Defense in NBA History

Now easy

1st off- Both the 80’s and 2000’s cannot compare to the 1990’s defense. But the 2000’s defense is better. I feel more of the top players are good defenders and with the emergence of the “combo” players, we see more different looks on defense.

Damn another forum topic about lebron and mj being compared…i cant escape!

the 90’s defense was much better then it is now not becuase of athletisism or skill but becuase of the way the game was called they were allowed to get away with alot of things during jordan’s era on defense where as no you cant even have a hand on the hip in todays game and silly touch fouls are being called or atleast seem to be called once every 4-6 plays on the court.

any1 who knows anything about basketball will tell u it was MJ’s ear… handcheck rule anyone???? and i like lebron but the calls that ive seen him get are ridculous… play who remembers those pistons and knick teams… they could really play defence… todays game is more geared towards scoring points with the uptempo style

In Jordan’s era, you could hand check, but in this era, you could get a foul call for even attempting to strip the ball unless you have rep for being a good defender.

One could argue that it was much harder to score in Jordan’s era than this era because of the physical perimeter defense that a player was allowed to do. It is much harder for the perimeter players of this era to guard because there is more of a technical approach to guarding since there is no hand checking.

Finally, I’d say the two eras aren’t comparable because the rules are different..

i say this era is harder. Better athletes result in tougher defense. Especially from bigs, centers now adays rotate quicker and contest shots at the basket more.

I agree with llperez, but I also agree with steroid. If you had hand checking in today’s game I think it would make for a more exciting game, as well as more physical games. The era’s aren’t comparable though. I would rather play in the 90s if I had a choice, more defensive oriented if you ask me.

Now. The players in Jordans weren’t even close to the athletes that are in todays game, plus the scouting is much more advanced and to even get legit playing time in todays game you can only afford to be a good defender at worst.

Yeah, but look at how Shaq abused everyone who guarded him in the post elbowing them in there face and stuff. Today Howard get’s ejected in the 2nd quarter because he does stuff which is not even close to what Shaq did.

While the athletes are better, I believe the players then played a lot smarter. So take that for what it’s worth.

Way better in Jordan’s era.

The defence played against Lebron is much better than the defence played on MJ.

Im going to say the 80’s and the 90’s Defense were better compared to today, because back then there were more “Legit Centers” and elite shot blockers. Guys like David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, Mutombo, Shaq O’Neil ( I know im forgetting more centers), made it so much harder for slashers to score inside. Today there are really only a handful of Centers that I would say “anchors” a defense and Dwight and Camby are the only 2 that comes to my mind, so I would say the 80s and 90s Defense were definitely better.

I get your point but how is Shaq i the 80s-90s era and not this era in he 2000’s?

^very, the center position changed so much, today you have to be agile and you have to be able to move, because basically every center/PF who rotates to that postion has a jumper

I say 90 and 2000. Defense was not a key thing for every team as it is now. In the 80’s there were teams that did now really focus on defense. Also guys had to play smarter because most did not have the length and lateral quickness players now have. Tayshaun Prince is like 6’10 with long arms and he is a small forward and there are more guys with his length that play that position. Pippen was known for his defense and he is 67″ with long arms.Prince would have been a power forward back in the the day and in the 60’s he would have maybe been a Center. The only reason why there are not many great bigs is because the game is too quick for the big lumbering Center. You have to be able to bang and run the floor which is why a lot of good Centers in college don’t make in in the NBA and it tend to be small guys who we see at Center.

mess.ee, you are just talking about the top 10 centers in the whole league though. Top to bottom, no question centers today are more athletic and rotate better. Way more stiffs back then. Look at the bulls who had cartwright, purdue, wennington, longley, willimas, to win the titles. They were facing guys like duckwroth, divac, oliver miller, ervin johnson, and greg ostertagg. I can go on and on about how bigs are more athletic today overall, excluding the very best cneters.

