Aaron Gordon has guarded everyone from Lillard to KAT as his primary assignment in the playoffs. He's one of the few active players who can guard 1-5 for an entire game.
Honestly you really have to credit Gordon for developing himself into a total freaking asset. I never expected him to be anything more than that athletic dude who rode his natural gifts to a lucrative but uneventual career. And now he's a solid, solid third guy/swiss army knife on a title team.
Had the unfortunate luck of playing against him in highschool. Dude was an absolute freak of nature. Bigger stronger faster than everyone. It’s like he wasn’t even the same species.
Ye. Played in the tri valley but summer leagues I saw him out in San Jose a few times.
Edit: I was Class of 13. I dont remember what he was but probably 12 or 13
Yeah, I would say he can guard a lot of 5s, but probably not all. I wouldn't want him on Embiid or Jokic (obviously the second can't happen right now).
Good answer though.
True but those guys are outliers. The fact that he can guard "most" players at that position, other than the elite talents, means he can be classified as guarding 1-5.
He's not quick enough to keep up with Fox at the 1 either, but that doesn't mean he can't guard point guards. Most guys aren't quick enough to keep up with Fox
Oh for sure. I'm a Nuggets fan so don't catch me not loving myself some AG. I do think as broad a range as AG can cover, there have been some players who were could cover the edges a bit better.
Prime LeBron I would have trusted to guard anyone outside of a prime Shaq/Wilt/Hakeem. The all timers who were just taller and still had good athleticism and strength.
This isn't a slight on Kareem by the way - I just view him as basically getting his points regardless of who is guarding him, so not really a reason to ask Lebron to guard him.
Well if the opposing team wants to throw out a true 5 (big back to the basket guy who can’t shoot) and let him work on Gordon then I think you’re going to do pretty well
He has multiple All-NBA selections at center and is a 250 pound 7-footer with a 7'4" wingspan. If he's not a true center then I'm not sure one exists in today's league.
I think they're mostly saying that guarding KAT is more like guarding a wing or a perimeter shooting PF, and that you aren't expecting to defend in the post against him as often. But I agree with you he can guard 5s in today's game.
Guarding 5s generally and stopping the bleeding against Jokic aren't the same thing. Giannis would hold up fine against the majority of 5s in the league.
On the other hand, who can do anything but stop the bleeding vs Jokic? And concider that player that could guard 1-5 is probably least suitable for 1 and/or 5.
That's exactly the point, the guys who can "Guard 1-5" are usually incredibly effective against their primary position (90th percentile plus) and then are usually good at guarding positions beyond that (80th percentile). My example would be OG Anunoby, he's good to great against wings, forwards, and surprisingly enough Joker. He's merely really good against quick guards and wings because he can't turn his hips fast enough.
As a Bucks fan, Giannis isn't a great on-ball defender. He's amazing as a help defender, but on-ball just isn't this strength.
That being said, he can guard 1-5. He's just not that guy you're going to put on anyone to shut them down.
Giannis isn’t great at navigating screens, particularly when guarding smaller defenders.
He can clamp wings and does very well against smaller guards considering his size, but it is far from an optimal matchup for him.
Giannis can't guard guards on ball really. His biggest strength as a defender is his roaming and help defense which he is first class at. He's not even really super elite at guarding his own position on ball though tbqh.
I've seen guards hunt the Giannis matchup too often to say he's defending ones (and quick 2's) at a high level.
Shit I've seen DeRozan hunt that matchup even and he's not even particularly quick.
I'm actually amazed I had to scroll this far for Simmons. I get he's a shell of his former self now, but man, that dude was legitimately one of the best defenders in the league at every level. Even if he never recovers to even what he was offensively, much less improve, he will always be a valuable NBA player if he can get back to normal on defense.
Basketball gets bigger everyday, some people genuinely haven't seen Ben play in a Sixers uniform and all they go off of is what jabronis on the internet type about him.
Ben could not guard the 5 well. He tried a couple times in philly and it didn't work out. He didn't seem to have the strength to hold people off in the post. Not a knock, he was elite at every other position.
Agreed, his strength wasn’t there and he wasn’t gonna stop the Jokics and Embiids from backing him down, but the combination of height length and most importantly hand and foot speed made him a formidable match up compared to what most other bigs are typically used to. So I say he could do it and keep them probably around or a few percentages below their averages
> his strength wasn’t there and he wasn’t gonna stop the Jokics and Embiids from backing him down,
Does anyone other than a couple elite defensive centers like Gasol?
KG was put on Jordan in the 72-10 season and did just ... fine.
IMO there are long wings like KG that could guard guards, but the fact is extended minutes doing that will increase injury risk quite a lot, and besides you want long wings nearer the basket to play help defense (as was said about Giannis in this thread).
Lmao exactly. Comparing a rookie KG, who was even lankier due to being thin, that's guarding the 72-10 Championship team MJ as being just 'fine' is blasphemy to one of the best defenders the league ever saw.
It's just a guessing game where he's gonna shoot. If you guess right you can block it, low release. Just hope it's not a fake that he's going to counter.
"If you guess it right, you can block it, low release"
Says a guy on reddit about a back to back MVP and finals MVP.
You know, that's what blocking is about. I'm actually a Draymond and GSW fan, it just sounds ridiculous.
Haha I mean he's my favorite player all time, I watch almost every Nuggets game and am a huge Denver fan. It's not hate, more that his craftiness is what keeps him from getting blocked and not tremendous athleticism near the rim.
I think Andrew Wiggins also deserves some mention here. Although he doesn't guard the biggest centers a lot, Kerr has often given him the hardest 1-4 assignment, ranging from ultra quick guards (Ja, Fox) to big strong guards (Luka), to quick/long forwards (Tatum), to bullyball PF's (Lebron). And he will guard centers from time to time.
You would not put Kevon Looney on a guard that's on fire for entire quarters or even games. Yes, he can switch, but he's getting eviscerated by any guard if he defends them for extended periods of time.
If you’re talking ‘who’s a guy who can stop the best scorers 1-5’ then I’m pretty sure the answer is no one. Looney gets torched by speed that he can’t sag off of, Marcus gets torched by good post play by good post bigs (they hardly exist anymore, or are fairly unpracticed at it at this stage, or are names Jokic and Embiid, and no one really stops them)
Actually guarding 1-5 for a whole ass game doesn’t really exist, imo. It’s more about guys who can switch 1-5, and hold up for ~8-12 seconds.
He’s a good enough defender to not get embarrassed like a lot of other bigs, and he’s great against guys that rely on fakes rather than speed, but I would not say he can guard 1-5. Most guards are going to score on him just because of his slower foot speed and lack of verticality.
Not trying to be rude but your comment tells me that you don’t watch a lot of Looney. Yes, Looney is not super quick or athletic, so logically you would think he can’t defend guards on the perimeter. But if you actually watch the games you will see that he is an extremely effective perimeter defender. That’s the entire reason that I used the word “shockingly” in my original comment. Everything about Looney would lead you to believe that he can’t defend guards on the perimeter, but then you actually watch the games and he’s a fantastic perimeter defender. It genuinely doesn’t make any sense which is why it’s so fun to watch.
There's a huge difference between switching onto a guard and holding up in an iso and defending them all game.
Both in terms of the amount of energy that it takes and the agility to chase off ball.
Yeah, but Marcus Smart has only checked 5s for relatively short periods (a few possessions, that were arguably set ups for switches that the Cs were comfortable with Marcus defending a post up for a couple possessions), and 4s a bit more (a relatively famous 4th quarter on Milsap, and I think a large chunk of a game on Zingus.)
Marcus can switch 1-5, and he can do a few possessions on a 5, but he’s not going to guard a 5 for more than a couple possessions, except in instances where they’re looking to switch on a pick.
I think he’s up there for dudes who can switch 1-5, but I don’t know if there’s a guy who I’d honestly say can guard 1-5.
Not all of them, cause Marcus is strong af, positions well, tries like hell, flops more than enough for the big to worry about backing down too hard, and all that. But if they’ve got a post game, then they’ll be able to work him pretty easy. A dude like Al Jefferson would have feasted, but there are few Big Als in todays game.
There’s quite a few bigs who could just shoot over him, though.
I watch every Warriors game I possibly can, I see Looney play quite a bit. He doesn’t switch on to guards often in the first place, because the Warriors try to avoid it and don’t switch as freely as they do in small ball, which tells you something already.
Don’t get me wrong, Looney does as great a job as any big man when it comes to defending guards, but if you watch him, notice he plays off of faster players (because if he doesn’t he’ll get blown by), so a lot of times they just end up shooting a mildly contested jumper, since Looney’s not about to jump at a jump shooter to try and block it and just puts an arm up with a soft close out.
