NBA Point Guards: Defensive Rankings

In the final installment of my three part series on NBA point guards, we turn to defensive skills. Here I rank the floor generals according to the effective field goal percentage each allowed to the men they covered while playing the point. Again, thanks to 82games.com for the statistics.

A couple of observations brought on by the rankings.

(1) Not to beat the proverbial dead horse, but here's another thing TJ Ford does not do well. In every ranking he has shown up at or near the bottom. I ask again, "How in the world is he a premier point guard?" Because he's fast? By that logic the Bucks should sign Ahmad Carroll to play the point. No, I think the truth is that TJ Ford is the ultimate "Moneyball" player. Because he looks like a point guard and flashes the athleticism and dribbling ability you traditionally look for in a point guard, basketball people keep betting on him, even though the statistics say he's complete junk.

(2) If Ben Wallace is even a shadow of his old self backcourt opponents will have a very hard time scoring on the Bulls. Hinrich and Duhon play smothering defense.

(3) Some of the players' eFGs are enhanced by the presence of shotblockers behind them who erase their mistakes.

(4) How do you explain Delonte West? Here's a guy who was a 2 in college, right? Despite that he has seemingly made a very smooth transition to PG in the pros. Granted his passing and ballhandling need improvement, but they're better than Jason Terry's, and despite those shortcomings he has shown up in the upper half of every one of my point guard rankings. So why did the Celtics trade a No. 7 pick for that stiff Telfair?

(5) Based on all three rankings, it looks like the best all-around PG in basketball is Detroit's Chauncey Billups.

Here are the rankings. The mean eFG allowed was 48.04. The median was 48.63.

1.Chris Duhon (Bulls)...........................42.6
2.Chauncey Billups (Pistons)..................42.8
3.Kirk Hinrich (Bulls)............................43.0
4.Tony Parker (Spurs)...........................44.3
5.Delonte West (Celtics).........................44.4
6.Devin Harris (Mavs)............................44.6
7.Dam Stoudamire (Grizzlies)................45.0
8.Tyronn Lue (Hawks)............................45.4
9.Sam Cassell (Clippers)..........................45.9
10.Rafer Alston (Rockets)........................46.6
11.Jamaal Tinsley (Pacers)......................46.7
12.Jameer Nelson (Magic)........................46.7
13.Jason Williams (Heat)...........................47.5
14.Deron Williams (Jazz)............................47.6
15.Marcus Banks (?)..................................48.1
16.Mike Bibby (Kings)................................48.5
17.Smush Parker (Lakers).........................48.8
18.Allen Iverson (76ers).............................49.0
19.Jason Terry (Mavs)................................49.0
20.Seb Telfair (Celtics).................................49.0
21.Baron Davis (Warriors)..........................49.2
22.Mo Williams (Bucks)................................49.2
23.Andre Miller (Nuggets)...........................49.8
24.Damon Jones (Cavs)...............................50.1
25.Gilbert Arenas (Bullets)..........................50.2
26.Chris Paul (Hornets)................................50.4
27.Jason Kidd (Nets).....................................50.6
28.Stephon Marbury (Knicks).....................51.0
29.Steve Nash (Suns)....................................51.0
30.TJ Ford (Raptors)....................................51.3
31.Mike James (Twolves).............................51.7
32.Brevin Knight (Bobcats)...........................52.6
33.Luke Ridnour (Sonics)...............................52.9