I think today’s offense has certainly changed the way Centers are utilized, I think there are more elite “Wing Players” (SGs,SFs) today than there were in the 80’s and 90’s, which means the game has become faster and more up-tempo. Just take a look at the top 10 scorers in the NBA this year, I don’t see any PF/C scoring over 25PPG, their all SGs and SFs, back in the 80s and 90s PowerForward and Centers ruled, you had guys like David Robinson winning scoring tittles and Hakeem competing for scoring titles, we dont have Centers/PF like them anymore.

agree with that, about wings being more dominant then centers today. Offenses used to rely on posting up a lot more. Even sf’s often played like big men and posted up. Worthy, bernard king, adrian dantley, larry bird etc.. The 90’s and continuing to today the permiter position has eveloved into more quick ball handling guys while centers have taken a backseat on offense. This is due in parts to bigs not being as offenisvely talented, more quality defensive bigs that wont get abused, more doube teaming on the post, and the ability to play zone defense and the elimination of illegal defense that they used to call.

Since the nba took out the hand checking, and changed the illegal defense to defensive 3 secs, there has been no defense. The NBA changed the rules, to allow more points, much as the NFL and recieving rules, all equals more points, that’s why you see these quick guards, ie rondo, Devin Harris owing the game, that’s why it’s a more guard scoring league. U can’t keep a quick guard in front of u, without a handcheck, plus they can even give a hard foul n e more, i miss the back to the basket post players, you won’t see that anymore with the new rules, not much anyway, I wouldn’t be surprised if the NBA goes to a trapazoid lane soon just like euro ball, they also have a fast pace no defense guard oriented league

except there was a lot more scoring and free flowing offense in the 80’s then now. More shots, possesions, fast break points and points in the paint. Defense was not better in the 80’s and the only counter argument to that is that they had hand checking which isnt nearly as big a deal as people seem to think on here.

HAND CHECKS WERE ALLOWED…..

You better hand check yourself before you hand wreck yourself

Defense was better in the 90’s
Not just the Knicks but the Pacers were a very good defensive team and the Bulls were a great defensive team you didn’t win w/out playing great D.
More fastbreak in the 80’s definately.
The 90’s had Hakeem, Ewing, Robinson all in their prime along with dominant bigs like Mutumbo, Shaq, Mourning.
Outside of the Lakers 3peat, Spurs and Pistons no real dominant defensive teams in the 2000 decade.

Defenders in the 80’s and 90’s where more fundamentally sound… Most of the players in the 80’s and 90’s PLAYED more than one season of college basketball and learned to play defense the proper way as a result they played with a much higher IQ on defense… IMO IQ on defense is more important than athletic ability…

in the 80’s / 90’s they played much tougher defense. When was the last time you saw a team use the full court press in the pros. i cant even remember. Their union probably wouldnt even allow it !

80’s and 90’s

Handchecking was allowed and the overall play, especially in the playoffs, was far more physical. Artest is known as one of the best defenders in the league, but he is a throwback to enforcers like Oakley, Mason, and Rodman. The Pistons’ championship teams were absolutely brutal, as were the Heat and Knicks teams of the 90s. Defense wasn’t just about shot blocking, it was about toughness. When you drove into the lane you were more worried that somebody was going to get a concussion than getting your shot blocked. Having a more athletic center does not equate to a better defensive center.

Nowadays teams have much better shooters than during the 80s. The game is not just about points in the paint as teams shoot more threes. In the 80s players had to be physical as there weren’t any teams like the Suns or Magic that relied on three pointers. The defense wasn’t better back then, there just was more physical play in the paint. Throughout most of his career, Larry Bird statistically was an excellent defensive player despite his lack of great quickness because players didn’t need to close out as quickly and defenders could sag off their man. More physical play happened because teams relied on scoring in the paint.
llperez is right. Nowadays centers are more athletic and rotate quicker to stop penetration. Plus, there are even more great shotblockers.