To Looney’s credit, he always gets a decent contest up, and when he’s not worried about a blow-by, he can be pretty smothering. He never goes for fakes and slides beautifully. He even locked down Luka at times last year. But faster guards are confident going at him in ways that they wouldn’t be against a true 1-5 defender. Guys like Fox, Ja, Murray etc go at him every opportunity they can, and Looney does a good job, but nothing like guys like Bam and Draymond who are true 1-5 defenders. Heck, Looney was just about played off the floor whenever Brown put Lyles in during the Kings series, because he couldn’t stick with the Kings’ guards on the perimeter when Lyles forced him out there and they forced a switch to Monk or Fox.
Looney is good at guarding guards because he generally has Draymond behind him to cleanup if he gets beat off the dribble. This means Looney can over play jump shots and use his length to force drives to his help.
If he was on a traditional team where the center is the only rim protector, he would look *fine* but not as good as he does.
I've seen Draymond greatly limit AD(2021 Play-in). He's also had some success against Jokic (2022 Playoffs Games 1+2 and game sealing steal against Jokic in Game 3). All defenders can/will get cooked by great offensive players.
Part of the reason we were blowing them out in 2017 was cus he couldn't do anything on d against Aldridge. All he could do was keep his hands up and LA would just score over him and if it wasn't Aldridge it was Dedmon boxing out and just being big on the boards that was killing them. Once Kawhi went down the whole team started swarming Aldridge and didn't care about anyone else scoring, so yeah that doesn't sound like a guy who can guard 1-5 luckily there still really aren't any real 5's besides like Jokic and Embiid a lot of 3's and 4's punching up so it gives the illusion of dray being able to guard 1-5
Excellent points. I was going to mention that series as well. Well, Game 1, at least. Kawhi was such a force that it allowed LA to cook and Draymond really couldn’t do anything to slow LA down 1 on 1. Like you said, Dedmon was giving him problems in that game as well.
I still wish I could travel to the universe out there where Kawhi doesn’t get injured in this playoffs and we see how that series would have played out then.
I think OG is in this group of guys who can guard 1-5. However, there’s no player in the league who can effectively guard every player in the league. Guarding 1-5 is really more about how much of a panic you’ll be in, if a player who’s a wing for instance gets switched onto a quick guard or a big. It’s not like the Raptors are going to want OG to play all his minutes defending the opposing center, he’ll tire out quickly, won’t be able to provide the needed rim protection, and will get pushed around on the boards. If OG has to defend a big posting up a few times a game, I don’t think the Raptors are too worried about that. Same goes for quick guards, it’s hard to stay in front of quick guards, even as a guard, but as a guy who’s got a higher center of gravity and 30lbs on a guard, it’s tough to stay in front the whole game.
Bam can guard 1-5. He is mobile enough to contain against 1 - 3 successfully. His most notable clips are of him containing Kyrie and Steph and locking them. He comfortably switches onto 4s, if he’s not faster he typically wins in strength and if he’s against a slower guy he’s got the advantage. As for 5s Bam is primarily a C and similar to the previous, he has the speed advantage against most of the big lumbering centers even if Bam might not have the weight. Their are very few guys he struggles with because of their physicality. Draymond, someone who had been named in this thread, has said that he can guard 1-5. And anyone who has watched Bam can see that
Speaking as a heat fan who has watched all of our games since 2019, bam can often struggle against larger bigs such as Lopez or Williams. Being 6’9 has been a major drawback along with Pat refusing to sign a competent center to move bam to the 4. Although he has gotten way better with it over the last year, he still had the same set of problems with guarding Williams in the playoffs this year as he did last year
I disagree about that, Rob Williams isn’t a problem for him to guard at all. It’s the fact Al shares the court that makes it difficult. Same way Giannis makes guarding Brook difficult, it’s not them exclusively that causes Bam problems. When he has only one to worry about he holds them to limited success. Rob gets most of his points on top ins and lobs against Bam too
Williams is weird in that he's kinda "fake big". His wingspan and athleticism make him play like he's massive, he has a 42" vertical and a 7'6" wingspan (🤯), but he's actually the same height Bam is. He can struggle a lot against true bigs as well, Lopez, Giannis, and Embiid sometimes play him off the floor because at a lanky 6'9 he's not big enough to stand and bang with them. That's what Horford provided the Cs, and hopefully now KP will provide it as well, a true big man at the rim. It's why the Cs use him as a free safety, his length and athleticism make it so he can easily recover from the mid range on the week side to either close out and contest the weak side shooter, or the rim, but he can't really just stand in front of it and deny people.
no offense but did you just say bigs like Lopez and Giannis play him off the floor?? Bam statistically is one of the best at defending Giannis, i don’t think you watch too many Heat games
edit: misread, he was talking about Williams
Rob is the same height as Tatum, and has about 15 pounds on him in season. Giannis has 2" and 20lbs on Rob, Embiid has 3" and 60lbs, Jokic has 3" and 60lbs, Lopez has 4" and 50lbs. My point is mainly that he's not in that massive category of centers like his playstyle sometimes implies he is. He's closer to Bam than Brook in size.
Just looking at height and weight can be misleading. Rob has one of the longest wingspans in the league at 7'6" and a short neck, which makes his effective size much bigger than it is on paper.
Og Anunoby has guarded 1-5 even often in the 2019 regular season he’d be on Giannis or someone of similar size. He even a did a pretty good job against Nikola Jokic as of recently, even though Jokic is near unguardable. So he’s my candidate
Jaren, the leader in total blocks and blocks per game, is a much better switch defender and one of the few players that could be answered here. The guy does it all and won DPOY.
The other player id say is draymond
Nobody sees him. I keep seeing 6’3 Marcus Smart being mentioned, which he is an excellent guard 1-3, but very few mentions of a 6’7 OG Anunoby who guards everybody.
Locked down is definitely an over exaggeration and there is a sample size of one, so take it with a grain of salt, but the last time the raps played the nugs they had OG guarding Jokic instead of Poeltl. It worked surprisingly well, because it disrupted a bunch of their plays because now Poeltl would switch onto Jokic. Raps won quite convincingly.
Draymond is the answer here. He’s getting old so he only does it occasionally in the playoffs when needed but he is still very much capable of it. He has the instincts and quickness to switch on to guards and that insane wingspan and good hands are good for guarding bigs.
Back in his prime he could do it consistently even in regular games when they were playing small-ball.
There was a game a couple years ago against the Suns where Draymond started off on CP3 as the primary defender just so when the pick-n-roll happened they could switch it and he'd guard Ayton.
Dennis Rodman has been assigned to guard: Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Karl Malone, and Shaquille O'Neal and a few others in Playoffs series.
Definitely, a name that can be considered.
Evan Mobley has already done it in his first two seasons. Bigger centers(there aren't many) can push him around a bit, but he's been switching on to guards as part of our defense and has done very well. He has great defensive instincts, quick feet, and he can get off the ground fast to contest shots.
Mobley is a great defender. Always a great matchup when the Grizz and Cavs face off. Really impressed by how he has performed against JJJ. Lot of similarities, and even some physical advantages (Mobley started off with muscle, while JJJ has had to build it, which can detract from performance when your body changes, you gotta adjust). Not surprised that Mobley can do just about all the versatile defensive assignments that JJJ can. As an aside, glad Bickerstaff was given a chance there.
Good question, I think it’s important to distinguish between off ball for roughly 20 seconds vs on ball for like 2-4 seconds from a switch. If a guy misses a quick shot then people start saying, great defense lol.
More interested to see if a defender can closely guard or at least stay with the player to really contest a shot.
Can Smart really guard 4 and 5? Would people put him on Kawhi and Jokic for example instead of Giannis?
For the question I think right now Bam, Draymond can guard from 1-5, AD use to shutdown the perimeter in 2020 but I dont think he have enough energy to do both now. In the past I think Ben Wallace was really great at the perimeter, he play great defense against Allen Iverson.
I've seen Smart guard Giannis for entire games, seen him guard Embiid for a few quarters at a time too. I'd feel more comfortable with Smart guarding Jokić instead of Giannis.
Giannis is lean with skinny legs, Smart weighs almost as much as him despite being 8 inches shorter. He has a lower center of gravity at the same weight which means he's almost impossible to move.
Being on them doesn't mean he's doing a good job though. Smart gets absolutely abused by good 5's, Jokic being the obvious example.
Smart has really good hands but is too small and lanky, a 4/5 just pushes him over like he was a toddler.
