"Russell Westbrook is the James Harden of PGs, defensively." - Zach Lowe

[Thegospel]

And people still listen to this guy smh

Him and bill sinmons. Coli deep down loves them some cacs

 

[Young70sSample]

More like he does the same stuff Kidd did.

Kidd was a really good defender, though. Westbrook doesn't even try at times.

 

[Sauce Dab]

Sabo has never been that good on defense. People just get blinded by those passes he jumps and actually steals. He always roams and gets lost and he's been doing it for years. Don't let those triple double numbers fool you

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Kidd was a really good defender, though. Westbrook doesn't even try at times.

He was, but he lived off reputation longer than most would care to admit. Some of the same bad habits that Westbrook has (sacrificing defensive assignments for rebounds and overplaying the passing lanes), Kidd had too.

 

[SpursFanSinceNovember2017]

ESPN’s Tom Haberstroh: 4/20/16 — The Lowe Post — Overcast

 

[Emoryal]

CP rolled out the red carpet for Lillard, right to the rim. The tape don't lie.

On a serious note though, if this were the early/mid-2000s or any period before - Westbrook would be looked at as a defensive juggernaut with how many rebounds and steals he gets. People have smartened up and started valuing what truly matters on both ends of the court; some of the old heads need to catch up though.

1 game breh. Lillard was missing layups and getting swatted at the rim multiple times its not like it mattered.

 

[Big Boss]

 

[JordanwiththeWiz]

Zach Lowe is one of the best in the business I expect that this statement come with a lot of research that most of the casuals in this thread won't do. All they see is he athletic of course it's a good defender

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

1 game breh. Lillard was missing layups and getting swatted at the rim multiple times its not like it mattered.

It matters in the context of this argument. Besides, CP has had poor games defensively all throughout the season.

 

[Emoryal]

It matters in the context of this argument. Besides, CP has had poor games defensively all throughout the season.

So have plenty of other people

and if he's leading him to the paint while plumlee is passing from around the perimeter into Jordan's hands it could be seen as a good defensive strategy if it was intentional

 

[Regular_P]

So have plenty of other people

and if he's leading him to the paint while plumlee is passing from around the perimeter into Jordan's hands it could be seen as a good defensive strategy if it was intentional

Bingo, especially with all those trash ass shooters on Portland.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

So have plenty of other people

and if he's leading him to the paint while plumlee is passing from around the perimeter into Jordan's hands it could be seen as a good defensive strategy if it was intentional

Bingo, especially with all those trash ass shooters on Portland.

No bingo about it.

CP wasn't leading him into the paint, either he was caught ball watching or didn't make a valid attempt at keeping up with Lillard - a more consistent shooter/scorer would've made him pay.

 

[labelplant]

It's not just the regular season where Paul takes plays off, he was lazy as hell last night too. And besides, the 'when he's focused he's one of the best in the NBA at his position' applies more to Westbrook than it does CP.

While the above only outlines his defense on Lillard's shot attempts, it was a trend all throughout the game during other situations too.

The difference is Paul plays up to his potential 75% of the time. Westbrook is like 5% or 10%. And thats usually when he makes some amazing block or steal so even then he is probably taking a risk.

Also I'm not trying to call you out and get into a crazy back and forth but I'm not sure everyone here understands shell principles and "anti trap" offense.
Like screen the screener is something everyone does so clippers were ready for that but those back doors were a nice little curve ball by Portland, clippers bigs weren't ready for them. Not entirely Paul's fault.

 

[Emoryal]

No bingo about it.

CP wasn't leading him into the paint, either he was caught ball watching or didn't make a valid attempt at keeping up with Lillard - a more consistent shooter/scorer would've made him pay.

I just said he wasn't. And getting into hypothetical situations doesn't really prove a point.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

The difference is Paul plays up to his potential 75% of the time. Westbrook is like 5% or 10%. And thats usually when he makes some amazing block or steal so even then he is probably taking a risk.

I understand these are estimate percentages, but they're FAR from the case. Either you don't think too highly of Paul's defensive ability to begin with, or you haven't seen how often he doesn't show up on the defensive end - as much as he's capable of. CP can barely stay in front of his opposite anymore and like Westbrook has a tendency to ball watch. He struggles with getting around screens too.

This is from last season -

Contrary to popular belief, Chris Paul is no longer a GREAT defensive player and hasn't been for some time - probably since 2012 - around the same time he moved to LA; dealing with the cumulative effect of his knee injuries and the increasing athleticism/ability [= his decline] at the PG position. No longer is he effective at closing out on players, shadowing them around the halfcourt, cutting off driving lanes and reading and navigating around picks. His defensive value is only in the vein of gambling in passing lanes and directing opponents towards more able defenders (funnelling unnecessarily to DeAndre). His All-NBA Defensive team nod last season was purely based on reputation and not what actually took place on the court -

Despite the Clippers being ranked 13th in points against per shot (0.96 PPP - 50.8%) in 2014/2015, they were near last at contesting shots at a 40.89% rate (Kings and Lakers were the only teams who were worse), which is quite remarkable they actually got away with contesting at such a poor rate, yet still had a good defense since both the Lakers and Kings were ranked in the bottom five for points against per shot. Paul being the main culprit, as he was the WORST among all Clippers' starters at contesting shots - where he ranked 79th in the league among qualifying point guards at a 26.1% rate. He also ranked 77th among PGs in Keep-in-Front% at 29.7 - "Keep-In-Front% tracks a defender’s ability to keep his man in front of him following on-ball screens, during help attempts, on one-on-one drive attempts, and on closeout attempts."

Also I'm not trying to call you out and get into a crazy back and forth but I'm not sure everyone here understands shell principles and "anti trap" offense.
Like screen the screener is something everyone does so clippers were ready for that but those back doors were a nice little curve ball by Portland, clippers bigs weren't ready for them. Not entirely Paul's fault.

Is that you Zach Lowe?

They actually were mostly Paul's fault because he was caught ball watching far too often, leaving Lillard to stroll down the lane. He also didn't show enough effort to stay with Lillard, which is partly due to the fact he no longer has the lateral quickness he once had. The tape doesn't lie. If it weren't for the Clippers bigs, mainly DeAndre - Lillard would've made a ton more shots.