Down the stretch tonight he played the most suffocating on the ball defense I have seen since Derek Harper was here. Calderon has given the Knicks fits for years and Shumpert was just ALL OVER this guy. Since Lin has taken over and Shump hasn't had to worry about playing PG, he has reclaimed the agressive play that caught our eyes early on and he has really thrived. Really the way that he plays defense, with that agression, length and quick hands, the only player I can compare him to is Gary Payton. I think as the year goes on, he has a very good chance to lead the league in steals as a rookie. He's gonna challenge for ALL-NBA defense right off the bat.
Give credit to the Knicks staff. I thought the perimeter defender they needed was Singleton and I was not high on Shumpert. Boy was I wrong. Shumpert is the elite perimeter defender from this draft class.
he has 1st team defense written all over him. excellent instincts, tremendous athleticism, can guard point guards to small forwards. strong, fast, quick, great hands, he's got it all.
how often does an NBA point guard get picked clean like that tonight? unreal
BigSm00th wrote:how often does an NBA point guard get picked clean like that tonight? unreal
every time shump needs to lead a 4th quarter comeback 
It's unreal. The refs could not believe he didn't get a piece of Kleiza on that late strip and blew the whistle. The Rookie/Sophomore game is missing a very important player.
Shumpert has an edge to him that great defensive players have, like Payton. If Shump can finish better and develop a reliable jumper he's going to make a strong case for starting SG down the road.
GustavBahler wrote:Shumpert has an edge to him that great defensive players have, like Payton. If Shump can finish better and develop a reliable jumper he's going to make a strong case for starting SG down the road.
Or if he could finish a slam dunk!
MaTT4281 wrote:It's unreal. The refs could not believe he didn't get a piece of Kleiza on that late strip and blew the whistle. The Rookie/Sophomore game is missing a very important player.
That was totally not a foul....should've been a turnover.
This guys hands are lightning quick and he has no fear in going after the ball. He is a totally disruptive player on the defensive end, and when combined with someone like Chandler, we finally can make the stops we need to win close games down the stretch.
MarburyAnd1Crossover wrote:GustavBahler wrote:Shumpert has an edge to him that great defensive players have, like Payton. If Shump can finish better and develop a reliable jumper he's going to make a strong case for starting SG down the road.
Or if he could finish a slam dunk!
That's what I just said.
VDesai wrote:MaTT4281 wrote:It's unreal. The refs could not believe he didn't get a piece of Kleiza on that late strip and blew the whistle. The Rookie/Sophomore game is missing a very important player.
That was totally not a foul....should've been a turnover.
This guys hands are lightning quick and he has no fear in going after the ball. He is a totally disruptive player on the defensive end, and when combined with someone like Chandler, we finally can make the stops we need to win close games down the stretch.
Right now, all Shump needs is time for his reputation to catch up to him. The longer this goes on, the more calls he'll get in his favor.
he was great on Kobe too- he loves defending the guy with the ball in the clutch and looked dominating in a way I don't see often in the NBA defensively
This was part of my argument for Shump as ROY. The reason he won't get it is that these people don't appreciate shutdown defense as much as they should. Defense is half of the game and Shump is a GREAT defensive player. He gets overlooked cuz other rooks score or make assists, but no one is a better defender than Shump.
Sangfroid wrote:BigSm00th wrote:how often does an NBA point guard get picked clean like that tonight? unreal
The whole Raptor team scored 12 points in the 4th quarter. Shump didn't just check Calderon (25 points in 3 quarters) HE SHUT HIM DOWN
It was a total suffocation. I couldn't breathe watching that defense. Shump totally enveloped Calderon, who is the kind of player that can really orchestrate a game normally.
D'Antoni has used this alignment now several times to close out games and it's a really potent thing to have Iman just go nuts on the other teams best perimeter player. A bit of credit has to go to the coaches for that too.
Shumpert D was beastly and we'll need that in the playoffs. He just need to find the spots on the floor he can score at.
From what I saw from Singleton, Shump is the better defender and I think at a more important position, cause if you get the ball out of the PG's hands, it's a different game.
Wow, absolutely amazing. Maybe he still gets to the rookie game, as he is the best rookie defender. Rubio might get more steals but is no where near the defender.
GustavBahler wrote:MarburyAnd1Crossover wrote:GustavBahler wrote:Shumpert has an edge to him that great defensive players have, like Payton. If Shump can finish better and develop a reliable jumper he's going to make a strong case for starting SG down the road.
Or if he could finish a slam dunk!
That's what I just said.
You didn't say slam dunk. Specifically we need the dunk.
MarburyAnd1Crossover wrote:GustavBahler wrote:MarburyAnd1Crossover wrote:GustavBahler wrote:Shumpert has an edge to him that great defensive players have, like Payton. If Shump can finish better and develop a reliable jumper he's going to make a strong case for starting SG down the road.
Or if he could finish a slam dunk!
That's what I just said.
You didn't say slam dunk. Specifically we need the dunk.
Fun with semantics.....
Watching Shumpert on D is dreamy...he can be Glove 2.0 defensively for sure. That strip of Calderon and dunk was Linsane!
