Best Defensive Center of All Time | The Boneyard

Best Defensive Center of All Time

Who is the best defensive uconn center

  • Clingan

    Votes: 37 42.0%

  • Thabeet

    Votes: 13 14.8%

  • Okafor

    Votes: 38 43.2%

  • Other (Comment)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    88
Thabeet
Brimah
Clingan
Okafor
 
Not voting for Okafor would be a crime. Not only was he one of the great shot blockers of all time, he would be incredibly switchable in the modern game. Clingan and Thabeet were awesome in drop coverage but Okafor would be able to high hedge as well as rotate better than almost any center in today's defenses.
 
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This is where you have to differentiate between most impactful versus best, which to me deals with skills. Okafor was the best — the most skilled. But in terms of impact, DC was more impactful. Thabeet was behind the two of them by a good deal (although Thabeet by the time he was done was much more impactful than DC on the other end of the floor).

Brimah is not on a list with the first three.
 
It’s Thabeet and I don’t think it’s all that close. He not only blocked a ton of shots he created a situation that was laughable on the inside. Between people driving to the basket and kicking out because they see Hasheem to guys getting offensive rebounds and dribbling it out without going back up with it, he created havoc. Dominating in the interior. DC and Emeka were also really good but not HT like.
 
businesslawyer said:
This is where you have to differentiate between most impactful versus best, which to me deals with skills. Okafor was the best — the most skilled. But in terms of impact, DC was more impactful. Thabeet was behind the two of them by a good deal (although Thabeet by the time he was done was much more impactful than DC on the other end of the floor).

Brimah is not on a list with the first three.
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I think this is a reasonable take here. They’re very different styles of defense. In the modern game, I’m probably taking Clingan’s ability to play all-world drop coverage and all at once cut off the lob, drive, , pick and pop, and passing lanes. He was just so impactful off the pick and roll (Illinois being his Mona Lisa). If I’m picking a guy to play against more traditional big lineups, it’s Okafor to me and I don’t think there’s too much debate. That’s not to say either wouldn’t be elite defenders in any generation, we’re splitting hairs here.
 
mauconnfan said:
It’s Thabeet and I don’t think it’s all that close. He not only blocked a ton of shots he created a situation that was laughable on the inside. Between people driving to the basket and kicking out because they see Hasheem to guys getting offensive rebounds and dribbling it out without going back up with it, he created havoc. Dominating in the interior. DC and Emeka were also really good but not HT like.
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The 09 team's Achille's heel was a lack of depth, but they made it work because the perimeter defenders wouldn't foul because if they got beat, Thabeet was right there to clean up the mess. Since this poll is referencing defense only, I agree and think its Thabeet and not its not even close
 
Okafor without question. As great as Thabeet was in shot blocking, he had problems with bigger guys (see DeJuan Blair).

For what it’s worth, I think Voskuhl leads the second tier of UConn defensive centers and may even deserve an honorable mention amongst the top group.
 
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Deepster said:
And a long time ago, we were known as a school that couldn't recruit or develop big men.
Expand ...

I don't know about that I mean we had Clyde Vaughn had a reputation for developing big men before his departure in 04.
 
B1GEast said:
I don't know about that I mean we had Clyde Vaughn had a reputation for developing big men before his departure in 04.
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Calhoun came on board in 1986 and before Travis Knight and Jake Voskuhl, we had no big men of note. You would have to go back to the Art Quimby and Walt Dropo days.
 
Deepster said:
Calhoun came on board in 1986 and before Travis Knight and Jake Voskuhl, we had no big men of note. You would have to go back to the Art Quimby and Walt Dropo days.
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Even up to when when Travis was here the book on us was that we had everything but a center. The derogatory term was donut because we had a hole in the middle.
 
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Although not a real 5, Whaley, if he had better development and more chances may have been one of the best defensive bigs we've ever had. Towards the end his shot blocking timing was impeccable.
 
Pretty tough call
Okafor National Defensive Player of the Year in 2002-03 AND 2003-04
Thabeet National Defensive Player of the Year 2007-08 AND 2008-09
Clingan 2x National Champion & dominant
The only way I parse this defensively to pick one guy is based on Thabeet's imposing size
 
Okafor had that uncanny ability to not just block shots but recover the same blocked shot as a turnover. He alone gave us 4-5 extra possessions every game.
 
