KU JAYHAWK BASKETBALL--All Time Greatest Defenders

First I should say that my picks below are prejudiced by my familiarity with the players since 1967, and the lack of same for the players before this. I am also generally prejudiced against players before the 60's as basketball skills were still being refined and, with a few very prominent exceptions, don't believe that most of the players before the 60's had the requisite skills or talent to make much of a splash in the modern era had they magically been transported ahead in time. In any case, one's defensive capabilities are difficult to quantify by looking at a page of statistics—especially since things like blocked shots and steals weren't tabulated in the “olden” days. I have seen some clips of some of those players before 1967, but a few clips can tell you only so much, while great players in KU's long past--like 2-time All-Americans, Tusten Ackerman, Paul Endacott, Charlie Black, Charlie B. Black, Fred Pralle and Ray Evans—have only old still photographs by which to recommend them. Their skills on the defensive end must forever remain a mystery as we can never see them in action, and the contemporary written record can give us little idea of how they might fare in today's game. Thus, all of these undoubted great players find no place in my list below. Indeed, only one before 1967 finds his way onto the list, and not only because his skills are legendary. With mine own eyes I have seen his prowess--albeit as a professional some 10 years after he left KU--many times. I've also seen a number of clips of him as a collegian. I make no claim to my list being definitive. This is just one person's opinion—a person who has followed the Jayhawks religiously since '67, who had season tickets through much of the Owens era, into the Brown era, and then again with Roy Williams until about 2000. I have traveled to see many away games in person and kept current with the general thinking about KU's players and teams. But it's still just one person's opinion.

On with it!

FIRST TEAM (in order of defensive prowess)

1. Wilt Chamberlain 7'1'' (C), 1956-58

2. Jo Jo White 6'3'' (G) 1966-1969

3. Darnell Valentine 6'2'' (G) 1978-1981

4. Cole Aldrich 6'11''(C ) 2008-current

5. Alonzo Jameson 6'6''(F) 1990-92

WILT

If anyone would like to argue with my first pick, well, clearly your knowledge of basketball is severely limited—no offense. But Chamberlain was an absolute phenom when he came to Kansas. No one had seen his like before, with only Bill Russell at San Fransisco, just before, being in the same class. Chamberlain was taller than Russell, and faster than Russell—faster than any center anyone had ever seen to this point (at least, of those over 6'9). There are clips of him at Kansas snatching a rebound and then dribbling down court on a fast break as if he were Danny Manning. All of this talent made him a terror under the hoop. He was a shot blocking machine—though we can never know how often he accomplished this feat at KU, or in the pros, as this statistic was not kept in college until much later, and didn't start in the NBA until the year after his retirement. But there is no doubt about his dominance. In the pros, only Russell is usually listed ahead of him as a defensive stopper, though there are many who consider Chamberlain as the best defensive center of all-time. Among his many attributes were his unparalleled strength, his near indestructibility, and his ability to avoid fouling out (he never did, not once)—not to mention his being the greatest rebounder of all-time (he is atop the NBA career list, and is KU's greatest rebounder by far in terms of average), which is certainly an integral part of a center's defensive capabilities. He was a 2-time All-American, and would have been a 4 time pick if freshmen had been allowed to play and he had stuck around for his senior year. Really, Chamberlain and my next pick are, so it seems to me, the only picks that are beyond question.

JO JO

I remember a conversation a had with an elderly KU fan back in the late 70's—a discussion that also included my best friend, Allen Lickteig. We were talking about Darnell Valentine, and at some point, the guy began to reminice about Jo Jo White and compared him to DV. One thing was certain, he said, “Jo Jo was much better defensively.” This came as a real shock to my friend, Allen (who had never seen White as a collegian), as he was thinking there wasn't much doubt about Valentine's place as KU's greatest defensive guard of all-time. A lot of people who hadn't seen Jo Jo in person would have been surprised by that comment. As for me, who had seen him play several times (though only once in person while he wore the Jayhawk blue), my only quibble with the old guy's comment was the word “much.” But there was no question about Jo Jo's superlative abilities to disrupt an opposing team's best laid plans. He was mouse-quick, in spite of his large (for the day) size, with flashing hands that were constantly looking to fracture and demoralize the efforts of the other team--and feet that were always in position. Whether by stealing the ball (alas, those statistics weren't kept then), smothering the opposing guard with a glue-like tenacity, or jumping over to help out elsewhere—he was the best defensive guard in the nation, and made the lives of other guards miserable during their 40 minutes with the Hawks. Unfortunately, the talent in the rest of the team wasn't really up to snuff in all but his first and last semesters (for reasons unknown to me, he began playing as a sophomore at the beginning of the second semester, and his career ended after the first semester of the '68-'69 season).* So, in 67 and 68, he was mostly the whole show, which made them a good team, but not good enough to win the conference title and move on to the NCAA. Still, every guard in the Big 8 those years must have looked to the 2 KU games on their schedule with palpable dread, knowing they were to face the blue-buzzsaw. He was a consensus All-American, and led the US Olympic team to Gold in 1968, long before the days when professionals were allowed to play.

