I’ve coached several players over the years on the playground and AAU. Some of my favorites have been Ray Mercedes (Cornell), Jeff Greer (Rutgers) and Ricardo Greer (Pitt), Kasib Powell (Texas Tech), Kenny Harley (Boston College), Chudney Grey (St. John’s), Anthony Brown (Northeastern), Bobby Willis (Lehigh), Kwame Washington, and Dennis McCullough (Tuskeegee Institute). In 2004, I took a Bounce/Couch Foundation AAU Team that won the open-division Rumble in the Bronx with two special guards: Craig Austrie, currently at UConn, and one of my personal favorites, Joe Lindsey from Gannon University. Both of these guards were terrorist in transition. What separated Joe from the others was his commitment to 94 X 50 on-the-ball defense. One of the most dominating moments on the court is watching a guard strip a ball handler on consecutive plays. How many of you have seen this type of performance? Tell us if you remember a few.
Joe Lindsey goes baseline to baseline. Photo: Gannon University, Rod Cannon
No one wants to bring the ball up with an aggressive, quick-handed defender turning them after every two dribbles. Joe converts a sloppy handle into instant offense. In transition he finds the open man, hits the short 15 to 17 foot pull-up, and gets to the rim with quickness. Joe took Monroe Junior College to the National Championship game his sophomore year and currently he is the point-guard of a 26-3 Gannon team in the semi-finals of their conference. As we near the summer months, I look forward to seeing Joe back on the playground defending with the Uptowners in Pro City.
Also catching my eye is full-surface defender Russell Robinson from Kansas. Russell is a great distributor possessing an improving jumpshot. I see him in a Chris Duhon capacity with better on the ball defensive skills. He deserves a NBA camp look where I expect him to improve his draft status. Defending Chris Paul, Chauncey Billups, Tony Parker, and Ben Gordon is the question for all point guards. Russell can take a cue from Mark “Action” Jackson and make the playground his home between summer league appearances to get his creativity and rhythm up for his pro shot.
Players on the playground that do 94X50 in NYC:
Speedy, Reem Reid, Garnett Thompson, Maniac, Darren “DP” Phillips, Charles Jones, Tim Headache, Chudney Gray, Mookie, and BJ McFarlane.
March 6th, 2008 at 1:41 am
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
the first time Mookie and i played against each other was at the 92nd St. Y Pro-Am. i instantly hated him! he ripped and blocked my jumper, had me on lock and it didn’t feel cute. he had just graduated from st. francis and i had no idea who he was. headache is another guard who i always had to really get mentally ready to be guarded by. the smallest mental lapse and ‘bloop’ he’s running down the court with your dribble. ‘bloop!’
March 6th, 2008 at 4:03 am
Nhamo Shire says:
I love this right here. Got to shout out a couple of legendary on the ball defenders from back in the day in London - first off, Andrew ‘The General’ Bailey. Cat quick, with the type of lateral speed you don’t see in a generation, The General could go faster laterally than PG’s could go straight ahead. That’s a problem. He could beat you to the spot then be waiting for you when you spin out of the trap. Worst of all he stayed on you every inch of the floor close enough to know what you had for dinner last night, and as soon as the ball left your hands towards the floor, it’s in trouble.
Of the same mould, one of the unsung legends on the Junior level over here from back in the 80’s - Lindon ‘Grinda’ Wallace. Wow. Picture Gary Payton on D in his prime. PG’s would run away from the ball just so they didn’t have to go up against him in the backcourt, because they didn’t want to get embrassed. Rip, rip, rip, rip, rip. All day.
Finally my man Eli Clarke. Less known, but D full blown. He wasn’t a great offensive player, but I don’t know if I’ve seen a guy with better defensive quicks than him, combining quickness with strength and aggression. I once saw him turnover the starting guard in a National League game over here 4 times in a row in the back court. Team calls timeout, coach kills the pg, time in - and he does it again. Not just with rips, but also shot clock violations and unforced turnovers. I’ve seen so called ‘ranked’ guards over here pull the ‘ghost’ groin injury to get out of having to go against him. Crazy.
Defense is a beautiful thing.
March 6th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Jeremy Ripley says:
Some Big Tenners that have the 94 x 50 flavor.
Stanley Pringle- Penn State
Al Nolen- Minnesota
Kalin Lucas- Michigan State
P.J. Hill- Ohio State
All guys have bananas quickness, great anticipation, and developing offensive games.
I was Sean Singletary from Virginia play for the first time last night against Duke (previously, I’ve only seen him on highlight reels). Dude’s D wasn’t amazing, but he took Gerald Henderson, Greg Paulus, or whoever else tried to guard him to school repeatedly…
Peace_
Jeremy
March 6th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Derrick Canada says:
Couch,
I gotta give a quick shout to the best I ever saw do it; Gene Smith. For those that don’t know, he was apart of those John Thompson “Hoya Paranoia” teams in the 80’s. He was the most fearless on the ball defender ever. Yeah, he’d get shook on occassion, but he was always coming from every angle, reaching and smacking until you turned it over. He’d take it from you off the dribble or the pass. People would pass the rock just to get him away from them. Of course I loved playing with him because when he turned it up, it made playing defense fun.
DC
March 6th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
oh my god, DC–you’re absolutely right. props to gene smith. dude’s D was so notorious that the Oakland Raiders drafted him to the NFL and he didn’t even play football–for real. i distinctly remember the first time i scored on gene in nickelodeon on 20th st. off 1st. i had watched homeboy on tv while he rocked at georgetown, and i got so amped inside that i had hit a jumper in his grill cuz back then and even today in the 38 and over league, gene smith is that player who can totally change the game’s outcome without even taking one shot on offense . . .
March 6th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Jonathan DeJesus says:
Hey man, i had the oppurtunity of playing against joe lindsey and his monroe team in a juco tournament in palm beach, florida. I remember he was a good ass defender. He was pressing the ball 94 ft. He did pluck me one time, but after that no more. His whole team was good defensively b/c once you passed the guards, you had to deal with their bigs who could jump out the gym. Its good to see joe doing his thing.
March 7th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Sean Couch says:
Gene Smith was on of the best on the ball defenders I have ever seen. He would sit down in that “chair” and slide textbook on you. He played in the Pro-Am and I had the chance to go against Gene. I remember a few times when he got low on me and I gave him a few quick in and outs to get by him and score. I always felt I had to make a move on him, otherwise he would just smother the offensive player.
It was a good time back in the day.
March 7th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
chris says:
i can kick his but just give me the time and day
March 10th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Sean Couch says:
I want to congratulate Joe and his team on good season. They are seeded # 6 in the Div II National Championship tournament which will start play March 15 at Grand Valley State in Michigan.