Nineteen men will have a Dazzler rating of 10 or higher for Normal passing and 29 men will be that sensational on the Fastbreak. Perhaps most eye-popping, 11 men have a Dazzler rating of 15 or better in Normal passing.
 

Leading the way are Jose Calderon of Toronto (20), Chris Paul of the LA Clippers (19) and Andre Miller of Denver (18). Rajon Rondo of Boston and extra-player Jonny Flynn of Portland are not far behind at 17.
 

Top defenders are always in demand, especially those special few with blank X columns Outside (only three this year) and Inside (only five). Here’s the list of those elite defenders:
 

Outside: Deng, CHI; James, MIA; Iguodala, PHI
 

Inside: Garnett, BOS; Noah, CHI; Chandler, NY; Perkins, OKC; Howard, ORL

Penetration (and Fastbreak): Rondo and Bradley, BOS; George, IND; Paul and Bledsoe, LAC; Bryant, LAL; Allen, MEM; Shumpert, NY; Sefolosha, OKC
 

Of course, shot-blocking is defense, too, and this set has its fly swatters.
 

Oklahoma City’s Serge Ibaka, who led the NBA in blocks by a wide margin, not only has a 1-20 shot block, but has BAL in all his X-columns. That’s a load, because Ibaka has 2-4 defense Outside, Inside and on Fastbreak. The only other regularly carded player with a 1-20 block rating is Greg Stiemsma of Boston. However, counting players in the extra card set, four men are 1-20, another nine are 1-15 or better and another 28 are 1-10 or better.

 

 

Click here to download the free 2011-12 Strat-O-Matic Basketball Ratings Preview (includes the complete roster, with the 1+ shooters and rebound ratings also shown for each player’s position(s)).