*His addition to that first team propelled them within an eyelash of the NCAA championship in '66. In fact, his last second shot from the corner (in the memorable overtime game against Texas Western in the semi-finals) that hit net-bottom should have, in many people's view, won the game. The referees called him for brushing the out-of-bounds line, however. The only existing photographs show Jo Jo's heel raised over the line, but not touching it. The recent film made about Texas Western's championship, ridiculously, shows Jo Jo standing trance-like, his heel squarely and unambiguously on the line, just standing there—for about 3 seconds—before going up with the shot.

DARNELL

One of the few real plums Ted Owens managed to recruit for Kansas, he made an immediate impact, leading the experienced Jayhawks of '78 in scoring (one of KU's best all-time teams), as he would through his 4 year career. But his biggest impact came on the defensive end where he was their defensive stopper par excellence. Later in his career, an opposing coach in the NBA called him a “defensive buzzsaw.” But he was even more destructive in college as regards opposing offenses. He was lightening quick and very strong (he was always embarrassed by the fact that the circumference of each of his muscular thighs was greater than that of his waist) and players found it nearly impossible to get around him. Many times, he ended up being called upon to guard much bigger men than himself when his teammates were unable to handle an opposing forward. In particular, Rolando Blackman of K-State was a 4 year thorn in KU's side—a forward at 6-7 or 6-8, he wasn't a good match-up for Valentine, but as first one, and then another player got into foul trouble guarding him, invariably, Valentine would be called upon to shut him down. And, more often than not, he was able to accomplish this with some efficacy. Valentine had a few weaknesses—only being a fair shot and a fair free throw shooter (unfortunate, as he was able to draw fouls like no one else in KU's history)--but on defense, his only weakness was foul trouble. He did not foul out often, but he did often saddle himself with 2 or 3 fouls by 1st half's end, and would often end the game with 4. Though this clearly hampered him to some extent, it also served to get him more focused, harnessing his amazing coordination and quickness to continue harass his opponent while then keeping his sometimes reckless efforts to swipe the ball to a minimum (he ranks as KU's all-time career leader in steals). Sadly, this great player, who made some All-American teams and was chosen to play in the Olympics, never played in a final four.

COLE

Has only played 2.5 years so far, but he has become the best defensive center I have ever personally seen play at KU (Chamberlain's college career being 10 years before my time). He demonstrated real talent and potential in his first year as a freshman, getting only limited minutes playing behind senior starters Darnell Jackson and Shasha Kaun, and sophomore Darrel “Shady” Arthur. In the penultimate game against North Carolina, however, he completely shut down junior All-American center, Tyler Hansbrough, and did it with so much apparent ease that I'm sure the whole NC team must been looking at this kid in much the same way Butch did the posse pursuing him in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”-- “Who IS this guy?” The next year demonstrated who “this guy” really was as he became a shot-blocking and rebounding machine. If he stays his full compliment of years, he will undoubtedly leave as KU's leading career shot-blocker. It's true that for some reason, his scoring has dropped off significantly this year, and to a lesser extent, so has his rebounding, but he continues to be an eye-popping rejector of shots who generally manages to keep himself out of foul trouble, mostly by keeping his feet firmly on the ground, anticipating the movement of the offensive player and beating him to the spot. His abilities in this regard remind one of the mature Kevin McHale of Boston Celtic fame. He's also probably KU's best outlet passer ever—but that doesn't really count toward defensive abilities.

