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Thursday 28 November 2019 16:20, UK
There are many qualities and attributes to consider when calibrating what makes a great NBA defender.
Timing, defensive intelligence, bravery, speed, strength, mentality... there are so many aspects to what makes an All-NBA defender.
Such is the tapestry of great defensive players in the league that since the Defensive Player of the Year award was established in the 1982/83 season, the majority of winners of the award have picked it up more than once.
That's testament to the way that a great defender can impact not just games, but the psychology of the opposition when they consider the potential colossus they may come up against.
Names like Dennis Rodman, Sidney Moncrief, Dikembe Mutombo, Hakeem Olajuwon, Ben Wallace, and then more recently Dwight Howard, Kawhi Leonard and current two-time defending winner of the award Rudy Gobert have all picked up the trophy at least twice.
To break into that elite group of players who have won it is not easy but on this week's Sky Sports NBA Heatcheck, panellists Ovie Soko and Mo Mooncey were asked to present their early season picks for the award.
And both men selected players who will be looking to potentially bag the award for the first time. Not just that, they've also selected players who are effective in entirely different ways on the defensive end.
Anthony Davis is leading the league in blocks and is the current bookies' favourite for the award. The fact he's the leading defensive player on the best team in the league currently was enough to convince Ovie Soko to nominate him as his pick.
Ovie said: "My nomination is quite an obvious one: Anthony Davis. 2.9 blocks, 1.5 steals… what did the five fingers say to the ball? SWAT!
"He's doing a heck of a job. I feel like he's the leader on the defensive end on that Lakers squad.
"He sets the tone because when you're looking at your superstars, you want to see the effort that they give on the defensive side of the ball - especially for the whole squad to now buy into it.
"He's got two bigs behind him in Javale [McGee] and Dwight [Howard] and they do an awesome job but I think he's the leading defensive guy on the best team in the NBA so it's got to be AD."
And Davis himself has spoken of the importance of good defense for his team recently in an interview with Uproxx Dime magazine.
He said: "We know defense wins championships, we want to be a defensive-minded team. We know that we're not gonna be able to shoot the ball well every night, no one in the NBA is gonna be able to shoot the ball well every night, but you can control how you play defense.
"We wanted to make sure that we'd be a team that … we want to hold teams under 100 points every night. Obviously it's not gonna happen every night knowing that guys in the league, in this day and age, are able to score at will, but that's how it goes. We feel like we can be a defensive team all year, and we've proven that so far.
"But we want to continue to get better. There are still some areas on defense where we can get better, that we lack, and each and every day, we're trying to get better and better at those areas to be an even stronger defensive team. The more we can get better on defense, keep our defensive hats on, the easier it's gonna be on the offensive end, as well."
Mo Mooncey believes Marcus Smart's tenacity and ability to stop talented scorers from putting up their usual numbers singles the Boston Celtics guard out as the leading candidate.
Speaking on Tuesday's show, he said: "I'm going with my boy Marcus Smart because on the defensive side of things, he's shot down everyone who has come up against him. Devin Booker, who dropped 70 points on the Celtics when Smart was out, when he guarded him in their most recent game Booker only scored twice.
"Luka Doncic, the golden boy you've been talking about all episode, only scored four points on 1-of-5 shooting against Smart.
"Marcus Smart is 6'3 and it's not just small guys he's going up against. He won that game against the Milwaukee Bucks. He limited Giannis to five points and forced three turnovers on the league's MVP and he even took the charge that was crucial to Boston winning that game right at the end.
"No matter the size of the player - he was up against Kevin Love, he's gone up against Porzingis as well - so he's taken on anyone as a challenge and is shutting them down."
Smart's defensive prowess has not gone unnoticed by his team-mates either. Jaylen Brown has added his voice to those endorsing the 25-year-old as a DPOY candidate.
Brown said: "Smart's been an animal this year. He's been leading the way for us.
"He's been great to be honest, he's catapulted our whole team to being excellent defensively. I've taken notes and stepped up. Smart's leading the way, and I'm right behind them.
"His defense is amazing and he takes pride in it, especially at his size, the things that he does. It's pretty incredible.
"As far as being mentioned and having the opportunity to win that award, if he keeps doing what he's doing, keeping it up, it's no question that - there's no reason why his name shouldn't be in that conversation. He has that kind of ability."
