Is Kevin Garnett a defensive anchor?

[pancakes3]

Or is he merely a good defensive player?

There have been plenty of good defenders out there. Artest, Battier, Bowen, etc. but they would never be called an anchor. Being an anchor means being a big man who can defend the rim and erase mistakes that the perimeter players make. They deter drives, alter shots, and secure rebounds. So big men have bigger impacts on defense than perimeter players. Common knowledge.

Then I ask if KG is a defensive anchor. Good defender? no doubt. Anchor? I'd like to see that term not used when describing KG. His minny teams just didn't come together defensively like other teams have. sure it was a crappy bunch of teammates but Dwight turned the Magic around from dead last to first within 5 seasons with guys like Shard, Hedo, and skip to my lou. Even Bogut managed to take the bucks to 2 straight top 5 DRTG finishes the past 2 seasons and they've got brandon jennings, earl boykins, and keyon dooling as the backcourt on that team.

I mean, from 2005-7 the wolves were somewhere between 10th and 17th and the league in DRTG, which ranks them comparable to the smush parker Lakers and the run/gun suns. you'd expect better out of an anchorous player, no?

[-Kees-]

A) Defensive anchors don't have to be bigs (see Pippen)

B) KG was absolutely an anchor. One of the best ones too. Just because his TEAM wasn't great defensively, doesn't mean he wasn't an absolute beast on D.

[semi-sentient]

He wasn't an anchor in the traditional sense (protecting the rim from all angles), but he's a great help/man defender regardless and his ability to communicate on the floor also makes him very effective. I think his impact on defense is massively overrated and I don't think he's nearly as impactful as guys like Robinson, Duncan, D12, etc., but I'd still consider him an anchor given the right personnel (like with the Celtics, for example).

[jaypo]

I think he has the defensive anchor mindset, but his tendency to play the high post prevents him from being the defensive "hub" type anchor like D12, Duncan, DRob, and Shaq.

[ROR]

I don't like the term anchor given to any player except the elite rim/lane protectors. So that eliminates pippen and kg.

Pippen had some bigs that helped, and Jordon.

KG had the pre injury Perkins at center in boston. Look at those Twolves defensive rankings.

[Geaux_Hawks]

If you are judging him off those poor TWolves team he played for, then I say drop Duncan in that situation and see how those team do. A lot of people forget that D Rob played with Duncan a good number of years before retiring and was still a force. Duncan benefited a lot just from playing next to a guy like him.

[Rapcity_11]

I don't think people understand how bad those T-Wolves teams were defensively outside of Garnett. There's a reason he's the leader in defensive APM over the past 7 years (or whatever). His impact was enormous. His teams were just terrible defensively.

[magicman1978]

How good does a player have to be to be considered a defensive anchor? If you're making a list of the top defensive anchors of the past 10 years, who is on that list?

[ROR]

A lot of people forget that D Rob played with Duncan a good number of years before retiring and was still a force. Duncan benefited a lot just from playing next to a guy like him.

The spurs were great on defense and won championships after DRob retired. Duncan didn't need a guy like DRob at center. Duncan was a center on defense.

[semi-sentient]

One thing to mention about Duncan is that Popovich has always run better schemes and for the most part, Duncan has had either a sidekick (Robinson) in the middle or one on the perimeter (Bowen). There's no question he had more help and was put in a better situation than KG, but that doesn't change the fact that he has a bigger impact on defense either.

[ahonui06]

If you are judging him off those poor TWolves team he played for, then I say drop Duncan in that situation and see how those team do. A lot of people forget that D Rob played with Duncan a good number of years before retiring and was still a force. Duncan benefited a lot just from playing next to a guy like him.

Duncan played with Robinson when he was past his prime. I'm also pretty optimistic that Tim Duncan could have lead those Minnesota teams to better defense and better playoff runs than Kevin Garnett because he is the GOAT PF. Just take a look at his 2003 title run and you will understand why I feel this way.

[Geaux_Hawks]

A lot of people forget that D Rob played with Duncan a good number of years before retiring and was still a force. Duncan benefited a lot just from playing next to a guy like him.

The spurs were great on defense and won championships after DRob retired. Duncan didn't need a guy like DRob at center. Duncan was a center on defense.

As mentioned before, Duncan as always had other great defenders to play with him. KG never had help like that. I mean if you look at how greatly the Celtics improved on D as individuals, you could tell how much of an impact KG was. I think an argument can be made that Perkins was better in Boston than OKC.

[ahonui06]

A lot of people forget that D Rob played with Duncan a good number of years before retiring and was still a force. Duncan benefited a lot just from playing next to a guy like him.

The spurs were great on defense and won championships after DRob retired. Duncan didn't need a guy like DRob at center. Duncan was a center on defense.