ALONZO JAMISON

This might be the only controversial pick of my first 5, though those who actually saw him play would be more sympathetic. This was a man built to play defense, with quick feat and hands, great anticipation, and great strength. His shoulders were massive, and even though only about 6'6'', he would usually play power forward. On defense, however, he would match up with the most offensive minded of the opposing team's small or power forward. He then would use his quickness and anticipation to deny his man the ball, often stealing it away (at the time, his season totals of 80 and 83 steals in 1991 and 92 were the third and fourth best in KU history, trailing only Darnell Valentine's totals for 1979 and 1981 (see Valentine above). He also might hold the record for most kicked balls, using those quick feet of his to deny the pass—a statistic that will no doubt never be kept. And when his player did get his hands on the ball, Alonzo could pressure him mightily, using his quickness and strength to advantage. Also a good rebounder, he made life miserable for those he set his defensive skills upon. He was a streaky, though sometimes explosive scorer, but his inconsistencies on the scoring end were paired with great consistency on the shutting down end, making him the best defensive forward in KU's history—at least since 1967.

As a starting five (assuming they were all in their college prime and there were some way to bring them altogether), this would be an oddly matched team. Aldrich really isn't cut out to play forward, and if he was in a double post with Chamberlain, a three guard line-up would be best, but Jamison is no guard. Also, Jo Jo and Darnell were each point guards and neither one shot from outside with much consistency in their college careers (though that would change with Jo Jo in the NBA), so there is no real shooting guard—and Jamison, who would be playing small forward here, seldom shot from beyond 10 feet. Thus, an opposing team would collapse inside to an extent never seen before. Nonetheless, that line-up, ill-matched as it is, would certainly win the NCAA championship, assuming they had at least a little help from a bench. No team would be able to score on them. They would be the greatest defensive team in NCAA history. And no team would be able to rebound with them what with Chamberlain owning the boards, Aldrich and Jamison giving good support, and the lightening quick Jo Jo and Valentine picking up any junk bounds that made it to the floor. They would also be an excellent fast break team, though probably not the best, as they'd lack that 3rd option to the open/trailing outside shooter. Still, with all of those rebounds to begin the break, the quickness and strength of the guards and Alonzo's ability to power to the hoop (and it's not like White and Valentine couldn't shoot at all) it would be devastating—especially as Chamberlain himself was incredibly fast in his youth—perhaps as fast as Hakeem Olajuwon. Fast break or no, perhaps the majority of KU's scoring would come on stick-backs, what with all of that rebounding prowess and strength inside. No matter, the picks in my top 5 defensive team weren't chosen on the basis of their abilities to blend together as a team, but on their individual abilities as defensive super-stars.

THE BEST OF THE REST

That KU has had a good share of great defensive players should not be surprising considering how defensive minded many of their coaches--like Roy Williams, Ted Owens, and Bill Self--have been. So naming just a top 5 is doing an injustice to the many excellent defenders who have passed through Jayhawk country. However, in trying to compile a second team, the sheer numbers of candidates made the process untenable. While the top 5 picks had abilities that clearly set them apart (IMHO), the competition for second team was just too great for me to whittle them down to five. So instead, I'll offer a list of Honorable Mentions. Please feel free to point out any good candidates I might have overlooked, and even challenge my top 5 picks if you think you can give a good argument to support your opinion.

HONORABLE MENTION

Roger Brown 6' 11'' (C)

Mario Chalmers 6' 6'' (G)

Nick Collison 6' 10'' (F-C)

John Douglas 6' 2'' (G-F)

Greg Dreiling 7' 1'' (C)

Jared Haas 6' 3'' (G)

Kurt Hinrich 6' 3'' (G)

Adonis Jordan 6' 1' (G)

Ron Kellogg 6' 4'' (F-G)

Tom Kivisto 6' 2'' (G)

Kelly Knight 6' 8'' (F-C)

Michael Lee 6' 4'' (F-G)

Danny Manning 6' 10'' (F-C)

Aaron Miles 6' 1'' (G)

Paul Mokeski 7'1'' (C)

Brady Morningstar 6' 4''(G-F)

Greg Ostertag 7' 2'' (C)

Paul Pierce 6' 7'' (F)

Chris Piper 6' 6'' (F-C)

Scott Pollard 6' 10'' (C)

Russell Robinson 6' 1'' (G)

Brandon Rush 6' 5'' (G-F)

Billy Thomas 6' 4'' (G)

Jacque Vaughn 6' 1'' (G)