the top 10 defensive teams

after last nights games, we have the following teams listed as the 10 top defensive teams in opposition points against per game

1) Celtics - 71 games 90.5 points against/game - 56 - 15 1st overall in NBA 1st in the East

2) Pistons - 71  91.0 - 50 - 21 2nd overall in NBA 2nd overall in East

3) Spurs - 72  91.0 - 49 - 23 4th overall in NBA 5th overall in West

4) Rockets - 72  92.3 - 49 - 23 4th overall in NBA 2nd in west

5) Hornets - 70 95.2 - 49 - 21 - 3rd overall in NBA 1st in West

6) Mavericks - 71 95.3 - 45 - 26 - 9th overall in NBA 7th in West

7) 76ers - 72 95.9 - 37 - 35 - 16th overall in NBA and 6th in East

8) Trail Blazers - 72  96.2 - 38 - 34 - 14th overall in NBA 10th in the West

9) Raptors - 71 96.9 - 36 - 35 - 17th overall in NBA and 7th in the East

10) Cavaliers - 72  97.4 - 40 - 32 - 13th overall in NBA 6th in the East

the Lakers are 22nd overall with 72 games played and 101.4 papg and 49 - 23 yet are 4th overall in the NBA and 3rd in the West

the Jazz are 17th defensively with 100.3 given up yet are at 47 - 25 for 7th overall in the nba with the Suns who are 47 - 24 but give up 105.3, which is better than the Nuggets for 25th spot defensively

So here is my question and i hope we can get some good thoughts on this...

IF the Best defensive team in the league is supposed to win the Title, then why is everyone so stuck on the Lakers who are nowhere near the top 10 defensively? IF defense wins championships, then WHO will win based on these stats?

homerism should be accompanied by facts please, just picking your team is not enough... have fun

according to ALL the talk about how critical defense is, which why the Suns won't win, yet the Lakers who are a whole lot better statistically on defense will, i have to vote with the Celtics and THE number 1 defense in the league.

Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce with Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo and now with Sam Cassell have played fantastic defense all year.... tough for even haters to argue that this is a team built to win close games...

as we have talked about all season, we see the top 3 defensive teams in the league are consistantly the toughest teams to beat. the Hornets and the Rockets are where they are because of the defense they play...

i would offer that any of these teams could win, if they could play consistant offense - Raptors and  the Cavaliers - win without their stars - Mavericks and Rockets - or keep the Heat on like the 76ers have... i am looking forward to a great playoff run

And I'm not a Hornets fan.... Just think they have a decent shot this year

but wait, they're 4th in rebounds/game and 6th in blocks/game. I know that doesn't mean they are good defensively, just having fun with the other Suns fan who thought that placed them atop the defensive leaders.

To answer your question, when healthy they are solid 1 through 5 with perhaps the best player in the league. That's what scares me.

I didn't know LA was that bad defensively, but defence isn't everything. It means a lot, but if a Utah/Toronto final broke out, I'd take Utah. (I was going to put Phoenix in there, but that might make you happy)

I'd vote for the Spurs based solely on defense stats you provided.  This is cause the East has two teams in the top four and the West has four.  The Spurs division is the toughest in defense of the top six as well.  Thus, the East teams could be inflated a bit due to compeitiion issues.  The Spurs numbers however are not likely to be anything but what they are.

Yet, I wouldn't pick the Spurs to win it all this year although wouldn't be surprised if they did.  Nor would I pick the Lakers.

Defense wins games, I agree.  But it isn't the only thing that wins game.  So if that is all you have; it may not be enough.

I think Laker fans and Kobe fans are excited about their team; which they should be.  And want them to win it all, which is certainly possible.  Same with the Celtics, Spurs, Pistons, etc.

The media picks someone knew every day.  LOL 

What I do know is this.  The West is stacked and to pick the winner this year won't be an easy task.  As for the East it is up to three teams:  C's, Pistons, and Cavs.  Any other pick is homerism.  For the West, you could pick the top 9 teams and have a valid argument for all but the one team that didn't make the playoffs.

I am not sure that the Lakers have the best defense but they do have a very good defense in my opinion.  PPG allowed is a very flawed stat when it comes to defense because you can try to set up a defense that is predicated on forcing turnovers and giving your offense easy buckets--which will typically result in you giving up more points as a team yourself, but if played correctly, can help you win games "with your defense" becuase of the offense it generates.

Also you can lower your PPG allowed simply by having a slow methodical offense.  If your offense runs off 20 seconds off the shot clock every time down, the other team is going to have less opportunities against your defense, and your defense will allow a relatively low number of points in this case, even if it is terrible.

jamieson

your post made me laugh out loud, thanks for the humor... i know the guys here will have a hard time without the Lakers as a choice, but they are NOT a good defensive team, they can if they want, but they are LIKE the Suns and try to out score you...

i think a Jazz/Raptors final would be very exciting, but not sure anyone other than the players would be able to understand the many languages on the floor!!

i think right now, the finals will have the Celtics and the Spurs until someone can step up and play the Spurs game and beat them...

are the Pistons done after last nights tough loss to the Raptors???... Big B... any thoughts on that?