Lebron should be in the DPOY discussion. He is probably the most versatile defender that I have ever seen. He can shut down from small PGs and big PFs. I don't remember anyone else being able to do that.
Shut down? Let me see him shut down a prime KG, Barkley, Duncan, Malone. Let's see him shut down Kevin Love even. Just because he successful fronted a charmin soft euro player doesn't automatically make him the one of the best defenders. He's versatile, I'll give you that. But that's different from saying he's the best defensive option for all four positions. In fact Howard isn't even that great of a on ball defender. Yao, Shaq, and in a year or two, Bynum, can all burn him on D. My vote goes to someone like Tony Allen, because he is legitimately a defensive specialist who understands the intricacies and tendencies of different players, and not just rely on his athleticism to do highlight blocks.
Where did I say he could shut down a superstar four in their prime. Nobody can. Lebron can legitly defend the four position and shut down more than half of the fours in this league. He can legitly defend the one position and shut down most of the PGs in this league. Name me another defender in the history of the game that can do that.
There are a lot of bitter tears in this thread... I agree with the overall sentiment, it's impressive how versatile he is and that he can legitimately defend 4 positions. There are times when I wished he did a little bit less roaming on defense however. Those are times when he can get burned. But that's also how he gets those steals that lead to fastbreaks, so what do I know.
Looks like ESPN is pushing hard for him to win it. http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/NBADPOY-120321/#dpoy-rankings
Once again, I totally agree. Lebron totally smothers opponents and there isn't many players he can't guard well.
Guess I missed this the first time around. Sure Jordan could have guarded Magic. It's just that he also had to carry an entire offense on his shoulders. Why not let Pippen guard Magic, when he didn't have to worry about anything on offense? Why put both of those burdens on Jordan? Just like how Lebron has Wade to do all the heavy lifting on offense, while he can focus on defense. That was Pippen's entire career. It's a lot easier to be great on one end of the court, especially if it's the defensive end.
Hes gonna win DPOY and MVP in the same year. Impressive but still not as impressive as The Dream who won both of those and Finals MVP in the same year (and we all know LeBron disappears during the finals).
Parsons won't be in contention until his acne clears up so all the ESPN writers can start having crushes on him.
I really don't see a reason why Howard shouldn't win DPOY again. He has by far the biggest defensive impact in the league. It's just impossible for a wing to have the type of impact he does.
A potential reason is that his team is 11th in defensive rating. The Heat are a top 3 defensive team with no legitimate defensive big man, and LBJ anchors it. And he's easily the most versatile defender in the L. Furthermore, shutting down DRose and Gasol (and he'll face Rose/Durant 3 more times to end the year) on national TV will always help.
i honestly don't see why not. Howard is a great defender, but he is not nearly as versatile as LBJ, LBJ can guard any person in the entire world and do above average. it's sad that peole now think that steals and blocks determine DPOY. it's bout impact, it's about causing bad shots, and frustrating your opponents. to win over dwight, just start shooting 3's! to win over LBJ, that's a whole different story. and only Scalabrine is a master of it.
CP25 is an elite rookie defender but has yet to truly prove his defensive skills. but he definitely had great potential on that side of the ball. he has shown the ability to guard the 2,3,4 while LBJ can guard all 5 positions. so he would still lose, if CP25 can learn to guard PG's and C's..then that's different. but i can't see that happening.
I know, it's amazing isn't it! That Magic team is awful defensively (sans Howard) possibly the worst collection of defenders in the league. The Heat however are loaded with guys who can defend. Wade, Bosh, Battier, Haslem, Anthony....almost their entire rotation is defensive minded. So, you have one guy on an awful defensive team which is 11th in defensive rating and one guy on a team with some other good defenders which is 6th in defensive rating. The center can essentially guard 2 players at a time because he's protecting the basket. The wing can just do a great job defending his man. Lebron is great but he can't force guys to play perimeter ball all game long the way Dwight does.
I'm not disagreeing with you that Dwight shouldn't deserve it. I'm giving you why Howard may not get it. And it's been a while we have seen a perimeter defender this versatile. And sometimes you get voter fatigue with one particular player.
