974 only for
others)
All-defensive 1st team 4, All-defensive 2nd team 1.
As I've written in the previous threads, from video he seems to be an excellent defender but other posters have
made me questioning his impact and I'm not sure if he belongs this high with a somewhat bad longevity anymore.
Chris Paul: STLx100poss 3.5, BLKx100poss 0.2, DRBx100poss 5.3, DWS 3.6, DBPM 0.6, DPIPM .9, MULTIYEAR DRAPM 1.1
(2008-2009, 2012-2016) All-defensive 1st team 7, All-defensive 2nd team 2.
Despite being just 6'0" he has consistenly been one of the best defenders of the last decade primarily thanks to
his immense IQ and great strenght and positioning. Sometimes suffered more physically imposing and extremely
fast guards but nothing to be worried about. Furthermore, he has 4 seasons in the top decile (90 percentile or
better) for defensive reboud rate among guards ever (I stole this from ElGee's writeup on him during his 40
greatest careers ever list)
Nate McMillan: STLx100poss 3.9, BLKx100poss 0.9, DRBx100poss 5.6, DWS 3.0, DBPM 2.7, DPIPM 1.8 (1989-1995)
All-defensive 1st team 0, All-defensive 2nd team 2.
This is tough. He's clearly the best of the 4 on a per-possession basis but I feel it is not enough when you play
2/3 the minutes of the others on prime alone. Then you add the lack of longevity and I feel you need to think
he had 2x the per-possession value of every other contender to justify him here. Personally, I don't feel this
way, so he's out of contention. (Also, the fact that he has so few selections on the all defensive teams may
reflect the fact that he was seen by his contemporaries more as a "give it all while you are in" type of (role)
player and not as a defensive centerpiece, though it must be noted the competition was at an all-time high
in those years with Jordan, Dumars, Payton and Blaylock dividing the sposts).
John Stockton: STLx100poss 3.8, BLKx100poss 0.3, DRBx100poss 3.0, DWS 3.9, DBPM -0.7, DPIPM 1.7 (1988-1992, 1994-1995)
All-defensive 1st team 0, All-defensive 2nd team 5.
He peaked earlier on defense than on offense and it's highlighted not only by his own metrics but also on a
team perspective. Monstrous team defender, he seemed to always know where to be on the court to get a
steal or to bother bigger players even in the post. Him and Paul are similar on defense, they are smaller than
the majority of the players but they are smart and strong enough to overcome that issue. They also both
suffer from being consistenly posted up but this is to be expected so it isn't necessarily a big knock (though it
has prevented him from play well and Porter for example). In the limited RAPM years he posted good to great
numbers, usually +1.5.
It comes really down to Paul and Stockton and, in the end, I choose Stockton with the tie-breaker being his still superior longevity.
I think my next four are these, but I'll try to get an idea about some less known (and appreciated) players like Van Lier and Buse.
