The Most Versatile Defender in NBA History: Dennis Rodman 

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Jordan covered Magic for the overwhelming majority of that series. Pippen only primarily covered him for one game when MJ got in early foul trouble.

@@mikedownload4029 So it's almost the exact same crossmatching situation as with Rodman. Pippen spent considerable time guarding Magic in games 3 and 4 and almost all of game 2. It's no coincidence that Magic's worst game was game 2, and he roasted Jordan much of the series. The fact that Jordan got into foul trouble on Magic, just bolsters the idea that Pippen was the better option. Let's remember that Jordan is a proud man, and no coach is going to disrespect his defense by replacing him with another player for the entire series. But that doesn't mean the option to use Pippen wasn't there waiting for deployment. As I wrote in another comment, using Rodman's aggressive defense in spurts made those stretches especially effective, so that idea works for Pippen too. Then of course, there's the fact that there was only one Pippen, but the Lakers had another offensive star to contend with in Worthy. Whenever Grant or Levingston guarded Worthy, they got smoked. It's no coincidence that Worthy had his best game of the series when Pippen was on Magic. Yes, the "myth" of Pippen on Magic is a little distorted, but it was a thing that massively changed the momentum of that series.

The only reason pippen guarded magic was because James worthy injured his ankle vs Portland- had worthy been 100 percent, this series is completely different

Chicago also ran double teams at magic off the high post, picked him up 94 feet- as soon as magic crossed mid court, he was hounded. Worthy being at 40 percent health really changed this series

he was the greatest and i dont wanna hear the wilt chamberlain shit he was a 7 foot monster that played in the 60s when everyone else was extremely short (nba short) and rodman was a 6’7 short power forward getting rebounds from people like shaq

he was the greatest and i dont wanna hear the wilt chamberlain shit he was a 7 foot monster that played in the 60s when everyone else was extremely short (nba short) and rodman was a 6’7 short power forward getting rebounds from people like shaq

To be clear, following Magic full court is higher intensity than just defending the post.

there's a few reasons: 1. Cross matches. Although the 1988 Lakers became more of a half court team, coaches still took the threat of them running the break seriously. If you cross match your defensive assignments, then you risk breakdowns because your man might be you down the court. Fortunately for the Pistons, the 1988 Lakers team was really mentally fatigued from playing 2 prior grueling series that went to game 7, so the fast break really wasn't there. Plus the players had lots of miles on them at his point. 2. Rodmans fouls and mental mistakes on offense. The author of this video gets into this, but surprised he didn't mention 3 HUGE blunders Rodman committed in game 7 when guarding Magic. One of them he got beat off the dribble on a crucial possession. (Magic missed the layup but it allowed Worthy to follow it up as his man had to switch). Another one he committed a silly foul when guarding Magic full court. That was poor situational awareness as you shouldn't do that in crucial possessions when your team is in the penalty. Then on a crucial offensive possession, Rodman decides to throw up an acrobatic layup In the end, a big part of Rodman's success was his ability to stretch the officiating due to his awkwardness and constant hustling style. If anyone else were do defend the way he does in spurts it would usually be called as a foul. Especially in the post, he would use 2 open hands in the back which is illegal per the rules. He still continued to use his hands even when the hand check rule was enforced in the mid 90s. This potential fouling issue never stopped and continued when he was with the Spurs and with the Bulls. All the way to the Lakers as well as a seasoned vet. We see the flashy hustle plays or big plays on defense, but those of us who followed his career in live games remember the games where he'd get kicked out. Only thing that changed later was he'd take off his jersey and give it to a fan before heading to the locker room.

Glad you enjoyed, and agree with what you said!

As a Lakers fan, Rodman knew what team would be the more beneficial and elite team to play for.

Definitely want to do that!

Glad you enjoyed, and I also have a few ideas in that arena!

I would love a Boris Diaw video. One of my favourtie players

Absolutely!

Really appreciate that!

He's amazing!

Really appreciate that!

Appreciate that!

First mistake you were on Twitter, second mistake you were on NBA twitter

Glad you enjoyed!

Thank you!

The OG.

Definitely plan to drop one on him soon!

@@HoopVenue thank you

One of the deepest teams ever, with an all-time defense.

Fax KG more versatile

Hakeem Olajuwon was even more versatile than Kevin Garnett.

It’s on on ball vs off ball thing imo. KG off ball. Rodman on ball.

rodman wayyyy better than KG defensively

I think KG’s more versatile in the sense that you can do more things with him away from the ball, but Rodman’s ability to guard whoever the opposing team’s best player is regardless of how they play or what position they plan is 1 of 1.

'88 probably is his defensive peak from a per-possession / all-around package standpoint but you really can't go wrong w/ any of 88/89/90 - he was roughly as good (on & off the ball) the very next year in '89, then took his specialty (being able to lock down 1-5 of course) to unequaled levels in '90. That three-year stretch in its entirety was as good as that of any non-big in history.

It's easy to be a slightly better defender when you play fewer minutes. He was a better player later but on a per possession level it's possible he was better when he came off the bench in Detroit

I think any version from 88-92 really you can’t go wrong with!

​@@HoopVenueRodman started to lose versatility when he got to the Spurs. Detroit Rodman can keep up with MJ and Shaq. I used to think Rodman was a Stronger and Quicker version of Scottie Pippen when he was with Detroit

​@@mags6946remember, Worm was older than folks think. He was 26 as a rookie in 1986. That man was in tremendous shape.

His argument isn’t that Rodman is a better defender than hakeem, it’s that he’s a more versatile defender. Those are two different things. Yes, Hakeem was better. But no one could guard 1-5 like Rodman, that’s where he exceeded in versatility. Looking at one’s versatility requires one to go beyond just looking at basic stats like rebounding, steals, and blocks. It requires film study.

@@roundtable3501Isn’t that what Hakeem did as well? He was able to fill up the stat sheet among every defensive stat category. I will admit that Dennis Rodman was a much better rebounder, but he was not a better stealer or a better blocker than Hakeem. Also, he was not that tall for a Center. He was only 6’10’’ without wearing his shoes.

@@damonsonnier34you couldn’t put Hakeem on a player like magic, pippen or mike.

@@damonsonnier34 Again man, you can’t just look at box score stats to see how defensively versatile someone is. You have to look at them actually playing the game.

@@jemirtoussaint4940I mean, there is usually going to be a great Center for Hakeem to defend. David Robinson, Shaq, Patrick Ewing, and even Alonzo Mourning were always going to be a defensive challenge. Defending the Point Guard 1v1 would be a terrible idea, because the Rockets did not have the personnel to defend other Centers besides Hakeem. However, Hakeem was able to read a lot of Point Guards’ passes from the block, and he would sometimes steal the ball cleanly before it even reached the Power Forward or Center.