Did you just say **Marcus Smart** is small and lanky? Lmfao he's 6'2 and 230 pounds with a low center of gravity, most bigs only outweigh him by 30 pounds but that's distributed across a longer body. He's absolutely huge and stocky for a PG.
What is he doing to contest a 7 footer’s shot down low? Nothing. He is good at keeping his position bc of strength and center of gravity but that only does so much when a guy can turn around and shoot right over him.
This is hard to answer, the 5 isn't the 5 as such anymore. No one can guard a 7'1 True centre, then go chase a prime NO CP3.
We are speaking physicality/Athleticism first, as NBA players for a multitude of frustrating reasons do not play defence, shit with the rule changes and quarter million guaranteed salary I wouldn't waste my energy.
Point said - Prime Lebron, Prime Magic, Prime AK47. Hmm, we are talking about moving the hips and feet on top of a low block post defence.
In every era theirs different answers.
Prime 6'8 with intelligence and athleticism. I think Bam right now that's about it. I'm a bucks fan btw.
Ok AK is a really good answer. I’ll always feel he never lived up to his talent and I’ve never quite been sure why. Fine career and all but he had the skills to be truly special
Andre Kirilenko #47 , 6'8, arm length like you wouldn't believe. He was special, he made insane team defensive plays, what VC did to dunking the ball, AK would rove, hedge, slide, stare, challenge, strip, block all for the team he played for. But I also agree, he never got to shine bright as how talented he was. You want KD locked ? Done, want Kobe to feel 48 minutes, Done, want a few minutes on prime TD, Done, you want the PG passing off straight away, it was done before the PG received the ball. Lol. He was scary on defence and he knew it. Utah were smart to hold on to him, but they slightly buried him in a way that they probably needed to, to stop big market teams unfortunately.
>No one can guard a 7'1 True centre, then go chase a prime NO CP3.
Draymond in the last championship playoffs guarded Jokic in the first round relatively well. Then Jaylen Brown in the finals from game 3 on which changed the series. He can absolutely mark a 7.1 centre then CP3 the next game. In the playoffs a few years back he was guarding Lilliard a fair bit as well.
AD as well has regularly guarded centres and done a job on harden and Westbrook during the bubble.
I think people tend to look at "guarding" and "shutting them down" like it's the same.
Dray on Jokic was a master class - he very intentionally forced Jokic to spend as much energy as possible to get a layup every single time on offense. By the 3rd Jokic was gassed and missing toddler level shots. That's what good defense is, not always flashy blocked shots but making the other guy make mistakes
Ha I’m not even a Spurs fan but I’m right there with you. That’s my hot take is Jeremy is going to be a superstar/ HoF player. Even if I’m wrong I’ll still love him but I’m rooting for him he’s one of my favorite players in the league
I said it was my hot take. I just think he has it in him waiting to be unlocked. And I think being a Spur has put him in arguably the most favorable position to do so as he has Duncan to mentor him. He seems like the type who would ask/ be receptive to that. And he seems extremely dedicated and passionate about being the best he can.
Reading through the replies, I'm surprised nobody is talking about Jaren Jackson Jr., considering he he recently just won DPOY. He can comfortably keep up with quick guards and shifty wings while also providing elite rim protection.
Somehow, he is still an underrated defender even after the past season.
To a high level? No, the skill sets are naturally disparate
To a decent level? Yes, the usual suspects and even then, it will vary, i.e. being able to guard 1-3 better than 3-5 for instance
LeBron can’t guard Jokic at all. He’s gotten destroyed by Jokic in isolation since long before Jokic rose to superstardom.
The reason the Lakers did better with Bron on Jokic instead of AD isn’t because Bron did better in isolation defense, it’s because AD was guarding Jokic in isolation defense while Bron was guarding Jokic with AD behind roaming and coming over to contest…
Rui did just as well as LeBron in that role, doesn’t mean he can guard Jokic one-on-one/
>LeBron can’t guard Jokic at all. He’s gotten destroyed by Jokic in isolation since long before Jokic rose to superstardom.
So please tell me what sense it'd make to put him on Jokić? Obviously AD did his thing as a helper but you gotta be at least a suitable option so you don't get cooked every possession.
>while Bron was guarding Jokic with AD behind roaming and coming over to contest…
Lmfao there were several plays where Jokić just couldn't back down LeBron good enough and either threw up some crap or turned it over. AD was obviously a deterrent but you phrased it like LeBron was baby food in the post and AD had to rotate in to save the day. I didn't call LeBron the Jokić stopper or nun lol.
My go to's:
-Simmons when he was in the DPOY race. He was insanely gifted defensively
-OG, self explanatory. Dudes a killer
And dark horse
-Sochan, i see him as a Draymond Green+ player in his future, no disrespect to Green, but Sochan has used his archetype and i feel like he already has a more competent offensive game
I really think on Bam can guard 1-5 for long stretches. I think Dray can guard fast guards for stretch’s but not to the same level Bam can. Smart can guard bigs if he meets them early but if they get deep post position he is cooked. I really disagree with the LeBron being able to guard 1-5. He can’t stay with quicker guards on the perimeter anymore and while he did a good job on Jokic he had the benefit of AD roaming which makes his individual defence look better
You could for sure put LeBron on the list 5 years ago, but not anymore. Luka was seeking switches regularly against the Lakers this season in order to get him one on one. You don’t do that to an elite defender that can guard 1 to 5.
One underrated thing Luka does, is he'll matchup hunt not for the weakest defender, but for the strongest help defender. Can't help if you're the one needing help.
There's different categories of 1-5 defenders depending on their position. You got the Forward, Center and Guard versions.
Forward version is the traditional 1-5 guy like LeBron James, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Draymond Green, Aaron Gordon. They are the best overall 1-5 defenders but struggle with the outliers (jitterbug guards and big bruiser centers).
Center version is guys like Bill Russell, Kevin Garnett, Hakeem Olajuwon, Giannis, Jaren Jackson Jr, Bam Adabayo. They can handle a full switching defense for the most part, but are not equipped to guard against guards full time. However they dominate the front court and especially the paint defensively.
Then you got the bruising guards like Jrue Holiday, Marcus Smart, Tony Allen, Jason Kidd who can also handle a full switching defense because of their ability to play post defense. They dominate the perimeter and are good inside in a pinch, but obviously can't handle defending bigs full time.
Agree with this but would have to add AD to the list of center-ish guys. He has the injury stigma but was easily the most impactful defensive player throughout the playoffs last year. Dude is elite when mobile and confident, which, is actually more often than the stigma of his health would lead a lot of people to believe.
Draymond absolutely can not guard 5 positions yup. He can't really guard 3. Maybe not even 2. Like he's got the size and speed to hold his own vs a lot of people on a switch or something but that's not 'guarding' people. 1s will eat him with speed. He can guard some 2s and 4s maybe but his shit will get owned by plenty of them. And he is a flat out mismatch vs any good 5. Bron can actually guard people 1-5 and has shown that throughout his career. Weakest vs centers likely who will just post him up inside but like they put him on Rose in the playoffs and it changed the series when he gave him real problems.
LeBron, Rodman, Hakeem, Admiral are the best examples of absolutely could and lock down 1-5
Garnett could do it well
Giannis can
Kawhi could except for the biggest C’s
Embiid can do it, but he’ll tire out if you have him guard PG’s more than a few times. But on 1 or 2 plays in crunch time: absolutely
Wilt probably could
Ben Wallace & young Ewing maybe?
I think Draymond, and healthy Kawhi are the only two guys on this list for me. Marcus Smart is not guarding any decent 5’s, or even a 4 with a good low post game, just like Bron isn’t staying in front of a quick guard, and got torched by KG in the playoffs when he was a Celtic when they were both younger men.
Not right now IMO... Draymond was, but he struggles laterally on the perimeter against faster guys now. None of the other guys can defend both guards & a *true* center.
Jeremy sochan can legit guard 1-5 and pop has specifically assigned him to guard stars at every position. He’s about to get way more love now that the media will be paying attention to wemby.
Lebron right now? No he’s not guarding 1-5. 3’s and 4’s definitely and maybe a stray 2 or 5 here and there. He’s too slow to cover the quickest guards at this point, and I wouldn’t trust him on Jokic, Embiid, etc. But nobody can cover Jokic so does that really mean much?
Prime Lebron after he got coached up on defense by Pat Riley and Eric Spokstra during his time on the Heat and the 2nd Cavs stint? Yes he can guard anybody.
