What's new
By:
Filters

Was Boozer ever any good at defense?

was Boozer ever any good at defense?

  • Total voters
    26
Hotdog

Hotdog

Well-Known Member
I know this is a very old topic, but I would like to get a consensus opinion on the matter. And since it's related to Jazz history, it's relevant.


There seems to be some confusion on this site whether or not he could play defense. I say he couldn't. I'm pretty sure most people agree, but I would like to find out for sure what people here think.

Your opinion is valued. Your vote is appreciated.
 
Not really. He could block an occasional shot when motivated, but I think he lacked the size to play good post D, and didn't really care to play pick and roll Defense. He was quick enough and had decent hands, so I think it was more of an attitude thing there. Partly, he had a prime AK47 to cover some of his mistakes from the weak side. Dude rebounded strong as well because I think he took pride in that. Had he put effort in on Defense he would have been incredible as he was magic in the post. Probably needed a different front court mate than Memo. If he would have had Gobert. . .
 
Last edited:
When he was totally healthy he wasn't a terrible man defender against players his size or smaller. Of course, when you have to qualify a statement that much to make him not always TERRIBLE, that says a lot.

A weaker Kanter, basically.
 
nah. he was even bad at flopping lol He did scream well like a little ***** tho


Sent from the JazzFanz app
 
He wasn't terrible but below average to bad subject to how many ****s he was giving that night. Comparing him to Kanter is an insult to Kanter
 
He always sucked at defense from what I remember.

He had long stretches of being a total beast in every aspect of offense though to the point that it made up for his bad defense
The problem was playing memo next to him
Good rebounder too

But ya, his defense always sucked (he did guard yao pretty good in the playoffs from what I remeber though
 
I remember one series against Houston that went to seven games, where boozer and okur defended Yao extremely well. I remember thinking booze had turned a corner and started caring on defense. Then he sucked again. So, if you count that short series where he figured out how to defend, then I guess technically he could be counted at one time being a decent defender, but he went right back to sucking horribly immediately. He really sucked on defense for so many games. It was very frustrating, because okur was limited physically, and boozer appeared to be limited mentally on defense.
 
Boozers defense was worse than Kanter? I am curious what you guys think of this. Can someone rank the defense of Memo, Boozer, Al Jefferson, Kanter. I know all were bad at defense but is one especially bad in the group? Also were would someone like Bargnani, David Lee, and Kevin Love rank in that group if any of you watched them play as well.
 
candrew said:
I thought he had quick hands - but his footwork was a nightmare
Click to expand...

Yup, had very quick hands like Malone did. He used it as a crutch though and would opt just to swipe instead of moving his feet. I remember a time when he didn't suck at defense, but not one where he was good.
 
The Blue Elephant said:
Boozers defense was worse than Kanter? I am curious what you guys think of this. Can someone rank the defense of Memo, Boozer, Al Jefferson, Kanter. I know all were bad at defense but is one especially bad in the group? Also were would someone like Bargnani, David Lee, and Kevin Love rank in that group if any of you watched them play as well.
Click to expand...

I would say Kanter is the worst out of the 4 former Jazz bigs. Boozer could steal the ball and Jefferson could block shots and Memo could guard Yao Ming. Kanter really has 0 ability to make plays on the defensive end.
 
Cy said:
I would say Kanter is the worst out of the 4 former Jazz bigs. Boozer could steal the ball and Jefferson could block shots and Memo could guard Yao Ming. Kanter really has 0 ability to make plays on the defensive end.
Click to expand...
Agree.
I'd rank them Memo, Jefferson, Boozer and Kanter.
 
JazzyFresh said:
Softest defender I have ever witnessed.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I would say his lack of defense was the most puzzling.

Al Jefferson was obviously slow as ****, mentally and physically.

Kanter doesn't understand what defense is.

Boozer was athletic, strong, and quick. He wasn't off the charts athletic or anything, but he was a solid athlete. Boozer really has 0 excuse for sucking at defense like he did.
 
Cy said:
Yeah, I would say his lack of defense was the most puzzling.

Al Jefferson was obviously slow as ****, mentally and physically.

Kanter doesn't understand what defense is.

Boozer was athletic, strong, and quick. He wasn't off the charts athletic or anything, but he was a solid athlete. Boozer really has 0 excuse for sucking at defense like he did.
Click to expand...

He was so brittle that any contact would have torn or broken something.
 
No. He might have had a handful of games where he was in his career, like Kancer, but in general he was horrid.
 
The Blue Elephant said:
Boozers defense was worse than Kanter? I am curious what you guys think of this. Can someone rank the defense of Memo, Boozer, Al Jefferson, Kanter. I know all were bad at defense but is one especially bad in the group? Also were would someone like Bargnani, David Lee, and Kevin Love rank in that group if any of you watched them play as well.
Click to expand...

I go memo > jeffy > kanter > lee > love > boozer > bargnani.

They all suck bad doe. Good choices
 
I definitely don't think he was ever a good defender, but he wasn't always as terrible as everyone is making him out to be. Thinking back to '06/'07 specifically we were middle of the pack defensively which is pretty crazy to think about seeing as we had Memo, Boozer, and Fisher starting. I look back to that year in particular because Booze was just a beast that year. Yes he still had matador defense every once in a while, but that season he was more active than any other and we need to remember that rebounding is still a big part of defense and he was an absolute monster on the glass that season.
 
Cy said:
Yup, had very quick hands like Malone did. He used it as a crutch though and would opt just to swipe instead of moving his feet. I remember a time when he didn't suck at defense, but not one where he was good.
Click to expand...

I have to stop you right here. Quick hands like Malone?? You can't compare the two. If you are comparing then you obviously didn't see Malone play. Malone was much quicker at swiping the ball and was a much better defender. The steals that Malone didn't get credit for, he knocked the ball lose for someone else to steal it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top