There are far better rebounders and shot blockers. Yao is good defensively, mostly because of his height though. But even Mutombo is a better defensive center then Yao. Yao's core strength is his scoring.
Camby, Wallace, and Okafor when healthy are all better defenders than Yao. His defense isn't bad, but it's not All-NBA.
Jeff Van Gundy, if they want a coach for the first team - We hold the best defense percentage in the league just because of him.
Exactly my train of thought. Best defensive team in the league and not one player on the all defensive team? Yeah that sounds right.
I agree 100% with everything you're saying here but when you're having to defend the other team's best scorer (ie. Kobe Bryant) it's hard to shut them down night in and night out. Some guys are just that great to where they can't be stopped. Players like Raja Bell and Bowen definitely deserves to be on the list and yet they get scorched every now and again. They play the same role as Shane in that they get the toughest defensively assignments and they contribute to their team's overall great defense. Being the top defense player should not only be about stats or 1 on 1 lockdown defense. I don't know if they keep stats of who gets the most charges but I'm willing to be bet Shane Battier is tops at that list. To me that's playing defense.
He doesn't have a clue about defensive positioning. He gets destroyed by opposing centers and PFs who know what they're doing. He is a pretty good help defender, though.
Bowen is overrated. He isn't consistent on defense. Lebron or McGrady will eat him up on a regular basis, but he gives guys like Carter fits.
I have lost all respect for the voters of these teams. I don't even want to see the All-NBA teams anymore.
I can see the All-NBA Teams right now, Guard - Wade Guard - Kobe Forward - LeBron Forward - Duncan Center - Shaq
First off, the voting was done by the coaches, not the media, so we can't blame the media for snubbing us. However, I'd expect the leauges coaches to show a little more love, especially considering how whenever a coach talks about the Rockets the first thing they mention is "tough D." I guess the explanation is that none of our guys put up gaudy defensive numbers, and none of them is a physical one-on-one lockdown defender...i guess we can credit JVG's team defense schemes, but still, I'd expect coaches to respect Shane, who has got to be one of the most intelligent team defenders in the game. I also think Shane makes it easily if they kept a stat for "Charges Drawn." Those stop baskets and create posessions, and Shane likely leads the leauge in that category...too bad its not actually a stat that's kept. Also, i think it's kinda funny that the whole first team is from the Western Conference...which is known for being better offensively then the "slow it down, grind it out" east...i think that says something about the comparative quality and intensity of play in the two conferences.
This guy makes a case for Shawn Marion as the best of all. http://www.82games.com/dpoy.htm IMO Marion is the best defender on Phx--in fact he leads the team in blocks, steals and defense rebounds (KG does on his team, but he doesn't have Amare or Bell to compete in those respects). I think what hurts him is Marion is so often put on PFs. But if Marion played more wings, as he would on a normal (non-Suns team), you would see how good he is. Now Battier is an excellent defender. But one would have to vote for him over Duncan, KG, Prince, Bowen, Marion and Artest. I am really not sure if he is a better defensive player than any of those guys. Not an easy case, anyway. Interesting that Marion and Battier tied for 4th in the DPY award (Camby, Bowen, Duncan than these two), but neither even made the 2nd team. Maybe Prince is the overrated forward.
because his defense is stellar. just because he doesn't dive for that loose ball on the court doesn't mean his defense is inferior.
Tell that to Jopatmac. He thinks Battier is the second coming of the Matrix. I agree he is overrated, look at the plays he gets the most credit for taking charges, definitely a technique play which requires no athleticism whatsoever.
I didn't have a problem with Kobe being on there. He's pretty tenacious on D. Raja Bell I suppose is a "lock-down" defender, but he gets in his cheap shots and flops a lot. I don't like him in there especially since he's on the Suns, which don't really play D at all. If anyone on the Suns should make it, then it should have been Marion. He's D'd up T-mac pretty well and he fills up the stat sheet with rebounds, blocks, and steals. Bruce Bowen, IMO is old and busted. He got there on reputation. I would have liked to see Shane at least make the second team, maybe over Tayshawn Prince, but oh well. It's kinda messed up that the Rockets have arguably the best defense in the league (at worst: 2nd best defense) to have no players on there. Okay, so we must have good defense because of our coach right... So JVG should be up there on coach of the year..... oh wait.......
This is a travesty for him not to be on the 1st or 2nd all defensive team. The dude checks the highest scorer coming in and switches when Tmac, Rafer, Chuck, or Yao start getting lit up by their man. There is only one dude who kills him dead - KOBE the snitch.
Well, the Utah forwards are killing us. You would think if Battier was so great he could at least take out Harpring (hardley a special player) if not slow down Boozer. Seems to me lots of quick wingmen (Roy, JR, Lebron, AI, Josh Howard) and strong PFs (many) have ripped us. Battier isn't Ron Artest or Bruce Bowen or Duncan as an individual defender. Battier is an excellent defensive player, but a lot of players have him on strength or quickness and thus he is not a league stopper.
that's because believe it or not, sometimes the media is better at this voting stuff than the coaches who are more concerned with keeping their jobs. i suspect the coaches vote is like the coaches poll in college (inferior to the ap poll) and they don't take it all that seriously.