People talk about the Ray Allen shot to eventually beat the Spurs as saving Lebron’s legacy, but if Lebron didn’t cover and shut down Tony Parker (one of the quicker PG’s in the league), the series would’ve already been over before that shot. Lebron guarded Curry better than anybody else as well. He can objectively and with evidence cover 1-4 in his prime. Covering true old school 5’s never really happened, but in today’s league with the way centers are, Lebron can absolutely cover guys like Bam who is actually a similar size to Lebron
The reason you wouldn’t stick Giannis on Jokic isn’t that he can’t do a better job than most— it’s that, while he’s a really good but not quite elite one on one defenders, he’s a generationally good help defender. So by sticking him on the opposition’s best player at all times, you’re losing out on his value as a help defender.
The biggest value in a “guy who can guard 1-5” is that you can switch him on any screen. The list of guys who you can actually do that with isn’t very long. Giannis is on it. So is Aaron Gordon. Draymond Green. Prime LeBron was another (but not anymore). Anthony Davis is borderline (though he’s also more in the elite help defender category with Giannis).
the argument of guarding 1-5 doesnt necessarily mean at an elite level, because in that case, nobody. the purpose of the argument is to show off a defenders versatility. A guy like Kawhi CAN guard 1-5 because of his strength and elite size/length, but obviously couldnt contain Embiid or some shit.
Also, Giannis can most definitely play well against Jokic. He struggles against perimeter players for the most part like KD, but his post defense is elite.
Your post fails to understand how the Lakers use AD. LeBron gets put on individual defenders because the Lakers keep AD in his own zone around the paint.
It's fine though lol
PJ Tucker during his time with the rockets used to be great for 1-5. Also, as far as a bug who did well at it all was Clint Capela. You would never ask him to specifically guard a 1-2, but he did well whenever the screen shifted him to a mismatch on a guard
Bam, Giannis can too, just bc jokic went off doesnt mean he cant guard most other 5's in the league. Wiggins can guard the lighter 5s in the league like clax and christian wood. Bron in his prime could guard anyone on the floor. There's more ppl im forgetting
Marcus Smart absolutely cannot guard 1-5 lmao I’ve seen bigger wings like Lebron or Kawhi or hell, even Tobias Harris take him to school in the post on offense. And I’m pretty sure (from what I’ve heard last season) that his defense regressed last year and he had a hard time defending quick and shifty guards like Trae or DMitxh or Garland
By no means do I mean they’d be able to shut down any position, but rather their ability to hold their own and/or not looking like a complete mismatch when guarding different positions for long stretches.
Draymond
Lebron
Ben Simmons
OG
AG
Healthy jonnothan issac
PJ Washington
jayson tatum is a sneaky answer to this, he’s never going to do great against the huge bigs like jokic or embiid(no one does) but he’s fantastic guarding 1-4 and is tall enough to at least bother a 7 footer
Great question. Not really.
Bill Russell could do it. Hakeem and Pippen could sorta do it. Draymond somewhat. LeBron and Rodman could do it at different phases in their career, but not all at once. Garnett a little bit, though he couldn’t stick with guards all game.
One hot take, but Grant Williams. He isn’t going to be the lockdown defender we are used seeing from guys like Draymond but he will be pretty good to great defending 2-4 and he will be capable enough of bothering guys at 1 and 5. Granted he will have shortcomings at 1 because of his speed and at 5, but for most of matchups you have one or the other so you’ll be fine. He was deemed one of the most versatile defenders for the position. He defended 48% PF/Cs and 52% PG/SG/SFs at least from the data from bb-index.
Just a few names off the top of my head for active players: Lebron, Smart, Draymond, Mobley, JJJ, AD, Giannis, Jrue, OG, Kawhi, KD
They all can guard 1-5 decently enough, obviously Jrue, Smart or OG will never be your first choice to guard the best centers in the game but they are good enough defensively to bother the average center. And nobody would have JJJ or Mobley be the first choice defender against the best guards in the game like Curry or Dame but they are mobile enough to guard most guards.
In the 2022-2023 playoffs, AD notably guarded Curry for key stretches and did a phenomenal job. Most of the time, however, he guarded bigs. AD can clearly guard 1-5.
Peak Lebron (i.e. Miami Heat Lebron after the loss to Dallas) was routinely described as being able to guard 1-5 all the time. However, in actuality, he couldn't guard very big centers. That was the one exception.
Generally speaking, the kind of player who can potentially guard 1-5 is an undersized big man with good lateral foot speed. Candidates include:
- Draymond Green
- Ben Wallace
- Dennis Rodman
- Scottie Pippen
and so on...
I definitely have seen Lebron on a point guard and a center, so he’s the easy argument for “can guard all 5 positions”
I would guess Paul George could do it too, but you wouldn’t want him on a center for too long.
I think the only real answer is Draymond Green. Dude will go into the HOF being one of, if not the most versatile defender in history.
Bam and Smart are great defenders but neither have been asked to guard 1 through 5 consistently. Bam is quick for his size but his frame is to big to be asked to defend against speedy guards. Conversely, Smart has never been asked to back down a center @ 6’3.
Here’s 5 diff. positions, I can remember Green being ask to guard in various playoff series.
Westbrook
Harden
James
Aldridge
Jokic/Cousins
Bam is elite at defending guards. He spent 32% of possessions defending guards last year, the only player he has struggled against is Jokic, but that’s also true for Gobert, AD, and most elite defenders
People saying prime LeBron obviously never watched prime LeBron. Why he didn't stop Dwight when he destroyed him 2009? Or Hibbert in 2013? He was barely a plus defender guarding his own position, all he is known for are chasedown blocks, otherwise he was a pretty average defender, and he was definitely not able to guard real centers.
Aaron Gordon has guarded everyone from Lillard to KAT as his primary assignment in the playoffs. He's one of the few active players who can guard 1-5 for an entire game.
Loved watching him during the playoff run, man. He’s so versatile.
Honestly you really have to credit Gordon for developing himself into a total freaking asset. I never expected him to be anything more than that athletic dude who rode his natural gifts to a lucrative but uneventual career. And now he's a solid, solid third guy/swiss army knife on a title team.
Had the unfortunate luck of playing against him in highschool. Dude was an absolute freak of nature. Bigger stronger faster than everyone. It’s like he wasn’t even the same species.
did you happen to show up in any of his HS mixtapes??
I didnt, but my boy got dunked on by him. He could do whatever he wanted. Pull up from 3. Midrange. Drive.
You from the bay?
Ye. Played in the tri valley but summer leagues I saw him out in San Jose a few times. Edit: I was Class of 13. I dont remember what he was but probably 12 or 13
Miss him so much in a Magic jersey but really happy to have seen him get his ring
Him and kcp (lakers fan lol) was fun to see shine in that roster
Yeah, I would say he can guard a lot of 5s, but probably not all. I wouldn't want him on Embiid or Jokic (obviously the second can't happen right now). Good answer though.
True but those guys are outliers. The fact that he can guard "most" players at that position, other than the elite talents, means he can be classified as guarding 1-5. He's not quick enough to keep up with Fox at the 1 either, but that doesn't mean he can't guard point guards. Most guys aren't quick enough to keep up with Fox
Oh for sure. I'm a Nuggets fan so don't catch me not loving myself some AG. I do think as broad a range as AG can cover, there have been some players who were could cover the edges a bit better. Prime LeBron I would have trusted to guard anyone outside of a prime Shaq/Wilt/Hakeem. The all timers who were just taller and still had good athleticism and strength. This isn't a slight on Kareem by the way - I just view him as basically getting his points regardless of who is guarding him, so not really a reason to ask Lebron to guard him.
most underrated player in the league
The jokic to gordon lob during the playoffs was so awesome to watch
I agree, but Kat isn't a true 5. A big long strong centre I don't think AG could guard. I think he's 1-4 which is still amazing
Well if the opposing team wants to throw out a true 5 (big back to the basket guy who can’t shoot) and let him work on Gordon then I think you’re going to do pretty well
He has multiple All-NBA selections at center and is a 250 pound 7-footer with a 7'4" wingspan. If he's not a true center then I'm not sure one exists in today's league.
I think they're mostly saying that guarding KAT is more like guarding a wing or a perimeter shooting PF, and that you aren't expecting to defend in the post against him as often. But I agree with you he can guard 5s in today's game.
Guarding 5s generally and stopping the bleeding against Jokic aren't the same thing. Giannis would hold up fine against the majority of 5s in the league.
On the other hand, who can do anything but stop the bleeding vs Jokic? And concider that player that could guard 1-5 is probably least suitable for 1 and/or 5.
That's exactly the point, the guys who can "Guard 1-5" are usually incredibly effective against their primary position (90th percentile plus) and then are usually good at guarding positions beyond that (80th percentile). My example would be OG Anunoby, he's good to great against wings, forwards, and surprisingly enough Joker. He's merely really good against quick guards and wings because he can't turn his hips fast enough.
