Larry Freakin Hughes?? Just b/c he gambles like a Belagio regular and plays the passing lanes to rack up his steals stats don't mean he can play D.
I thought McGrady might get a mention for his effort this year. But whatever. I think Pippen got on it when he was in Houston getting torched by the corpse of Glen Rice and a pimply-faced Dirk Nowitzki - and Francis got a first place vote a few years ago. And I was always a Francis homer, but damn that was it for me.
For the #3 team in ppg, and #2 team in FG%, ONE player garners a total of two second place votes. Meanwhile, the team with the most allowed ppg has a total of 14 votes, including 4 first place votes amongst three players. Go figure. Anyone else curious as hell as to how Jason Kidd and Tony Parker got as many votes as they did? Jason Kidd USED to be a great defender- before his knees were shot. Kobe Bryant getting 3 first places is a joke.
http://www.nba.com/news/alldefensive_050512.html NEW YORK, May 12 – Detroit Pistons’ center Ben Wallace, recently named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, led the voting for the 2004-05 NBA All-Defensive Teams, the NBA announced today. Wallace, who is making his fourth consecutive appearance on the All-Defensive First Team, is joined on the First Team by Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves, who was named to the All-Defensive First Team for the sixth consecutive season; San Antonio Spurs’ Bruce Bowen and Tim Duncan, making their fifth and eighth consecutive All-Defensive Team appearances, respectively; and Larry Hughes of the Washington Wizards, who makes his first career appearance on NBA All-Defensive Team. A three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Wallace finished the 2004-05 regular season ranked second in rebounding (12.2 rpg), and total blocks (176) and fifth in blocks per game (2.38). Garnett ranked first in rebounding (13.5 rpg) and first in double-doubles (69) this season, while averaging 1.48 steals and 1.37 blocks. Bowen and Duncan helped the Spurs hold opponents to a league-low 88.4 points per game, led by Bowen’s stifling one-on-one defense and Duncan’s 2.64 blocks per game (3rd in the NBA). Hughes recorded 2.89 steals per game, becoming the first player to top 2.85 steals per game since Gary Payton in 1995-96. The NBA All-Defensive Second Team consists of Detroit Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince (21 points) and guard Chauncey Billups (17 points), Denver Nuggets center Marcus Camby (21 points), Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko (17 points), New Jersey Nets guard Jason Kidd and Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade (16 points). Prince, Billups, Camby and Wade are all making their first appearance on the All-Defensive Team, while Kidd makes his seventh appearance and Kirilenko his second. The voting panel consisted of the NBA’s 30 head coaches, who were asked to select NBA All-Defensive First and Second Teams by position. Coaches were not permitted to vote for players from their own team. Two points were awarded for a First Team vote and one point was awarded for a Second Team vote. Below are the results for the 2004-05 NBA All-Defensive Teams: 2004-05 NBA ALL-DEFENSIVE FIRST TEAM: Position Player, Team Points 1st Team Votes Center Ben Wallace, Detroit 51 23 Forward Kevin Garnett, Minnesota 48 19 Guard Bruce Bowen, San Antonio 48 23 Forward Tim Duncan, San Antonio 39 16 Guard Larry Hughes, Washington 22 9 2004-05 NBA ALL-DEFENSIVE SECOND TEAM Position Player, Team Points 1st Team Votes Forward Tayshaun Prince, Detroit 21 6 Center Marcus Camby, Denver 21 6 Guard Chauncey Billups, Detroit 17 8 Forward Andrei Kirilenko, Utah 17 5 Guard Jason Kidd, New Jersey 16 4 Guard Dwyane Wade, Miami 16 6 Other players receiving votes, with point totals (First Team votes in parentheses): Shaquille O’Neal, Miami, 16 (3); Allen Iverson, Philadelphia, 14 (6); Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, 12 (3); Shawn Marion, Phoenix, 9 (4); Manu Ginobili, San Antonio, 9; Rasheed Wallace, Detroit, 8 (1); Kenyon Martin, Denver, 6; Tony Parker, San Antonio, 5 (2); Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia, 5 (2); Shane Battier, Memphis, 4; Andre Miller, Denver, 4 (1); Tyson Chandler, Chicago, 3; Trenton Hassell, Minnesota, 3 (1); Kirk Hinrich, Chicago, 3; Joe Johnson, Phoenix, 3; Earl Watson, Memphis, 3 (1); Udonis Haslem, Miami, 2; Tracy McGrady, Houston, 2; Josh Howard, Dallas, 2 (1); Joel Przybilla, Portland, 2; Desmond Mason, Milwaukee, 2; Brevin Knight, Charlotte, 2; Vince Carter, New Jersey, 1; P.J. Brown, New Orleans, 1; Mickael Pietrus, Golden State, 1; Kurt Thomas, New York, 1; Jeff Foster, Indiana, 1; Greg Buckner, Denver, 1; Gilbert Arenas, Washington, 1; Gary Payton, Boston, 1; Emeka Okafor, Charlotte, 1; Eddie Jones, Miami, 1; Clifford Robinson, New Jersey, 1; Brendan Haywood, Washington, 1; Anthony Johnson, Indiana, 1; Andres Nocioni, Chicago, 1; Amaré Stoudemire, Phoenix, 1.
I couldn't even count how many times Wade broke Larry Hughes ankles tonite. It got so bad that they had to take Hughes off of him. No F#*king Way that Hughes belongs on that list. He is not even an above average defender, much less All-First team.
are you trying to imply that steve francis was not the best defensive player in the nba last year???!!! i don't understand why. the guy is a very good on the ball defender and has been for a while. what i don't understand is, if ak47 was eligible, how in the hell did he not make the 1st team. i would say it's b/c he missed so many games but people voted for kidd even after missing a bunch of games. and kidd isn't even a good defender. so what the hell gives on not first teaming ak. and billups? since when is he that great. having him on the same team as tayshaun sucks. tayshaun should kick billups off the second team after they drop hughes to 2 for kirilenko. and i assume there are 6 on the second team b/c of a tie?
As i say, the coaches who vote on this, know bball alot better then any of us. I think they would know who plays good D, and who doesnt.
Yup. I totally agree! The BCS Coaches' Poll is the best shining example of the coaches' superior and unbiased knowledge about their own sports. Larry Hughes's D vs AK47/Tayshaun Prince/Marcus Camby/Andre Iguodala/TMac... Hmm... the coaches chose Hughes, so it must be so!
Yet another award in the NBA that has lost all its meaning for me... First it was the MVP award, now it is the all-defensive team. Gee...and you wonder why the league doesn't garner as much interest anymore.
He was. The last couple years, I would've agreed no question. This year, not really. There were articles this year, iirc, where his own coach was saying he wasn't playing defense like he used to (was capable of). No way was 2004-2005 Kobe a better defender than 2004-2005 TMac. Or guys like Marion, Hassell, and Iguodala.