You just can't guard Kobe Bryant, heck you can't even guard Kevin Durant when he's in the zone and Kobe is most of the time in it. Last year when Rockets won vs Lakers and Kobe scored 53 JVG actually said he's happy with Battier's defense vs Kobe, you can't do much about it.
Battier Five years from now so can you guys imagine what battier would be like 5 years from now? best defensive player or a total wreck?
Both are possible. Are you asking people to use magic future seeing powers? You tapping into the psychic kinesiologist prospector demographic? But probably, like most players, he won't even be a Rocket in 5 years. He's not a franchise player, but no one has ever made that argument.
Battier doesn't get steals, he doesn't get blocks. But he contests shots, and forces turnovers. The whole thing is based of stats like Block/Stl/DefRebound
I'm shocked that Bell and Posey are on the list, they are good, but far from elite. Battier should've been at least 3rd....Lebron and Kobe got on there because they are Lebron and Kobe, but very good defenders, not the best though. I think Marion should've snuck on the list, if Lebron is on there, Kirlenko and Artest should been on there also, both are not as good as they used to be, but are still better than LEbron when it comes to defense. I would've also said Ronnie Brewer, Ricky Davis, Gerald Wallace, and few others.
Gonna have to disagree with you there. But anyway, there's definitely no way Lebron should be in over Shane. Bowen and Bell are still good, but overrated and washed-up at this point. Are point guards not allowed? What about Keyon Dooling?
Wow, you're right, I totally blanked on Artest and G. Wallace for some reason. But actually, Kirilenko's not the 1-on-1 defender he used to be. He's a lot better as a help guy. He wouldn't make my top 5. Artest would, though. I give props to Marion too, he might be in my top 5 somewhere.
Battier actually averaged over 1 spg and 1 bpg for the season, a level of performance he has maintained over his career. If you look at the stats for those guys who got picked over him here, Battier beats most of them. He's underrated in that the tangible stats that he does give aren't even noticed.
Kobe's better than Shane if he only needs to do what Shane does. Check Fiba American tournament for an example.
It's interesting to me because Steve Kerr just said that Bowen was watching tape of Shane guarding Kobe and how he puts a hand right in his face. Now Bowen is doing the same thing to Kobe that Shane does...yet Shane's not a top tier defender!?!? Come on now...
^^^it was doug collins not steve kerr. kerr doesn't commentate anymore. but yeah you're right. if bowen takes tactics from a fellow defensive specialist then battier should be on this list. this article is a testimony to how non-credible the dpoy is. ap writers like this writer who also have the power of voting for the dpoy only rely on stats to make their judgments. of course it's impossible to watch all the games and especially rockets games since they're not as vogue as the lakers or the suns. that hurts shane a lot since he's not a "wow you with stats" type of player.