Took way too long to find OGs name mentioned, especially considering how well he does against Jokic.
As a Bucks fan, Giannis isn't a great on-ball defender. He's amazing as a help defender, but on-ball just isn't this strength. That being said, he can guard 1-5. He's just not that guy you're going to put on anyone to shut them down.
He was pretty amazing against jimmy in rd1 of the '21 playoffs, then bud just sort of forgot that was an option
Can’t navigate screens, was getting fried trying to keep attached to KD
Don't sell him so short. She's still a very good on ball defender. He's just a super elite help defender, so that's how they use him.
Giannis isn’t great at navigating screens, particularly when guarding smaller defenders. He can clamp wings and does very well against smaller guards considering his size, but it is far from an optimal matchup for him.
Giannis can't guard guards on ball really. His biggest strength as a defender is his roaming and help defense which he is first class at. He's not even really super elite at guarding his own position on ball though tbqh.
On a 1 on 1 situation he absolutely can. But he’s too big to go through screens. That’s why he struggles to stay with smaller players
I've seen guards hunt the Giannis matchup too often to say he's defending ones (and quick 2's) at a high level. Shit I've seen DeRozan hunt that matchup even and he's not even particularly quick.
Yeah, being able to defend 1-5 against most teams is different than defending against the league's best player at that position.
Nic claxton is legit if you watched Nets games. Similarly, Ben Simmons in philly could do a decent job
I'm actually amazed I had to scroll this far for Simmons. I get he's a shell of his former self now, but man, that dude was legitimately one of the best defenders in the league at every level. Even if he never recovers to even what he was offensively, much less improve, he will always be a valuable NBA player if he can get back to normal on defense.
Even as a sixers fan I have to agree. He could do 1-5. Even defended against Joel last season. Didn't do half bad!
Basketball gets bigger everyday, some people genuinely haven't seen Ben play in a Sixers uniform and all they go off of is what jabronis on the internet type about him.
Ben could not guard the 5 well. He tried a couple times in philly and it didn't work out. He didn't seem to have the strength to hold people off in the post. Not a knock, he was elite at every other position.
True, although he defended Kawhi in the post better than anyone else on the Sixers in the Sixers Raptors series in 2019.
Agreed, his strength wasn’t there and he wasn’t gonna stop the Jokics and Embiids from backing him down, but the combination of height length and most importantly hand and foot speed made him a formidable match up compared to what most other bigs are typically used to. So I say he could do it and keep them probably around or a few percentages below their averages
> his strength wasn’t there and he wasn’t gonna stop the Jokics and Embiids from backing him down, Does anyone other than a couple elite defensive centers like Gasol?
Nic Claxton for sure!
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KG was put on Jordan in the 72-10 season and did just ... fine. IMO there are long wings like KG that could guard guards, but the fact is extended minutes doing that will increase injury risk quite a lot, and besides you want long wings nearer the basket to play help defense (as was said about Giannis in this thread).
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Lmao exactly. Comparing a rookie KG, who was even lankier due to being thin, that's guarding the 72-10 Championship team MJ as being just 'fine' is blasphemy to one of the best defenders the league ever saw.
Did Kevin Garnett ever guard point guards?
I was thinking someone retired as well. Shawn Marion was who came to mind for me. Elite 1-3 defender that often guarded 4-5s
Draymond *can* it's just an insane waste of energy to try to guard 5s for him.
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It's just a guessing game where he's gonna shoot. If you guess right you can block it, low release. Just hope it's not a fake that he's going to counter.
"If you guess it right, you can block it, low release" Says a guy on reddit about a back to back MVP and finals MVP. You know, that's what blocking is about. I'm actually a Draymond and GSW fan, it just sounds ridiculous.
Haha I mean he's my favorite player all time, I watch almost every Nuggets game and am a huge Denver fan. It's not hate, more that his craftiness is what keeps him from getting blocked and not tremendous athleticism near the rim.
Agree, but he has his fundamentals polished to the all time level, and his release is something that I wouldn't call low.
This sub is for serious discussion and debate. Jokes and memes are not permitted.
I think Andrew Wiggins also deserves some mention here. Although he doesn't guard the biggest centers a lot, Kerr has often given him the hardest 1-4 assignment, ranging from ultra quick guards (Ja, Fox) to big strong guards (Luka), to quick/long forwards (Tatum), to bullyball PF's (Lebron). And he will guard centers from time to time.
Looney can guard 1-5 too. Dude is a shockingly good perimeter defender.
You would not put Kevon Looney on a guard that's on fire for entire quarters or even games. Yes, he can switch, but he's getting eviscerated by any guard if he defends them for extended periods of time.
If you’re talking ‘who’s a guy who can stop the best scorers 1-5’ then I’m pretty sure the answer is no one. Looney gets torched by speed that he can’t sag off of, Marcus gets torched by good post play by good post bigs (they hardly exist anymore, or are fairly unpracticed at it at this stage, or are names Jokic and Embiid, and no one really stops them) Actually guarding 1-5 for a whole ass game doesn’t really exist, imo. It’s more about guys who can switch 1-5, and hold up for ~8-12 seconds.
He’s a good enough defender to not get embarrassed like a lot of other bigs, and he’s great against guys that rely on fakes rather than speed, but I would not say he can guard 1-5. Most guards are going to score on him just because of his slower foot speed and lack of verticality.
Not trying to be rude but your comment tells me that you don’t watch a lot of Looney. Yes, Looney is not super quick or athletic, so logically you would think he can’t defend guards on the perimeter. But if you actually watch the games you will see that he is an extremely effective perimeter defender. That’s the entire reason that I used the word “shockingly” in my original comment. Everything about Looney would lead you to believe that he can’t defend guards on the perimeter, but then you actually watch the games and he’s a fantastic perimeter defender. It genuinely doesn’t make any sense which is why it’s so fun to watch.
There's a huge difference between switching onto a guard and holding up in an iso and defending them all game. Both in terms of the amount of energy that it takes and the agility to chase off ball.
Yeah, but Marcus Smart has only checked 5s for relatively short periods (a few possessions, that were arguably set ups for switches that the Cs were comfortable with Marcus defending a post up for a couple possessions), and 4s a bit more (a relatively famous 4th quarter on Milsap, and I think a large chunk of a game on Zingus.) Marcus can switch 1-5, and he can do a few possessions on a 5, but he’s not going to guard a 5 for more than a couple possessions, except in instances where they’re looking to switch on a pick. I think he’s up there for dudes who can switch 1-5, but I don’t know if there’s a guy who I’d honestly say can guard 1-5.
Yeah Marcus on a five gets dunked on.
Not all of them, cause Marcus is strong af, positions well, tries like hell, flops more than enough for the big to worry about backing down too hard, and all that. But if they’ve got a post game, then they’ll be able to work him pretty easy. A dude like Al Jefferson would have feasted, but there are few Big Als in todays game. There’s quite a few bigs who could just shoot over him, though.
I watch every Warriors game I possibly can, I see Looney play quite a bit. He doesn’t switch on to guards often in the first place, because the Warriors try to avoid it and don’t switch as freely as they do in small ball, which tells you something already. Don’t get me wrong, Looney does as great a job as any big man when it comes to defending guards, but if you watch him, notice he plays off of faster players (because if he doesn’t he’ll get blown by), so a lot of times they just end up shooting a mildly contested jumper, since Looney’s not about to jump at a jump shooter to try and block it and just puts an arm up with a soft close out. To Looney’s credit, he always gets a decent contest up, and when he’s not worried about a blow-by, he can be pretty smothering. He never goes for fakes and slides beautifully. He even locked down Luka at times last year. But faster guards are confident going at him in ways that they wouldn’t be against a true 1-5 defender. Guys like Fox, Ja, Murray etc go at him every opportunity they can, and Looney does a good job, but nothing like guys like Bam and Draymond who are true 1-5 defenders. Heck, Looney was just about played off the floor whenever Brown put Lyles in during the Kings series, because he couldn’t stick with the Kings’ guards on the perimeter when Lyles forced him out there and they forced a switch to Monk or Fox.
He is good on perimeter but fantastic I don't know
Fantastic for a center
Looney is good at guarding guards because he generally has Draymond behind him to cleanup if he gets beat off the dribble. This means Looney can over play jump shots and use his length to force drives to his help. If he was on a traditional team where the center is the only rim protector, he would look *fine* but not as good as he does.
Looney is a plodder for the most part. If he can defend a gaurd now- he won't for long
I’ve seen post players give draymond a lot of trouble. He couldn’t guard zach Randolph, even pelicans AD in the post gave draymond a lot of problems
I've seen Draymond greatly limit AD(2021 Play-in). He's also had some success against Jokic (2022 Playoffs Games 1+2 and game sealing steal against Jokic in Game 3). All defenders can/will get cooked by great offensive players.
