Re: Defensive player of the year so far
I agree I think shot blocking is completely overrated...as are steals....defense is much harder to gage through stats....
Teams or players that aren't that good on defence often play high tempo offence which leads to more turnovers both ways. They gamble much more on the defensive end for easy fastbreak points....teams like Toronto and Pheonix...same thing goes for players like Iverson, not necessarily shutdown defenders, but pesky and always ready to gamble for an impressive steal.
Blocks are worse because most of them come from help defense which is never as impressive as man to man defense....I know there's a stat somewhere of balls blocked and then recovered, which is much more telling than impressive blocks that send the ball into the stands but basically only take away a few ticks from the shotclock. Shots altered should also be considered because great big men strike fear into the opposition force them to step away from the paint and shoot from the perimeter....players like Yao, Duncan or Zo...
As far as Josh Smith goes, I've only really watched him whenever ATL played on national television or whenever they faced Toronto but it seems to me like he commits quite a few blunders on the defensive end. Man to man coverage, I've seen swingmen blow by him quite a few times....It also seems that he sometimes takes time to set up on D, and isn't always attentive whenever uptempo teams bring it upcourt quickly....
Marcus Camby should not be involved in talks....
I'd say Battier or Duncan should get it....Garnett won't win any more awards until he gets out of that mess he's in....
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