All these awards are just for hypes not about skills anymore so they should just let the fans vote for the most popular and start handing it out from there. Dwight should be a winner for at least one but LEBRON?!? Are you kidding me?
He has...but even if he had never done this, does that make his blocks irrelevant? Giving the opposing team another posession seems better than giving them 2pts, atleast to me. He's good but since he anticipates a block nearly every possession he doesn't box out his man all the time, which leads to the other team getting boards that one of his teammates could have gotten. He's almost Camby-esque in that regard. As weird as it sounds, i think he would be a better player if he went for the block less.
Whatever it was, you apparently can't dunk when you're on the stuff . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_ksqrFQPgU
Its so r****ded that the 'best' blocks and ones shown non-stop are the ones that are launched into the 5th row. If Howard had any sense, he'd keep the ball in play- he definitely has enough airtime to manage that. Sure he 'smacked it down with authority,' but the other team gets the ball right back! Lebron's only 'defense' is when he comes from the weakside to block on fast breaks, rarely on a halfcourt possesion... thats not defense. Whatever happened to the days of Ben Wallace-type guys getting respect? The DPOY is supposed to be all about the guys that are stoppers- guys that don't really make the highlight reel.
I thought Wade and Lebron being so high was a joke as well. I got no problem with Howard number 1 since he (like Mutombo) is a force inside. Kobe is a better defender than James. Ariza is a better defender than James. Artest and Battier are better defenders than James OR Wade. Rajon Rondo is a better defender than James or Wade. Raja Bell is a better defender than those 2, but he has been slipping. And I LOL at the 1 3rd place vote Pryzbilla got for DPOY.
Thats what made Moses so special. His blocked shots would usually work like an outlet pass for the break.
Yes, but blocking a shot out of bounds is hardly different than giving up an offensive rebound. The only advantage of the former is that the opposing team has to take it from out of bounds rather than getting it back in play close to the basket.
That's a big difference. You also have to take into account the intimidation factor. A player who swats the ball out of bounds may give the posesssion back to the other team, but that other team would also be less likely to drive it next time as well.
You guys are crazy for your hate on LeBron. LeBron is a very good defender. He used to be a player who could do nothing but get some steals and fast break blocks. He has really matured as a defender, and it is why Cleveland had the best record in the NBA. He is the best defender on a very good defensive team.
man you severely underrate lebron's defense. the stats show him to be the most dominant defender in the league if you look at opponent production.
LeBron has been a good defender for a while, on the whole. This year, I truly believe he's become an elite defender. I don't know what people are watching when they say all he does is block shots in transition and gamble. None other than defensive guru Jeff Van Gundy has praised LeBron and talked about him as a legit DPOY candidate from early on in the season. I think he knows what to look for in a good wing defender.
Yeah also you give the team less time to run a play. A lot of times after a blocked shot the team has to force up a bad play because they get less time and if he blocks a shot with less than 10 seconds left on the shot clock then the team has to force a bad shot. I have no problem with Howard getting it.
Where did Battier and Artest end up ? People act like things have changed but this award has always, as most awards, about popular players and mostly centers with a lot of rebounds and blocks. Why did Mutombo won it 4 times ? Because he rebounded, blocked and changed a lot of shots. Olajuwon won it twice and could have gotten it a lot more times if they really looked at the games and his stats (always in top 10 in rebounds, blocks and steals). Maxwell and MJ were great defenders, yet MJ won it once and Maxwell didn't. Why ? Because Maxwell was not liked, just like Artest now which is probably why he will never get the award anymore and because this award has always been about centers. Between 1982 and 2009, only 8 times a guard or forward has won it.
I rarely use this, but... Do you really think that Dwight would block a shot out of bounds if he felt he could bring it down and keep it in play? Sure, it couldn't possibly be that he's leaping way out of position just to get to the ball and off balance or that the offensive player has more of a chance of getting control of the ball...no, he's just an idiot who knows nothing about basketball.
Granted I dont watch him every Sunday even though ABC/ESPN tries to force it down America's throat, but he seems like a solid defender to me. It looks like he learned a lot overseas during the Olympics thats for sure. He was better this year than last(on what little I saw). But according to what you wrote, and the results of this DPOY voting, LBJ is now the best wing defender in the league???
Not just him, but the voters as well, he came in 2nd, I believe. We fans like to get upset when certain team/players go unnoticed in media or are overlooked
Howard is absolutely, 100% deserving of this award... I can't believe anyone would think otherwise. He led a team that had such defensive stalwarts as Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, and Rafer Alston, to a top 3 defense in the NBA, and the Magic actually led the league in defensive rating. So he has trouble slowing Yao down... anyone does, especially when Yao brings his A game like he typically does against Dwight. The man is eight inches and 40-50 pounds heavier than Howard. That shouldn't be an indictment on his defense, which has become very, very good.
