The 2010 NBA All-No Defense Team
Carlos Boozer (photo. Jeff Salter)
As it happens so often with the NBA’s All-Defensive Team voting, determining the League’s worst defenders also has a lot to do with reputation and misconception.
Because so much of the fan base (and media) doesn’t really understand the intricacies of help defense, playing a zone, and defensive schemes in general, we often just see one guy getting beat off the dribble or one guy get dunked on a few times and quickly peg him a bad defensive player.
A couple weeks ago when I interviewed Milwaukee Bucks defensive stopper Luc Richard Mbah a Moute — who received one Defensive Player of the Year vote and a handful of All-Defensive Team nods — he continually talked about his teammates and about the importance of having good help D behind him.
“People watching think it’s all one-on-one, but they don’t see what’s going on behind you,” Mbah a Moute said.
So consider that when compiling this 2010 NBA All-No Defense Team, I’m not claiming to be an expert on the craft. And as an example of how team defense plays such a big role, you’ll notice there aren’t any Golden State Warriors on this list. How’s that? Because more than any individual defender, G-State’s propensity to get rained on was more about their scheme. And just like a player who didn’t get in enough games to qualify for the All-Defensive Team, some of the Warriors’ worst defenders were injured most of the year.
Long story short, it’s an inexact process. But I do know who I don’t want guarding a big-time scorer in a clutch situation:
FIRST TEAM
Derek Fisher, PG, Lakers
Jose Calderon, PG, Raptors
Peja Stojakovic, SF, Hornets
Charlie Villanueva, SF/PF, Pistons
Carlos Boozer, PF/C, Jazz
SECOND TEAM
Steve Nash, PG, Suns
Ben Gordon, SG, Pistons
Mike Dunleavy Jr., SF, Pacers
Antawn Jamison, PF, Cavs
David Lee, C, Knicks
Who makes your All-No Defense Teams?
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May 5th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
isotope says:
Derek Fisher tries, he’s just not fast enough. Kyle Korver should be on the list. What about Carmelo? Amare?
May 5th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
Arno says:
When you’re quick as Tony Parker, you should get steals and stop your opponent on the dribble, which never actually happens. I’ve also seen Tony play a hundred times with the French NT and I reckon that he is a legit first no defense team.
May 5th, 2010 at 4:18 pm
Promoman says:
Nash tries somewhat too but he’s in the same boat as Derek Fisher. David Lee will play hard & try to defend but he isn’t good at it either. Hedo Turkoglu loafs on defense too.
May 5th, 2010 at 4:20 pm
Natedog says:
The Golden State Warriors
May 5th, 2010 at 4:28 pm
D A says:
The entire Roster of T.O.
I’m a big fan of the Raps but they are Efensive specialists.
May 5th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
oaxiac says:
fisher’s old and slow but he’s still a decent team defender, I’d replace his spot with any of the Golden State D-league All Stars.
May 5th, 2010 at 4:34 pm
oaxiac says:
And where’s A.I.?
May 5th, 2010 at 5:01 pm
Antouan says:
I’d much rather have David Lee defending a big than lets say….Andrea Bargnani or Spencer Hawes
May 5th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
marcus the great says:
amare stoudemire
May 5th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
dapro says:
Nash will at least take a charge which is similar to getting steals in that it results in a turnover.
May 5th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
cake says:
Rashard Lewis is a terrible defender. Another reason Dwight should of received more serious consideration for MVP.
May 5th, 2010 at 6:25 pm
the cynic says:
Calderon can play all five positions
May 5th, 2010 at 6:35 pm
Chicagorilla says:
How about Loul Deng? He gets bombed by every SF the Bulls play. And the entire Bulls front line is terrible at on ball post defence. but there are teams that happen to be worse.
May 5th, 2010 at 6:37 pm
MJ_FADE_AWAY says:
my top 5 would be
1.john salmons
2.hedo turkoglu
3.vince carter
4.leandro barbosa
5.mo evans
May 5th, 2010 at 7:06 pm
K Dizzle says:
Mo Evans? You gotta wach more ball. Evans is only in the league cuz he ds up.