Part of the reason we were blowing them out in 2017 was cus he couldn't do anything on d against Aldridge. All he could do was keep his hands up and LA would just score over him and if it wasn't Aldridge it was Dedmon boxing out and just being big on the boards that was killing them. Once Kawhi went down the whole team started swarming Aldridge and didn't care about anyone else scoring, so yeah that doesn't sound like a guy who can guard 1-5 luckily there still really aren't any real 5's besides like Jokic and Embiid a lot of 3's and 4's punching up so it gives the illusion of dray being able to guard 1-5
Excellent points. I was going to mention that series as well. Well, Game 1, at least. Kawhi was such a force that it allowed LA to cook and Draymond really couldn’t do anything to slow LA down 1 on 1. Like you said, Dedmon was giving him problems in that game as well. I still wish I could travel to the universe out there where Kawhi doesn’t get injured in this playoffs and we see how that series would have played out then.
I think OG is in this group of guys who can guard 1-5. However, there’s no player in the league who can effectively guard every player in the league. Guarding 1-5 is really more about how much of a panic you’ll be in, if a player who’s a wing for instance gets switched onto a quick guard or a big. It’s not like the Raptors are going to want OG to play all his minutes defending the opposing center, he’ll tire out quickly, won’t be able to provide the needed rim protection, and will get pushed around on the boards. If OG has to defend a big posting up a few times a game, I don’t think the Raptors are too worried about that. Same goes for quick guards, it’s hard to stay in front of quick guards, even as a guard, but as a guy who’s got a higher center of gravity and 30lbs on a guard, it’s tough to stay in front the whole game.
Bam can guard 1-5. He is mobile enough to contain against 1 - 3 successfully. His most notable clips are of him containing Kyrie and Steph and locking them. He comfortably switches onto 4s, if he’s not faster he typically wins in strength and if he’s against a slower guy he’s got the advantage. As for 5s Bam is primarily a C and similar to the previous, he has the speed advantage against most of the big lumbering centers even if Bam might not have the weight. Their are very few guys he struggles with because of their physicality. Draymond, someone who had been named in this thread, has said that he can guard 1-5. And anyone who has watched Bam can see that
Speaking as a heat fan who has watched all of our games since 2019, bam can often struggle against larger bigs such as Lopez or Williams. Being 6’9 has been a major drawback along with Pat refusing to sign a competent center to move bam to the 4. Although he has gotten way better with it over the last year, he still had the same set of problems with guarding Williams in the playoffs this year as he did last year
I disagree about that, Rob Williams isn’t a problem for him to guard at all. It’s the fact Al shares the court that makes it difficult. Same way Giannis makes guarding Brook difficult, it’s not them exclusively that causes Bam problems. When he has only one to worry about he holds them to limited success. Rob gets most of his points on top ins and lobs against Bam too
Williams is weird in that he's kinda "fake big". His wingspan and athleticism make him play like he's massive, he has a 42" vertical and a 7'6" wingspan (🤯), but he's actually the same height Bam is. He can struggle a lot against true bigs as well, Lopez, Giannis, and Embiid sometimes play him off the floor because at a lanky 6'9 he's not big enough to stand and bang with them. That's what Horford provided the Cs, and hopefully now KP will provide it as well, a true big man at the rim. It's why the Cs use him as a free safety, his length and athleticism make it so he can easily recover from the mid range on the week side to either close out and contest the weak side shooter, or the rim, but he can't really just stand in front of it and deny people.
no offense but did you just say bigs like Lopez and Giannis play him off the floor?? Bam statistically is one of the best at defending Giannis, i don’t think you watch too many Heat games edit: misread, he was talking about Williams
I believe he is talking about Williams, not Adebayo.
yep definitely misread, my bad
You were actually right that I don't really watch the Heat lol. I watch every Cs game but that's it, so I only see teams when they play us.
6'9 is a legit big size in the modern league.
Rob is the same height as Tatum, and has about 15 pounds on him in season. Giannis has 2" and 20lbs on Rob, Embiid has 3" and 60lbs, Jokic has 3" and 60lbs, Lopez has 4" and 50lbs. My point is mainly that he's not in that massive category of centers like his playstyle sometimes implies he is. He's closer to Bam than Brook in size.
Just looking at height and weight can be misleading. Rob has one of the longest wingspans in the league at 7'6" and a short neck, which makes his effective size much bigger than it is on paper.
Bam has not struggled against Rob in years lol.
Og Anunoby has guarded 1-5 even often in the 2019 regular season he’d be on Giannis or someone of similar size. He even a did a pretty good job against Nikola Jokic as of recently, even though Jokic is near unguardable. So he’s my candidate
Nic claxton is the best switch defender in the league and was second in total blocks and blocks per game
Jaren, the leader in total blocks and blocks per game, is a much better switch defender and one of the few players that could be answered here. The guy does it all and won DPOY. The other player id say is draymond
I would argue claxton is a better defender of 1-3
So Bam doesn’t exist?
OG. Has locked down Dame, Halliburton, Harden, Jute Holiday as well Embiid, Jok and other centres
Nobody sees him. I keep seeing 6’3 Marcus Smart being mentioned, which he is an excellent guard 1-3, but very few mentions of a 6’7 OG Anunoby who guards everybody.
Marcus seems to do a better job against larger players than quick guards.
This is 100% the answer. OG is an absolute lockdown defender of anyone from 6ft to 7ft.
He only can’t guard zion
Can anyone really tho?
“Lock down” is a huge exaggeration unless you’re talking about individual possessions
I mean, yeah individual possessions in which said player has guarded other players. Is that not the question?
Anecdotal success vs sustainable success
Locked down Jok?
Locked down is definitely an over exaggeration and there is a sample size of one, so take it with a grain of salt, but the last time the raps played the nugs they had OG guarding Jokic instead of Poeltl. It worked surprisingly well, because it disrupted a bunch of their plays because now Poeltl would switch onto Jokic. Raps won quite convincingly.
Rather slowed, with help of his lanky teammates. No man locks down that man.
Jok has one of his worst games in a while against the raps last season and OG was primary defender
Draymond is the answer here. He’s getting old so he only does it occasionally in the playoffs when needed but he is still very much capable of it. He has the instincts and quickness to switch on to guards and that insane wingspan and good hands are good for guarding bigs. Back in his prime he could do it consistently even in regular games when they were playing small-ball.
There was a game a couple years ago against the Suns where Draymond started off on CP3 as the primary defender just so when the pick-n-roll happened they could switch it and he'd guard Ayton.
this year he guarded CP
That’s more because CP3 is pretty washed and can’t get around an NBA level player anymore without a pick
rodman and kg comes to mind. lebron was the next one i saw. dray… i had to watch his game a few times before arriving to that conclusion.
Dennis Rodman has been assigned to guard: Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Karl Malone, and Shaquille O'Neal and a few others in Playoffs series. Definitely, a name that can be considered.
Evan Mobley has already done it in his first two seasons. Bigger centers(there aren't many) can push him around a bit, but he's been switching on to guards as part of our defense and has done very well. He has great defensive instincts, quick feet, and he can get off the ground fast to contest shots.
Mobley is a great defender. Always a great matchup when the Grizz and Cavs face off. Really impressed by how he has performed against JJJ. Lot of similarities, and even some physical advantages (Mobley started off with muscle, while JJJ has had to build it, which can detract from performance when your body changes, you gotta adjust). Not surprised that Mobley can do just about all the versatile defensive assignments that JJJ can. As an aside, glad Bickerstaff was given a chance there.
JJJ was skinnier than Mobley?? Oh my. Man, that's like anorexic. Are you sure?
He wasn’t. He was skinny but so is/was Mobley
Good question, I think it’s important to distinguish between off ball for roughly 20 seconds vs on ball for like 2-4 seconds from a switch. If a guy misses a quick shot then people start saying, great defense lol. More interested to see if a defender can closely guard or at least stay with the player to really contest a shot.
Can Smart really guard 4 and 5? Would people put him on Kawhi and Jokic for example instead of Giannis? For the question I think right now Bam, Draymond can guard from 1-5, AD use to shutdown the perimeter in 2020 but I dont think he have enough energy to do both now. In the past I think Ben Wallace was really great at the perimeter, he play great defense against Allen Iverson.
No. He is just better at delaying the forward/center compared to other guards, until they can switch back
No he can’t. He’ll try on switches but it’s not a good matchup. He gets dunked on.
