Can a player in the nba be the best at their position and not be a great defender??

blowdawhistle

blowdawhistle

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The title says it all..

I never understood how Nash could be the mvp & be considered the best pg in the league but be an average defender at best.... Amare is not better thanGarnett or Dunca imo becuz they play at both ends... Doesn't it make sense that you should play well at both ends if your one of the elite elite (yes imeant to type it twice) players in the league... That is what makes Kobe the best player in the league to me is cuz he's an amazing scorer obviously buthe's one of the best defensive guards in the league also...Lebron is an amazing player offensively...but he's an average defender at best...i think ina couple years he will be an elite defender but he isnt now...To me its what seperates Cp3 from Dwill...Cp3 is a better defender so in my mind he's abetter pg
 
Nashty is arguably the best at PG still... and he aint good at defense, as we all know.

Best 2 guard is 24... and he can lock you down.

LBJ holds the 3 spot, and when he tries he can shut you down as well.

D12 or Yao are both good defenders, and Duncan and KG are really good as well.

So its debatable but if you say Nashty is the best PG then the answer is yes, they can be the best and be weak on the defensive end
 
nash winning 2 mvps is a black eye on the nba

the best point guard is either chris paul or jason kidd still not this nash bs just because hes free to do whatever he wants and gets liek 56 assists a gamedoesn't mean hes the best point guard

jsut look at the way chris paul has carried the hornets
 
Originally Posted by redstorm24

nash winning 2 mvps is a black eye on the nba

the best point guard is either chris paul or jason kidd still not this nash bs just because hes free to do whatever he wants and gets liek 56 assists a game doesn't mean hes the best point guard

jsut look at the way chris paul has carried the hornets
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Yea but he won those when he was the best point guard. He isn't anymore.
 
^ Yeah but he never played a lick of defense, even then. Nash was basically a fantasy league mvp that won the real thing.

Theres not a doubt in my mind that Chris Paul is the best point guard in the game. He does it on O and D night in and night out.


and D12 isn't that great of a defender. Maybe its because I only see him against Bosh but he has some suspect foot speed. Pretty low I.Q on that end of thefloor as well.

But yeah, in order to be the best you gotta show up on both sides of the floor. Chris Paul, Timmy D, Olajuwon and MJ are personified versions of that.
 
I've never considered Nash to be elite. He plays in an offense which makes his stats seem better than he is.
 
See, this is why I respect the hell out of players like that. Its why I love Anthony Parker; he plays hard on O, and even harder on D. I respect the hell outof players who do that.
Its why I think Chris Paul is deserving of MVP, and no question about it.

Not saying Kobe doesnt play D, because he is probably one of the hardest working players on the defensive end of the floor; Just how CP3 has carried his teamon his back on both ends of the floor.

CP3
Kobe
Dwight

those kind of players, I cant say anything bad about, because of how they work at both ends of the floor.
 
I think you can only be the best at your position without great D if you are just THAT much better than everyone else on everything else that your Ddoesn't matter. That is not really the case, as everyones offensive game is somewhat comparable at the top of the league, so the "tiebreaker" soto speak is what you can do on the defensive end. Just my opinion.
 
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Can a player in the nba be the best at their position and not be a great defender??
Michael%20Jordan%20-%20Slam%20Dunk%20%2788.jpg
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Nash WAS the best PG in the league. I think it's safe to say Chris Paul is now.
Been trying to tell my friends since his rookie season.
 
Originally Posted by carlosS510

I've never considered Nash to be elite. He plays in an offense which makes his stats seem better than he is.
Click to expand...

You mean the same offense that was godawful before he got there?
 
I've never considered Nash to be elite. He plays in an offense which makes his stats seem better than he is.
He sure wasn't the most marketable...And Paul in his prime will be > than Nash in his prime, but you cant argue against the numbers....atthe time Nash was MVP.... there really wasn't any other great arguments against him winning it....It was all about the years....sure many players we couldconsider were better, but as far as the NBA regards the MVP, Nash was a good choice
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I found it astounding that people think Paul is a great defender. From what I've seen he is solid but by no means great.
 
Chris Paul isn't a GREAT defender. he doesn't consistently play tough D right now.

but he's getting there... definitely worlds ahead of Steve Nash because he actually tries
 
To answer your question, yes he can. Being a great on-ball defender isn't as important as team defense.
 
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