Fish and Nash on this list is just wrong. Those two are 1-2 in charges drawn year after year. And it’s not only their guys chargin, but other positions too, which says alot about their helpside and their will to sacrifice for the team. Give respect to effort
Real list:
PG – Calderon
SG – Vince Carter
SF – Peja
PF – Z-Bo
C – Bargnani
May 5th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
Badger says:
Nash and Fisher take charges because that’s all they can do when they’re not getting blown by. And taking even 2-3 charges per game (which I’m sure is too high a number, it’s probably more like 1 charge per game maybe) doesn’t make up for constantly getting scored on.
May 5th, 2010 at 8:40 pm
jau says:
okay guys… you have to lay off andrea a lil bit… hes a good (ok DECENT) man on man defender… hes just bad on HELP defense and a bad rebounder… I can see why you guys put him there and if this was last year or two years ago I would’ve put him in but this year he’s been much better (man on man that is)
however jose is horrible so he should definitely beat out fisher
May 5th, 2010 at 8:52 pm
JAY says:
jau… wrong. Andrea is dumb. he has no concept of defense and spacing.
May 5th, 2010 at 11:20 pm
yeahokayguy says:
hahahah..on the golden state warriors commment
my list:
1) baron davis
2) ben gordon
3) jason kapono
4) matt bonner / charlie v
5) bargnani
May 5th, 2010 at 11:27 pm
nick says:
@yeahokayguy
u serious with baron on ur list? dude is one of the top players in the league when it comes to steals. his problem is he is injured most of the time.
how about jr smith, jaamal crawford, jj reddick.
May 6th, 2010 at 2:04 am
dvs says:
Gordons not as bad as i thought. He isn’t good, but if he’s on someone his size or similar he’s quick enough to stay in front of them.
May 6th, 2010 at 2:12 am
Chicagorilla says:
sooo, Brian Scalabrini didn’t make the list because……?
May 6th, 2010 at 3:42 am
QQ says:
I would like to call my list ‘The So-called Superstars that can’t fucking defend’ list:
PG Nashty – cats are right; he at least TRIES to defend, but just doesn’t have the skills to do so.
SG Monta Ellis – That is why in 2-3 years, Steph Curry will be better than him. Just doesn’t give any effort in D.
SF Carmelo – just fucking dumb as hell. Unreal scorer, but yall gotta agree (even you Nugs fans), dude is one fucking dumb baller.
PF Amare – No effort in D, has all the recipes to be at least a decent defender, but no, he’s gonna use all his energy dunking and screaming (and demanding max money cause he’s a ‘franchise player’… Ugh).
C Boozer – Minimal effort, and minimal D skills so it evens out.
May 6th, 2010 at 6:51 am
Coop says:
Adam Morrison. It’s just all bad news.
May 6th, 2010 at 8:12 am
e says:
mo williams doesnt play any defense
May 6th, 2010 at 8:35 am
Knicksfan84 says:
David Lee & Chris Duhon MUST be on the 1st TEAM. Those two’s defense is INCREDIBLY bad.
May 6th, 2010 at 10:01 am
s.bucketz says:
“As it happens so often with the NBA’s All-Defensive Team voting, determining the League’s worst defenders also has a lot to do with reputation and misconception.
Because so much of the fan base (and media) doesn’t really understand the intricacies of help defense, playing a zone, and defensive schemes in general, we often just see one guy getting beat off the dribble or one guy get dunked on a few times and quickly peg him a bad defensive player.”
so you guys must b talkin bout urselves there right??ima say it 1 more time for every1…
DAVID LEE IS NOT A TERRIBLE DEFENDER!!!!fuck…get ur heads outta ur asses and watch a game…i bet all of you would get lit up by someone 5-6 inches taller than you on a nightly basis…and the thing is…hes not even gettin lit up too much
May 6th, 2010 at 10:03 am
Nyeme says:
When I think of All-No Defense Team, I just think of players that don’t even act like they want to try…
Nash, Fisher, David Lee all at least make some effort. They just are not good at it. But then you have players like:
PG – Monta Ellis
SG – Ben Gordon – has he ever recorded a steal in his NBA career?
SF – Predrag Stojakovic
PF – Amare Stoudemire – he doesn’t put up any effort unless ball is in his hands
C – Andrea Bargnani
May 6th, 2010 at 10:49 am
Dori says:
G – Ben Gordon – has he ever recorded a steal in his NBA career?