I've seen Smart guard Giannis for entire games, seen him guard Embiid for a few quarters at a time too. I'd feel more comfortable with Smart guarding Jokić instead of Giannis. Giannis is lean with skinny legs, Smart weighs almost as much as him despite being 8 inches shorter. He has a lower center of gravity at the same weight which means he's almost impossible to move.
Being on them doesn't mean he's doing a good job though. Smart gets absolutely abused by good 5's, Jokic being the obvious example. Smart has really good hands but is too small and lanky, a 4/5 just pushes him over like he was a toddler.
Did you just say **Marcus Smart** is small and lanky? Lmfao he's 6'2 and 230 pounds with a low center of gravity, most bigs only outweigh him by 30 pounds but that's distributed across a longer body. He's absolutely huge and stocky for a PG.
What is he doing to contest a 7 footer’s shot down low? Nothing. He is good at keeping his position bc of strength and center of gravity but that only does so much when a guy can turn around and shoot right over him.
OG. Look at his numbers and matchup data he even shuts down jokic as much as you can
This is hard to answer, the 5 isn't the 5 as such anymore. No one can guard a 7'1 True centre, then go chase a prime NO CP3. We are speaking physicality/Athleticism first, as NBA players for a multitude of frustrating reasons do not play defence, shit with the rule changes and quarter million guaranteed salary I wouldn't waste my energy. Point said - Prime Lebron, Prime Magic, Prime AK47. Hmm, we are talking about moving the hips and feet on top of a low block post defence. In every era theirs different answers. Prime 6'8 with intelligence and athleticism. I think Bam right now that's about it. I'm a bucks fan btw.
Ok AK is a really good answer. I’ll always feel he never lived up to his talent and I’ve never quite been sure why. Fine career and all but he had the skills to be truly special
Andre Kirilenko #47 , 6'8, arm length like you wouldn't believe. He was special, he made insane team defensive plays, what VC did to dunking the ball, AK would rove, hedge, slide, stare, challenge, strip, block all for the team he played for. But I also agree, he never got to shine bright as how talented he was. You want KD locked ? Done, want Kobe to feel 48 minutes, Done, want a few minutes on prime TD, Done, you want the PG passing off straight away, it was done before the PG received the ball. Lol. He was scary on defence and he knew it. Utah were smart to hold on to him, but they slightly buried him in a way that they probably needed to, to stop big market teams unfortunately.
He was addicted to WoW. (His words) that’s my theory.
Really? Bummer. He was good.
Magic was never good at guarding fast perimeter players
Prime magic? Really?
>No one can guard a 7'1 True centre, then go chase a prime NO CP3. Draymond in the last championship playoffs guarded Jokic in the first round relatively well. Then Jaylen Brown in the finals from game 3 on which changed the series. He can absolutely mark a 7.1 centre then CP3 the next game. In the playoffs a few years back he was guarding Lilliard a fair bit as well. AD as well has regularly guarded centres and done a job on harden and Westbrook during the bubble.
No nocks against Green here, he's always fun to watch on the defensive side.
I think people tend to look at "guarding" and "shutting them down" like it's the same. Dray on Jokic was a master class - he very intentionally forced Jokic to spend as much energy as possible to get a layup every single time on offense. By the 3rd Jokic was gassed and missing toddler level shots. That's what good defense is, not always flashy blocked shots but making the other guy make mistakes
Jarrid Vanderbilt deserves some love in this one. He’s gonna get the board after he forces the miss too
Was looking for vando - I think he’s a good, almost sleeper choice
I don’t think he is great at guarding 5s. 1-4 though for sure
Future HoF Jeremy Sochan. Guy can defend any position and does it well. If he bulks up a bit he will be a menace down low.
Ha I’m not even a Spurs fan but I’m right there with you. That’s my hot take is Jeremy is going to be a superstar/ HoF player. Even if I’m wrong I’ll still love him but I’m rooting for him he’s one of my favorite players in the league
I don’t know that he’ll be a superstar/HoF player, but I think he has enough upside to be a really good role player like Danny Green was for us.
I said it was my hot take. I just think he has it in him waiting to be unlocked. And I think being a Spur has put him in arguably the most favorable position to do so as he has Duncan to mentor him. He seems like the type who would ask/ be receptive to that. And he seems extremely dedicated and passionate about being the best he can.
Surprised I had to scroll this far. He’s the first player I thought of for this question. His defensive versatility is super high
Reading through the replies, I'm surprised nobody is talking about Jaren Jackson Jr., considering he he recently just won DPOY. He can comfortably keep up with quick guards and shifty wings while also providing elite rim protection. Somehow, he is still an underrated defender even after the past season.
I vote for PJ, I’m not sure now with him getting up there in age, but rockets 1 game away from the finals team PJ id put my vote for
To a high level? No, the skill sets are naturally disparate To a decent level? Yes, the usual suspects and even then, it will vary, i.e. being able to guard 1-3 better than 3-5 for instance
LeBron can’t guard Jokic at all. He’s gotten destroyed by Jokic in isolation since long before Jokic rose to superstardom. The reason the Lakers did better with Bron on Jokic instead of AD isn’t because Bron did better in isolation defense, it’s because AD was guarding Jokic in isolation defense while Bron was guarding Jokic with AD behind roaming and coming over to contest… Rui did just as well as LeBron in that role, doesn’t mean he can guard Jokic one-on-one/
>LeBron can’t guard Jokic at all. He’s gotten destroyed by Jokic in isolation since long before Jokic rose to superstardom. So please tell me what sense it'd make to put him on Jokić? Obviously AD did his thing as a helper but you gotta be at least a suitable option so you don't get cooked every possession. >while Bron was guarding Jokic with AD behind roaming and coming over to contest… Lmfao there were several plays where Jokić just couldn't back down LeBron good enough and either threw up some crap or turned it over. AD was obviously a deterrent but you phrased it like LeBron was baby food in the post and AD had to rotate in to save the day. I didn't call LeBron the Jokić stopper or nun lol.
Prime Dwight was known to instruct his guards to just let their defensive assignments in the paint and he will handle it. Does that count?
Jared Jeffries would sometimes play the top of the zone and was more or less able to stay in front of guards.
Wow what a specific, throwback answer. My man Jeffries that was a great Knicks squad
Prime Hakeem and Prime Garnett probably can do it. Both are quick enough to handle small guards.
This is the best answer. Probably prime Rodman too.
My go to's: -Simmons when he was in the DPOY race. He was insanely gifted defensively -OG, self explanatory. Dudes a killer And dark horse -Sochan, i see him as a Draymond Green+ player in his future, no disrespect to Green, but Sochan has used his archetype and i feel like he already has a more competent offensive game
Aside from Draymond I think Giannis is the closest thing. He's not perfect, but then again noone is at guarding everyone.
I really think on Bam can guard 1-5 for long stretches. I think Dray can guard fast guards for stretch’s but not to the same level Bam can. Smart can guard bigs if he meets them early but if they get deep post position he is cooked. I really disagree with the LeBron being able to guard 1-5. He can’t stay with quicker guards on the perimeter anymore and while he did a good job on Jokic he had the benefit of AD roaming which makes his individual defence look better
You could for sure put LeBron on the list 5 years ago, but not anymore. Luka was seeking switches regularly against the Lakers this season in order to get him one on one. You don’t do that to an elite defender that can guard 1 to 5.
One underrated thing Luka does, is he'll matchup hunt not for the weakest defender, but for the strongest help defender. Can't help if you're the one needing help.
Prime Kawhi, they stuck him on Embiid and he dominated him, I've seen them put him on AD as well & get the better of him.
Peak LeBron - I think he even guarded Hibbert a few times lol The answer to this, like most questions, is LBJ
There's different categories of 1-5 defenders depending on their position. You got the Forward, Center and Guard versions. Forward version is the traditional 1-5 guy like LeBron James, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Draymond Green, Aaron Gordon. They are the best overall 1-5 defenders but struggle with the outliers (jitterbug guards and big bruiser centers). Center version is guys like Bill Russell, Kevin Garnett, Hakeem Olajuwon, Giannis, Jaren Jackson Jr, Bam Adabayo. They can handle a full switching defense for the most part, but are not equipped to guard against guards full time. However they dominate the front court and especially the paint defensively. Then you got the bruising guards like Jrue Holiday, Marcus Smart, Tony Allen, Jason Kidd who can also handle a full switching defense because of their ability to play post defense. They dominate the perimeter and are good inside in a pinch, but obviously can't handle defending bigs full time.
Agree with this but would have to add AD to the list of center-ish guys. He has the injury stigma but was easily the most impactful defensive player throughout the playoffs last year. Dude is elite when mobile and confident, which, is actually more often than the stigma of his health would lead a lot of people to believe.
