Could Dennis Rodman Guard Modern Stretch Forwards Effectively?
Is it possible for Dennis Rodman to guard today’s stretch forwards? This question brings together basketball history and current gameplay trends and has an interesting answer. Rodman, famous for being one of the league’s best defenders, ruled the NBA in the 1990s (well, I suppose he didn’t rule *it*, but he ruled over a *rebounding* section of *floor space* in almost every important game where he played). In any event, he was a stalking horse for some really bad (for the opposing team) 2-pointers and putbacks and a serious roadblock for players, especially in the half-court set, who had designs on scoring. Today’s game is different, and the NBA is populated by many more forwards who can shoot the ball, and shoot it with confidence, from a long way out.
The Evolution of the Stretch Forward
Stretch Fours today possess a diverse skill set. They combine size with shooting ability, making them good mismatches. A great example who still exists is Kevin Love; he can shoot the three-ball as a post player, and he can punish you as both a pick-and-pop player and a straight-up post player with great footwork. Modern stretch fours are very different from the traditional power forwards of yesteryear. While those players also created spacing, today’s stretch fours are much more effective in all the areas necessary to create the best spacing possible—and they do it by using (and, in many cases, abusing) the three-point line.
Think about these figures: in the 2022-2023 NBA season, stretch forwards drained 39% of their three-point attempts. Just think about that for a second. Not only is it 10% better than the league average for three-point shooters back in 1990 (when the three-point line was still 19.75 feet and not the 23.75 feet it is now), but it is also statistically significant. Rodman, known for guarding post players and slashing forwards, would need to adjust his defensive tactics in today’s game.
Could Dennis Rodman Guard Modern Stretch Forwards Effectively?
Could modern stretch forwards be effectively guarded by Dennis Rodman? To answer that requires an analysis of what Rodman did on the defensive end. Rodman was good at on-ball defense and exceptional at reading offensive plays. He was quick and agile, moving laterally, and he was never caught flatfooted. But then the question arises: Could he guard today’s stretch forwards? And to answer that, the counter-argument is advanced via the question: Would today’s stretch forwards even be playing if Rodman was in the league?
For instance, if confronted with a competitor such as Nikola Jokić, Rodman’s approach would likely have to change. The 7-foot tall Serbian is not only an excellent passer and shooter, but he’s also a tough driver who can finish at the rim. He presents a unique problem for defenders that inevitably requires more than a couple of half-hearted attempts to solve. But what if Jokić had to navigate the problem of Rodman, a notoriously difficult defensive assignment, instead?
The Statistical Case for Rodman
When we examine the career numbers that Dennis Rodman put up, it is obvious that he has many, many defensive awards to his name. Rodman won 2 NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards. He also led the NBA in rebounds for 7 seasons and tied the all-time record for most rebounds in an NBA playoff game. And even if you don’t want to count the rebounds, the stats say that he was a significant deterrent to offensive players.
- Defensive Win Shares, Career: 80.3
- Average number of rebounds a player gets per game during the entirety of their playing career.
Mark Santangelo was a comparatively small and thus somewhat unorthodox pitcher. He stood only 5’10” and weighed 160 pounds. He was a sidearm and, at times, nearly underhand pitcher with a fastball that was effective mostly because batters at that level did not see that type of pitch very often. Santangelo relied on a good slider, not much different from the ones thrown by all pitchers from that era, but his delivery gave it a different look. He also possessed speed, which at that level simply meant he threw as hard as the other guys. In the majors, he would have to learn to get even tougher and work more efficiently to survive. But the improbable path to the big leagues might not have given him a chance to grasp that lesson.
These statistics speak to the way Rodman played defense in his time. But today’s stretch forwards are using new advanced analytics and shooting stats, which require defenders to adapt at warp speed. So while Rodman’s defense was top-drawer for his time, it might not hold up against players like Chris Bosh, who can shoot effectively from the perimeter.
Modern Defensive Strategies
The NBA emphasizes the space and the pace these days. Open shots! That’s the name of the game! Consequently, teams design plays that maximize open shots. This is many times the reason why many of today’s players tend to not want to operate in the low post. The modern NBA playbook is filled with ways to get a player a clean look at the basket, either from beyond the arc or at the rim.
Also, the entrance of Analytics has altered game plans. Defensive tasks are now assigned based on how well (or poorly) a player is shooting, and not just any old defensive scheme would have sufficed against a guy like Rodman. Instead, we probably would have seen more inventive, inventive, and inventive (repetitive for emphasis) uses of Rodman—all of them more or less essential considering some Advances in Player Tracking. And all could have been using more of Rodman’s defensive genius to our advantage.
Conclusion: Rodman’s Legacy and Modern Challenges
Is it possible for Dennis Rodman to guard modern-day stretch forwards? The answer isn’t as simple as you might think. Rodman remains one of the NBA’s all-time great defenders, a winding, twisting gymnast of a man who could pirouette and balance himself on the tightrope of shoring up the defense while also keeping himself out of foul trouble. So, yeah, in theory, if you somehow dunked stretch forwards like Kevin Love, Chris Bosh, or whatever wingmen have taken up the mantle of the modern power forward, in a time machine and sent them 30 years into the past to challenge Rodman, I think that he’d have a good chance of coming out on top in a lot of those matchups. But only some.
To summarize, Rodman’s fundamentals form a strong foundation. Still, he’d need to adopt new techniques and strategies to go after the new breed of NBA player. In the end, the effectiveness of Rodman against today’s stretch forwards could well hinge on whether he learns to adapt and evolves with the game.
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