It´s the dumbest thing I´ve heard to judge his defensive ability from his steals stats !!
But you asked.. and he´s averaging around one steal per game in his career which is nearly 400 totals. So yes he has recorded a steal.
I´m not saying he´s a good defender, because he´s not and his size is not helping but your arguiment is stupid. It´s not like Kobe got 4 steals per game.
May 6th, 2010 at 11:05 am
BayAreaBaller says:
Monta Ellis?? Hahaha I know he has a terrible reputation as do the Warriors when it comes to defense, but Monta has been among the league leaders in steals the last couple years, and I believe finished 3rd this season. The guy is not a bad defender, he just has to guard 6’6 SGs every night since they have a small backcourt which puts him at a disadvantage, as it would any 6’3 player with a PGs body/frame; but his defense isn’t as bad as you bums think. Watch the games before you comment, please!
My Top 5:
PG- Calderon/Nash
SG- Earl “JR” Smith
SF- Hedo Turkoglu
PF- Amare Stoudamire
C- Mehmet Okur
May 6th, 2010 at 11:08 am
QQ says:
@ 22:
Cause we’re talking bout the NBA, and Scal isn’t an NBA player. He’s a marketing tool used by the Celtics to trick losers into thinking they can play ball professionally.
May 6th, 2010 at 11:29 am
Aarin says:
Dirk has to be there. And Big Z, Zydrunas Ilgauskas is by far the slowest player and worst defender in the L.
May 6th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
ballin says:
So many people here are going simply by reputation and not by actual defense.
Austin’s first team was dead-on, except Bargnani should have been in the center position instead of Boozer.
As far as the 2nd team is concerned, Duhon’s defense is worse than Nash’s, Boozer is worse than David Lee (whose defense really isn’t that bad) and the rest seem about right to me
May 6th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
Nyeme says:
@Dori I was exaggerating on Ben Gordon’s steals, but he truly is horrible on defense, doesn’t do even the basics (like try to stay with his opponent, hands up, sliding feet), have you ever even seem him up in the offensive players’ face or even commit on the double-team or trap?
And he does average less than 1 steal per game.
May 6th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
jasondolemite says:
Not being racist or anything, but anyone notice that half of the players on the lists are white?
May 6th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
bdk23 says:
or have somethin to do with canada – nash (born in BC,) or Calderon,Turkoglu Bargnani(raptor players)
May 6th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
K Dizzle says:
Nash…..born in South Africa…
May 7th, 2010 at 9:37 pm
Thom says:
I’d go:
1st Team
G Johnny Flynn
G Calderon
F Al Thornton
F Villanueva
C Spencer Hawes
2nd Team
G Fisher
G Chris Duhon
F Corey Maggette
F Andray Blatche
C Andrea Bargnani
Anyone who uses steals to judge a player’s defense can’t be trusted to construct a decent list. Iverson always got a lot steals, but he was still one of the worst defenders (mostly during the latter half of his career) I’ve ever seen. Using steals would mean Monta Ellis is a good defender, which is just laughable.
May 13th, 2010 at 10:59 am
John X says:
pg – Jose Calderon : No effort, no lateral speed, no defensive heart. He’s been burned more often then a 3-dollar hooker with herpes.
sg – Ben Gordon : I’ve been a lifelong Pistons fan, but even I can’t deny BG’s inept D. Too short to defend proper SG’s, not disciplined enough to defend PG’s. [side note: Ben ALWAYS turns his head away from his assignment at inopportune times]
sf – Peja Stojakavic : Remember when he was in (semi) All-star form with the Kings? Neither do I. This Euro’s defense is softer than his feathery, constantly left-leaning release.
pf – Carlos Boozer : HE DOES NOT TRY. AT ALL. All this mulatto bear cares about is getting paid. Simply put, Carlos has the most deceiving 20/10 output of any big man in the L.
c – Jermaine O’neal : I don’t wanna hear any crap about this one. Babyface O’neal is absolutely terrible on defense. How many times does he need to get shat on before someone pulls the plug on his career? Oh, and not to mention he is always amongst the most blocked-on players every year. He was immature as a Blazer, overrated as a Pacer, and senile as a member of the Heat.