The whole block-the-shot-and-grab-it thing is also overrated. Sure it would be nice to get the ball instead of it going out of bounds and back to the opponent, but there's also the intimidation factor "get your weak azz outta here", as well as pumping up your teammates. Also a lot of times with the ball going out of bounds, there're only a few second left on the shot clock, and the opponent have to force up a bad shot. So to me, if you can grab the ball or have a teammate secure it after a block that would be perfect, but if you can't, sending the ball into the 5th row and making a statement "No weak azz layups" is also a pretty good option.
Why is that a stretch? I think he very well could be. And in a last possession situation, Dwyane Wade is damn good as well.
LBJ is definitely deserving of his spot. Although his defensive fundamentals might not be up to par, his ridiculous athleticism masks that and he quite possibly may be the best wing defender in the NBA. I love Artest and Battier, but you must not have watched LBJ much this year like I did. Wade, on the other hand, is not deserving at all: gambles a ton and is not a lockdown guy.
Everytime I watched LeBron this year I was very impressed. It was better than any D I've seen all year. Honestly I haven't seen defense that good out of Artest or Battier this year. It was Battier on Kobe from last year good.
yeah, to add to this post, rashard lewis is playing out of position at power forward, which you would think would hurt their defense significantly. yet without anyone else who is a defensive stalwart, the magic were a top 3 defensive team. plus, as someone else said, even if dh swats his blocks out-of-bounds, you have to consider the intimidation factor. it discourages guards from driving in and taking a higher percentage shot.
Did you miss the second Cleveland game? Artest and Battier made the MVP ineffective and completely took him out of the game. Not only that Artest forces guys all the time to shoot below their averages. Artest is on another level when it comes to man to man defense compared to Lebron.
To say that Artest or Battier single-handedly shut down LeBron is totally inaccurate, though. LeBron rarely has had great games against the Rockets, and its most because of the team defensive strategy of turning him into a jump shooter. We don't achieve that by leaving our defenders (even really good ones like Artest and Battier) alone on an island to deal with LeBron. If we did that, he'd score 50 every time. If you go back and read the quotes after the game, the entire Rockets team made it clear that they were able to have success against LeBron because Artest followed the game plan and didn't try to stop him all by himself.
Why is it that someone like Hasheem Thabeet, a guy who started playing basketball only a few years back, its very good at this? Or like someone said, moses? Or even a current rocket-Mutumbo, he isn't a swatter, he makes his hand go straight up, where its at its higest point, and hes the 2nd best shot blocker of all time... don't even get me started on #1 on that list.... so yes, dwight is an idiot.
Of course though Team defense Is ALWAYS the reason. Posey did a good job on Kobe but his team helped. But Posey gets a ton of credit for the Finals with Pierce because at the end of the day they were the ones who checked Kobe. At the end of that game, Artest checked Lebron. The team helped him out but it came down to the fact that Lebron couldn't just muscle his way to the rim as usual. Replace Wafer with Artest and Lebron gets to the rim whenever he wants despite how good the team defense is. You have to give Artest credit for that and he's not going to give himself credit in the press. Because we weren't doubling Lebron, that is the advantage of a guy like Artest. You don't have to double Superstar all-world players. I never said the team defense was bad, but Artest had a lot to do with why Lebron was really bad that night. Artest took away Lebron's greatest weapon...using his strentgh to get to the rim. Shane helped out with the charges he drew. Out team defense would be bad if it weren't for these two guys. Remember when they were coming in and out? Everyone wanted JVG back because our defense was horrible then.
I do give Artest credit. He's a very good defender, as is Shane. And, you're right, he's much better than Wafer. But he slowed down LeBron because he was willing to play off him and take advantage of our help instead of trying to stop him all by himself by sticking close. I don't see how that shows Artest is a much superior defender compared to LeBron. Artest played smart and used his physical strength and quickness to his advantage ... but he also had help. It's not like LeBron is incapable of doing the same thing.
I don't see Lebron stopping all-star caliber players the way Artest does. Plus Artest has won the award which is rare for players like him. Granger pretty much has struggled against us (despite his team winning) yet he's had good games against Lebron. Yes Artest had help, but so does every defender. I'm saying is, Artest is the better defender and i'd take him on the last possession defense-wise over Lebron 10 out of 10 times no matter the opposition. I'm also amazed at how Lebron goes through entire games without fouling players. I'm not slighting Lebron, i'm just saying Artest is a amazing defender I wish some Rocket fans would realize we win some games just because of his ability to defend. Also the clutch defensive plays he makes are just like game winning shots. Remember the steal/block he made to win one. I never forget the one he had on Roy also (although Roy made that other shot) where he just owned him. I've seen stretches where he's done a great job on Kobe but as I say many times over. Kobe is just ungaurdable on a average day.
Blocks are by far the most overrated stat in the NBA. dwight averages about 3 blocks a game, which means he defends 3 possessions a game very well. A good defensive player will change opposing players shots and shut them down for the whole game not 3 possessions. The only reason dwight won the award was because people's eyes immediately move over the blocked shots stat
Lets see, u have a 5'10 pg, a rookie sg, and a sf playing pf yet the team is 3rd in defense? Is there any reason why he shouldn't have won it. Shane and ron weren't good on defense this year and lebron and wade played better on defensed this year. Cleveland had the #1 defense in the league with williams and west in the backcourt and big z at center.
that's not necessarily true. even if you defend a player really well, you might not get the block, you might just force them to shoot a shot they're uncomfortable with. to get 3 blocks per game, you have to make a lot of block attempts that will fail, so it does show a more consistent effort. you complain that others only stat watch, yet it's obvious that you haven't watched him play. watch how guards facing the magic play, they'll make moves towards the paint and then back out, seeing howard coming towards them for help-defense.