Ricker said:
Pretty tough call
Okafor National Defensive Player of the Year in 2002-03 AND 2003-04
Thabeet National Defensive Player of the Year 2007-08 AND 2008-09
Clingan 2x National Champion & dominant
The only way I parse this defensively to pick one guy is based on Thabeet's imposing size
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Clingan is even bigger than Thabeet.
 
Deepster said:
Calhoun came on board in 1986 and before Travis Knight and Jake Voskuhl, we had no big men of note. You would have to go back to the Art Quimby and Walt Dropo days.
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Toby Kimball wasn't too shabby. Led the nation in rebounds at 21.0/game his senior year. !7.9 rebs/game career. Red Auerbach thought he was worth drafting.
 
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superjohn said:
Clingan is even bigger than Thabeet.
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Thabeet was listed at 7-3 and Clingan at 7-2. Clingan definitely had a little more girth to him although they were only 15 pounds apart on the rosters (280 to 265).
 
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HooperScooper said:
Thabeet was listed at 7-3 and Clingan at 7-2. Clingan definitely had a little more girth to him although they were only 15 pounds apart on the rosters (280 to 265).
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Thabeet at the draft combine- 22 years old, 7'1.25 barefoot, 267 lbs, 7'6.25 wingspan, 9'5 standing reach

Clingan at the draft combine- 20 years old, 7'1.75 barefoot, 282 lbs, 7'7 wingspan, 9'7 standing reach
 
superjohn said:
Thabeet at the draft combine- 22 years old, 7'1.25 barefoot, 267 lbs, 7'6.25 wingspan, 9'5 standing reach

Clingan at the draft combine- 20 years old, 7'1.75 barefoot, 282 lbs, 7'7 wingspan, 9'7 standing reach
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Wow good pull, certainly did not remember that measurement for Thabeet did not realize the Clingan measured bigger
 
WhereistheDove? said:
I think this is a reasonable take here. They’re very different styles of defense. In the modern game, I’m probably taking Clingan’s ability to play all-world drop coverage and all at once cut off the lob, drive, , pick and pop, and passing lanes. He was just so impactful off the pick and roll (Illinois being his Mona Lisa). If I’m picking a guy to play against more traditional big lineups, it’s Okafor to me and I don’t think there’s too much debate. That’s not to say either wouldn’t be elite defenders in any generation, we’re splitting hairs here.
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Opposite for me. Okafor can defend essentially 1-5. He had some of the best timing I've ever seen, allowing him to be a block machine despite giving up so much length to DC or Thabeet. He impacted shots all over the floor, not just the paint, because he could close out on shooters and block their shots. He's almost an ideal 5 for this era, and would have developed an outside shot had be been in this time.

Drop coverage isn't something UConn even wants to play. We did because DC was great at it, but also because he couldn't move well enough to get outside and cover smaller players. Was it effective? Sure, because the rest of that team, especially Castle, were so good at taking away the perimeter that DC shutting down drives was enormously valuable. He also let us play tighter and not worry if someone got by a defender.
 
Deepster said:
Calhoun came on board in 1986 and before Travis Knight and Jake Voskuhl, we had no big men of note. You would have to go back to the Art Quimby and Walt Dropo days.
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You forgot Toby Kimball and Cliff Robinson
Uuuuu
 
HuskyHawk said:
Opposite for me. Okafor can defend essentially 1-5. He had some of the best timing I've ever seen, allowing him to be a block machine despite giving up so much length to DC or Thabeet. He impacted shots all over the floor, not just the paint, because he could close out on shooters and block their shots. He's almost an ideal 5 for this era, and would have developed an outside shot had be been in this time.

Drop coverage isn't something UConn even wants to play. We did because DC was great at it, but also because he couldn't move well enough to get outside and cover smaller players. Was it effective? Sure, because the rest of that team, especially Castle, were so good at taking away the perimeter that DC shutting down drives was enormously valuable. He also let us play tighter and not worry if someone got by a defender.
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Why don't you think we want to play drop coverage? Did the staff mention that at some point? Seems to me the staff builds defensive schemes inside out playing to whatever the strength of the big on the floor is.
 
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