As mentioned before, Duncan as always had other great defenders to play with him. KG never had help like that. I mean if you look at how greatly the Celtics improved on D as individuals, you could tell how much of an impact KG was. I think an argument can be made that Perkins was better in Boston than OKC.

The only other great defender Tim Duncan played with was a past his prime David Robinson. Duncan also played alongside Rasho Nesterovic, Nazr Mohammed, Kevin Willis, Matt Bonner, DeJuan Blair, Tiago Splitter. These guys are just average, big Centers. Nothing special about them defensively.

[ROR]

I think an argument can be made that Perkins was better in Boston than OKC.

Perkins was better in 2008 than with OKC in 2011 because that was before his injury.

[Geaux_Hawks]

If you are judging him off those poor TWolves team he played for, then I say drop Duncan in that situation and see how those team do. A lot of people forget that D Rob played with Duncan a good number of years before retiring and was still a force. Duncan benefited a lot just from playing next to a guy like him.

Duncan played with Robinson when he was past his prime. I'm also pretty optimistic that Tim Duncan could have lead those Minnesota teams to better defense and better playoff runs than Kevin Garnett because he is the GOAT PF. Just take a look at his 2003 title run and you will understand why I feel this way.

Robinson was still a defensive force after he started declining. 2003, Duncan stepped his game up, but Robinson still made his presence felt, and the Spurs still had great defenders in Bowen, Gino, and Stephen Jackson wasn't no slouch either. Tom Gugliotta, Rasho, and Terrel Brandon were about the best help KG had defensively and they didn't play on the same teams. Duncan on the other hand had D Rob, Nazr Mohammed, Rasho was fair, Manu, Bowen, Malik Rose & Stephen Jackson were solid defenders, Tony Parker, & Robert Horry was also solid even on the back end of his career.

[ahonui06]

If you are judging him off those poor TWolves team he played for, then I say drop Duncan in that situation and see how those team do. A lot of people forget that D Rob played with Duncan a good number of years before retiring and was still a force. Duncan benefited a lot just from playing next to a guy like him.

Duncan played with Robinson when he was past his prime. I'm also pretty optimistic that Tim Duncan could have lead those Minnesota teams to better defense and better playoff runs than Kevin Garnett because he is the GOAT PF. Just take a look at his 2003 title run and you will understand why I feel this way.

Robinson was still a defensive force after he started declining. 2003, Duncan stepped his game up, but Robinson still made his presence felt, and the Spurs still had great defenders in Bowen, Gino, and Stephen Jackson wasn't no slouch either. Tom Gugliotta, Rasho, and Terrel Brandon were about the best help KG had defensively and they didn't play on the same teams. Duncan on the other hand had D Rob, Nazr Mohammed, Rasho was fair, Manu, Bowen, Malik Rose & Stephen Jackson were solid defenders, Tony Parker, & Robert Horry was also solid even on the back end of his career.

Tim Duncan's only real big defensive help was David Robinson. Robinson was a shell of himself in 2003 when the Spurs won the title. Duncan went on to win 2 more titles without Robinson in 2005 and 2007 and that was with him mainly playing a PF/C hybrid. Duncan was absolutely the defensive anchor on 3 Spurs' championship teams (2003, 2005, 2007). Garnett was a solid defensive player, but he just isn't in the same league defensively as anchors like Duncan, Olajuwon, Russell, etc.

[Geaux_Hawks]

You aren't taking in the consideration of other great defenders that the Spur's had when they won those 3 titles. Yes, Duncan became the anchor of those teams, but those teams weren't weak defensively either. To say KG wasn't an anchor defensively is absurd. KG has never had average defensive supporting cast's to play with.

[ahonui06]

You aren't taking in the consideration of other great defenders that the Spur's had when they won those 3 titles. Yes, Duncan became the anchor of those teams, but those teams weren't weak defensively either. To say KG wasn't an anchor defensively is absurd. KG has never had average defensive supporting cast's to play with.

Duncan's best defender that has played with him post-Duncan is probably Manu Ginobili. Ginobili is a SG though and his defensive impact isn't as large as a big.

I will concede that Duncan probably has a stronger defensive cast over the years, but it's not that significant. The gap between Garnett's and Duncan's team DRtgs are quite large and I think that is mainly due to Tim Duncan's greatness as a player more than anything else. He was just an absolute beast during his prime anchoring a defense.

[Rapcity_11]

ahonui, ever heard of Bruce Bowen?

And defensive schemes/coaching make a huge impact in team Drtg. That seems to be slipping under the radar as you guys debate teammates.

[Laimbeer]

No. He's a bigger Pippen, not a guy that plays low plugging the middle and patroling the paint. That's an anchor to me.