In the Paint - Best Defensive Centers

[yoe91]

Nate Thurmond, a guy who intrigues me a whole lot.

Red Auerbach, the slowest, most frustrating to listen to talker of all time.

[AxonMoses]

"A defensive play is not over until your team has the ball"

Dear Mr. Russelll

Please share this wisdom with today's big men, particularly Dwight Howard

[tommy9882]

1:52 bob cousy !!

[BeatsFlows]

Bill Russell is the best defender ever¡¡¡

[eppeone]

The Dream surpasses them all... The best defensive basketball player of all time, period..

[garioldwin]

@eppeone Nate Thurmond is probably the best defensive center ever .

[tellthetruthg]

Kareem said Nate defended him the best. Can't find the quote but he did say it in print SF Chronicle. I think Nate is the most under rated Player ever. If he was 20 something right now he'd be the best center in the NBA. He was in the era of the center and he was third best at the time behind only Wilt & Russel were better over all. Sheeze he's on the 50 all time best team. I believe voted for by NBA players.

[SamuelMoralesJr]

Defense isn't always about stats, or how many shots your blocked, or how many steals you done. The true meaningful stat is how many shots you didn't allow to go in the bucket. Making a offensive player miss because of your defensive persistence creating discomfort can be just as effective as a steal, or a blocked shot. Bill Russell is the best defensive center. Nate Thurmond was a great center too. Very good offensively, defensively, and rebounding.

[vaibanez17]

How can you have a discussion about the best defensive centers and not list Hakeem Olajuwon or at least show a few highlights of his career? He has the most official blocked shots in NBA history and also the most steals by a center in a career.

[mcentepede]

@vaibanez17 I agree there. But Kareem would challenge Olajuwon for most blocks had they counted blocks B4 1975. Even at that, Kareem is 3rd all time in Blocks which is impressive. Also Kareem had a good free throw average for a center.

[007nites]

@vaibanez17 That statistic is great but if blocks weren't counted when Russell was playing. He would have accumulated probably around 6,000+ blocks throughout his career considering he was averaging 6-10 blocks a game.

[sellis235]

Abdul-jabbar said the hardest matchup he ever had was nate thurmond

[epics7]

@sellis235 ditto. nate talked about this last night.

[32UCLA]

Although Russell perfected the art of shot blocking, I think Wilt probably had more blocks over his career. The thing about Russell is, once he established himself as the defensive force that he was, he tended to pick his spots to block his opponent's shots. He might let a guy go for 3 and 1/2 quarters, and then block 5 or 6 shots in a row down the stretch.

Wilt tended to go after everything. And he got enough of them to make me think he probably did block more shots than Russell.

[mysisterisannoying1]

i like how none of the comments are about thurmond

[ExplosiveThinMan]

The other advantage that Russell had and was smart enough to use is that he blocked shots with his lefthand.

Sounds like a minor thing but most players shoot righthanded. That means he didnt have to go across his body to get to the ball. Its a game of inches and Bill broke it down as such.

[SunMan6A6]

wilt with no running could have touched the top of the squre on the backboard with ease

[geocgeo]

11 championships in 13 N.B.A. seasons is all the proof you need. 55 straight wins and back to back championships while he was in college at U.S.F. if you need any more. That's 13 championships in 15 years not even counting the gold in the Olympics. He made the players around him better. He was named first team defensive player only once because it only started in his last season playing in the NBA. The best defensive center ever.

[jeffa4]

Wilt was the greatest shot blocker PERIOD! No one manned the paint better than Wilt . . .ever! He used to block Kareem's skyhook regularly! No one changed the game defensively like Wilt!

[ExplosiveThinMan]

Russell blocked just as many shots or more than Wilt. Bill had the greatest timing in the history of the game.

He also brush blocked the ball and sometimes caught it in the air so he kept possession.

Wilt would knock the ball into the stands but Russell was always thinking ahead.

Thats why he is the greatest defensive force the game has ever seen.

[jeffa4]

U r WAY OFF on the defensive comparison. Russell was a better defender overall, but Wilt's shot blocking was unmatched.

NBA Statisticians claims if BLOCKS were a stats during Wilt's career, he would have averaged a triple double the 1st 10 yrs of his career, not Bill!

And you are patently lying about Wilt blocking shots in the stands. Wilt kept the ball n play most of the time.

Lastly, teams would change their offensive philosophy against Wilt b/c u couldnt score n da paint on him!

[ExplosiveThinMan]

Teams changed their gameplans because of Russell too. He was quicker than Wilt and used it to his advantage. He was alos one of the smartest players of alltime.

And no Russell is the one who brushblocked the ball and kept it in play. Maybe later on Wilt tried to emulate Bill but that is understandable.

When Bill Russell coached the Kings in the late 80s they traded for Ralph Sampson who was 7-4. When Bill stood flatfooted he could reach up higher than Sampson could. His arms were long.

[jeffa4]

Russell's standing reach was 9.'4", Wilt's was 9'6", Sampson was 9'8". Not sure where your getting ur info from but those r the facts!

And normally, teams DID NOT change their offensive attacks b/c of Russell. Teams challenged him; teams rarely challenged Wilt in the paint.

But again, Russell was the better 'overall' defender. He could defend multple positions. But Wilt was the greatest SHOT BLOCKER of all time, and there aint even a close 2nd!

[ExplosiveThinMan]

Those # are not accurate because I saw them compare reach in the late 1980s. Russell was flatfooted and so was Sampson and Bill had the longer reach. It was amazing that a guy hardly 6-10 could have that long arms. I`ll never forget that.

As far as Russell being the better defender but not the better shotblocker I guess we`ll have to agree to disagree.

[radio187]

Hakeem was at least as good a defender as Russell. Hakeem dominated the paint in his day at both ends of the court like only the great ones do.

[ExplosiveThinMan]

Russell was the best shotblocker of them all.

[shellshockkd12]

Hakeem Olajuwon is one of the greatest of all time. One again OVERLOOKED.

[MFSilverOxide]

Shaq, Ewing, Robinson, Malone, Mourning Sabonis weren't mentioned either.

It looks like this clip was originated in the early 80s, before any of the aforementioned centers (save for Moses Malone), including Hakeem were in the league.

[ExplosiveThinMan]

Yeah Hakeem was a great defensive center. He had quickness and strength to go with great desire. I dont think people realize how strong Olajawon really was.

He was 250lbs of muscle but he moved like a cat. He really wasnt 7ft tall. He was closer to 6-10.

[tuzwol]

Wilt was the best shot blocker.This documentary doesnt highlight the fact that Wilt,Nate,Jabbar,and Lanier all played against each other.Nate and Wilt even played on the same team having their own version of the twin towers

[ddenuci]

Camera angles can be deceitful, but how high do you think Wilt is when he blocks Havlicek's shot at 0:12? He looks like he is standing at least 3 feet away from the Celtic when he makes the block. Amazing.