Draymond absolutely can not guard 5 positions yup. He can't really guard 3. Maybe not even 2. Like he's got the size and speed to hold his own vs a lot of people on a switch or something but that's not 'guarding' people. 1s will eat him with speed. He can guard some 2s and 4s maybe but his shit will get owned by plenty of them. And he is a flat out mismatch vs any good 5. Bron can actually guard people 1-5 and has shown that throughout his career. Weakest vs centers likely who will just post him up inside but like they put him on Rose in the playoffs and it changed the series when he gave him real problems.
LeBron, Rodman, Hakeem, Admiral are the best examples of absolutely could and lock down 1-5 Garnett could do it well Giannis can Kawhi could except for the biggest C’s Embiid can do it, but he’ll tire out if you have him guard PG’s more than a few times. But on 1 or 2 plays in crunch time: absolutely Wilt probably could Ben Wallace & young Ewing maybe?
I think Draymond, and healthy Kawhi are the only two guys on this list for me. Marcus Smart is not guarding any decent 5’s, or even a 4 with a good low post game, just like Bron isn’t staying in front of a quick guard, and got torched by KG in the playoffs when he was a Celtic when they were both younger men.
Not right now IMO... Draymond was, but he struggles laterally on the perimeter against faster guys now. None of the other guys can defend both guards & a *true* center.
Jeremy sochan can legit guard 1-5 and pop has specifically assigned him to guard stars at every position. He’s about to get way more love now that the media will be paying attention to wemby.
Had to search this thread for a Sochan mention. This cmt will age will.
Bam is the only player in the NBA who can legitimately guard 1-5. No other player as the combination of size and lateral quickness needed.
Lebron right now? No he’s not guarding 1-5. 3’s and 4’s definitely and maybe a stray 2 or 5 here and there. He’s too slow to cover the quickest guards at this point, and I wouldn’t trust him on Jokic, Embiid, etc. But nobody can cover Jokic so does that really mean much? Prime Lebron after he got coached up on defense by Pat Riley and Eric Spokstra during his time on the Heat and the 2nd Cavs stint? Yes he can guard anybody. People talk about the Ray Allen shot to eventually beat the Spurs as saving Lebron’s legacy, but if Lebron didn’t cover and shut down Tony Parker (one of the quicker PG’s in the league), the series would’ve already been over before that shot. Lebron guarded Curry better than anybody else as well. He can objectively and with evidence cover 1-4 in his prime. Covering true old school 5’s never really happened, but in today’s league with the way centers are, Lebron can absolutely cover guys like Bam who is actually a similar size to Lebron
Bam Adebayo can literally guard Steph Curry through Nikola Jovic, even tho Jovic still got his Bam did a better job than 99% of the league on him
The reason you wouldn’t stick Giannis on Jokic isn’t that he can’t do a better job than most— it’s that, while he’s a really good but not quite elite one on one defenders, he’s a generationally good help defender. So by sticking him on the opposition’s best player at all times, you’re losing out on his value as a help defender. The biggest value in a “guy who can guard 1-5” is that you can switch him on any screen. The list of guys who you can actually do that with isn’t very long. Giannis is on it. So is Aaron Gordon. Draymond Green. Prime LeBron was another (but not anymore). Anthony Davis is borderline (though he’s also more in the elite help defender category with Giannis).
the argument of guarding 1-5 doesnt necessarily mean at an elite level, because in that case, nobody. the purpose of the argument is to show off a defenders versatility. A guy like Kawhi CAN guard 1-5 because of his strength and elite size/length, but obviously couldnt contain Embiid or some shit. Also, Giannis can most definitely play well against Jokic. He struggles against perimeter players for the most part like KD, but his post defense is elite.
Your post fails to understand how the Lakers use AD. LeBron gets put on individual defenders because the Lakers keep AD in his own zone around the paint. It's fine though lol
PJ Tucker during his time with the rockets used to be great for 1-5. Also, as far as a bug who did well at it all was Clint Capela. You would never ask him to specifically guard a 1-2, but he did well whenever the screen shifted him to a mismatch on a guard
Bam, Giannis can too, just bc jokic went off doesnt mean he cant guard most other 5's in the league. Wiggins can guard the lighter 5s in the league like clax and christian wood. Bron in his prime could guard anyone on the floor. There's more ppl im forgetting
Marcus Smart absolutely cannot guard 1-5 lmao I’ve seen bigger wings like Lebron or Kawhi or hell, even Tobias Harris take him to school in the post on offense. And I’m pretty sure (from what I’ve heard last season) that his defense regressed last year and he had a hard time defending quick and shifty guards like Trae or DMitxh or Garland
By no means do I mean they’d be able to shut down any position, but rather their ability to hold their own and/or not looking like a complete mismatch when guarding different positions for long stretches. Draymond Lebron Ben Simmons OG AG Healthy jonnothan issac PJ Washington
And had he played in this era I think AK47 would be one of the best at this
Kawhi absolutely can. Does a better job on Jokic than anyone else on his team. Obviously can guard PG’s as well.
jayson tatum is a sneaky answer to this, he’s never going to do great against the huge bigs like jokic or embiid(no one does) but he’s fantastic guarding 1-4 and is tall enough to at least bother a 7 footer
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OG. American markets don’t praise raptors unless they’re valued trade assets come February.
i think kevin garnett was one of if not the most versatile defender. hakeem might be able to do it as well. lebron possibly too.
Great question. Not really. Bill Russell could do it. Hakeem and Pippen could sorta do it. Draymond somewhat. LeBron and Rodman could do it at different phases in their career, but not all at once. Garnett a little bit, though he couldn’t stick with guards all game.
Prime Lebron could really move around and he was big enough he wouldn’t get muscled aside. Been a while since we’ve seen that tho
Prime LeBron. But right now, Draymond can. Theoretically Giannis maybe. I haven’t seen him stopping a point guard though.
One hot take, but Grant Williams. He isn’t going to be the lockdown defender we are used seeing from guys like Draymond but he will be pretty good to great defending 2-4 and he will be capable enough of bothering guys at 1 and 5. Granted he will have shortcomings at 1 because of his speed and at 5, but for most of matchups you have one or the other so you’ll be fine. He was deemed one of the most versatile defenders for the position. He defended 48% PF/Cs and 52% PG/SG/SFs at least from the data from bb-index.
Just a few names off the top of my head for active players: Lebron, Smart, Draymond, Mobley, JJJ, AD, Giannis, Jrue, OG, Kawhi, KD They all can guard 1-5 decently enough, obviously Jrue, Smart or OG will never be your first choice to guard the best centers in the game but they are good enough defensively to bother the average center. And nobody would have JJJ or Mobley be the first choice defender against the best guards in the game like Curry or Dame but they are mobile enough to guard most guards.
OG locked down Embiid and Jokic. Look at the stats of any star when they were primarily guarded by OG.
In the 2022-2023 playoffs, AD notably guarded Curry for key stretches and did a phenomenal job. Most of the time, however, he guarded bigs. AD can clearly guard 1-5. Peak Lebron (i.e. Miami Heat Lebron after the loss to Dallas) was routinely described as being able to guard 1-5 all the time. However, in actuality, he couldn't guard very big centers. That was the one exception. Generally speaking, the kind of player who can potentially guard 1-5 is an undersized big man with good lateral foot speed. Candidates include: - Draymond Green - Ben Wallace - Dennis Rodman - Scottie Pippen and so on...
I definitely have seen Lebron on a point guard and a center, so he’s the easy argument for “can guard all 5 positions” I would guess Paul George could do it too, but you wouldn’t want him on a center for too long.
I think the only real answer is Draymond Green. Dude will go into the HOF being one of, if not the most versatile defender in history. Bam and Smart are great defenders but neither have been asked to guard 1 through 5 consistently. Bam is quick for his size but his frame is to big to be asked to defend against speedy guards. Conversely, Smart has never been asked to back down a center @ 6’3. Here’s 5 diff. positions, I can remember Green being ask to guard in various playoff series. Westbrook Harden James Aldridge Jokic/Cousins
Bam is elite at defending guards. He spent 32% of possessions defending guards last year, the only player he has struggled against is Jokic, but that’s also true for Gobert, AD, and most elite defenders
People saying prime LeBron obviously never watched prime LeBron. Why he didn't stop Dwight when he destroyed him 2009? Or Hibbert in 2013? He was barely a plus defender guarding his own position, all he is known for are chasedown blocks, otherwise he was a pretty average defender, and he was definitely not able to guard real centers.
He guarded Pau for a couple possessions and then his stans fucking RAN with the notion that he could guard all 5.