All-Time SJU All-Defense Team

lawmanfan

lawmanfan

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Sir Dom getting G-League DPOY brought this topic to mind. Here are my picks, but I'm sure I'm overlooking lots of worthy contenders:

PG: Marcus Hatten
SG: Justin Simon
SF: Sir Dom
PF: Ron Artest
C: Anthony Glover

Honorable mention at PG: Boo Harvey
Probably the better choice at C but I will take Glover on my team every time: Jayson Williams

Would love to see others' opinions on this.
 
Willie Glass and Matt Burst have to be in the conversation. I think Mark Jackson was voted defensive player of the year one year.
 
a couple that come immediately to mind. Your list is good but Hatten would not have been at the top of my list.

Chuck Sprolling ended up being a really good defensive player. He came in as the guy who scored 89 (?) pts in a hs game and was going to be our designated 3pt shooter, but by his senior season he was a lock down defender.

Lee Green RIP. The guy had really powerful hands and was just an overwhelming defensive presence.
 
[quote="SJU85" post=391374]Willie Glass and Matt Burst have to be in the conversation. I think Mark Jackson was voted defensive player of the year one year.[/quote]

Thanks - I thought about both of them. I think Simon and Sir Dom are both better than Matty B depending on where you want to play him (which really should have been tight end, but it was a different era).

I sometimes wonder how much of the credit Willie Glass gets for his D stems from the fact that he couldn't play offense at all - people probably figured well, there has to be SOME reason he's out there. LOL.

I actually think PG and C are the most debatable positions. Someone suggested Werdann, I always found him to be a huge disappointment. Same thing as Justin Burrell - you could see the tools, but they never all came together the way you thought they should.
 
I remember Ed Searcy as a very tough rebounder and defender at center although on the small side.
 
[quote="lawmanfan" post=391366]Sir Dom getting G-League DPOY brought this topic to mind. Here are my picks, but I'm sure I'm overlooking lots of worthy contenders:

PG: Marcus Hatten
SG: Justin Simon
SF: Sir Dom
PF: Ron Artest
C: Anthony Glover

Honorable mention at PG: Boo Harvey
Probably the better choice at C but I will take Glover on my team every time: Jayson Williams

Would love to see others' opinions on this.[/quote]

The thing I remember about Hatten was although he had high steals totals, he never appeared to be an elite defender. He often racked up those totals by being a gambler on defense.
 
Tough to put Brust on there when he couldn't defend himself against a Ml;javen punch in practice :)
 
Erick Barkely was a phenomenal defender.
As was Malik Sealy.
But they don't get enough credit because they were so good at everything else.
 
[quote="MainMan" post=391397]Erick Barkely was a phenomenal defender.
As was Malik Sealy.
But they don't get enough credit because they were so good at everything else.[/quote]

VERY TRUE. Barkley owned just about every opponent he faced on both ends. His hands were lightning fast. Good selections and probably my #1s as well at their positions.
 
John Warren, SF who later played with the Knicks first championship team was considered the best defender on the Johnnie teams he played on in the late 1960s.
 
[quote="lawmanfan" post=391366]Sir Dom getting G-League DPOY brought this topic to mind. Here are my picks, but I'm sure I'm overlooking lots of worthy contenders:

PG: Marcus Hatten
SG: Justin Simon
SF: Sir Dom
PF: Ron Artest
C: Anthony Glover

Honorable mention at PG: Boo Harvey
Probably the better choice at C but I will take Glover on my team every time: Jayson Williams

Would love to see others' opinions on this.[/quote]
All very good defensive players. Hard to argue with any of them.

Others that I recall. . .

Beaver Smith (6’4” or so) was a great defender often guarding the oppositions top players including power forwards. Classic matchup vs. Bernard King at Alumni Hall back in the ‘70s.

George Johnson was an all around great player - both offensively and defensively.

Billy Goodwin, Lamont Middleton

More recently. . .Rutherford and Dunn are great defenders as well.
 
If you only took blocks into mind, Obekpa, Owens.
 
In terms of just keeping his guy in front oh him, Paris Horne was much better than Dom and Simon.
 
Only one year to judge, but Mo Harkless was also great defensively and fantastic on the boards.
 
[quote="Knight" post=391430]If you only took blocks into mind, Obekpa, Owens.[/quote]

I thought about both of them, but in both cases I felt that the blocks were outweighed by their deficiencies as fundamental post defenders. Glover didn't block many (any) shots, but he gave up a huge height advantage every single game and more than held his own. Just an absolute warrior.

I think Barkley may well be the pick over Mo Hatten, that was a good call by Main Man.

A Mase In Your Face is right about Paris Horne's fundamental defense (bearing in mind that he played for Norm and all Norm cared about was defense). But I'd still take Justin and Dom over him based on size, versatility and rebounding. Both Justin and Dom wound up defending true bigs sometimes and managed to hold their own. Can't see P Butter doing that.
 
Just an fyi, since the award was first given in the 1981-982 season, three Johnnies have been voted BE defensive player of the year by the league's coaches - Mark Jackson, Sir Dom & Justin Simon. Kind of funny about Jackson as he was anything but a great defender in the NBA.
 
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Many to choose from in my many years of being SJU fan back to Tony Jackson team as a kid, but I go with Simon
 
[quote="Amaseinyourface" post=391431]In terms of just keeping his guy in front oh him, Paris Horne was much better than Dom and Simon.[/quote]

I agree, Paris Horne was a very good defensive player.
 
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