Shane Battier for Defensive Player of the Year!

[Matchman]

:clap :clap :clap :clap :clap
Shane Battier for Defensive Player of the Year
Although the chance of him getting DPOY is slim considered that Bruce Bowen never got one, but we should all appreciate his effort on D. His defense does NOT show on stats but he is, in my homer opinion, the best defender in this league. He has the complete defensive package: blocking shots, taking charges, drawing offensive fouls, contesting every jumpshots with a hand in the opponent's face, and High BBall IQ to fight through screens. He contained Carmelo, Lebron, DWade, and Kobe pretty well this year and he is one of the biggest reasons why we are on this streak now.

http://images.chron.com/photos/2008/03/16/10460730/600xPopupGallery.jpg http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2007/1106/nba_ap_battier_268.jpg http://assets.espn.go.com/media/apphoto/97344bb5-f288-478c-8896-d25573b4c774.jpg

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note: the following vid is NOT from yesterday's game vs the LAL
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[ploto]

One of my absolute favorite guys never to wear a Spurs uniform.

[Next Superstar]

I really like his technique of sticking his hand in betwen kobes arms when hes shooting. You gotta pretty precise with that to not foul. He just might get the award if they end up the 1 or 2 seed.

[DazedAndConfused]

He is great, but lets not forget Kobe did drop 56 points against him in 3 quarters not too long ago. What's funny is this is what Kobe has done to Battier during his career. Battier definitely changed things up today and was very successful.

56 (Memphis)
53 (Rockets)
53 (Rockets)
45 (Rockets)
45 (Memphis)
45 (Memphis)

[endrity]

He is great, but lets not forget Kobe did drop 56 points against him in 3 quarters not too long ago. What's funny is this is what Kobe has done to Battier during his career. Battier definitely changed things up today and was very successful.

56 (Memphis)
53 (Rockets)
53 (Rockets)
45 (Rockets)
45 (Memphis)
45 (Memphis)

when Kobe is hot, Kobe is hot. He makes tough shots that other guys can't even imagine taking.

However, Battier's defense is one of the best kept secrets in the league. I thought he deserved DPOY last year. But no one gives it to the wing players. Either he or Bowen are due for one, but I would prefer Battier since his defense is cleaner.

[JamStone]

Not sure how it's one of the best kept secrets in the league when he's been widely regarded as one of the league's best perimeter defenders for years now, finished in the top 5 for DPOY I believe last year or the year before, won the NABC college defensive player of the year three times.

[endrity]

When DPOY ballots are discussed at the end of seasons I don't think I have ever seen his name on the top of the ballot of anyone. I have seen Marion, Bowen, Artest as wing players but never Battier. To me it's unfair to him because he is on the level of those guys, maybe even better than Marion or Artest on some of the quicker guys.

That's why I said 'best kept secrets'. More from a media standpoint, becaue I think coaches around the league know how good he really is.

[leemajors]

if he wins and bowen never does it's total horseshit.

[bdictjames]

I'd love Shane to be on the Spurs.

I dont know much about the DPOY award, but Shane looks like he's going to win it.

[The Franchise]

I agree Shane deserves it, but I would give it to Bowen first. He has been doing it longer on a championship team.

[1Parker1]

Sadly I almost garantee it's going to go to Marcus Camby again. Despite the fact that the Nuggets play one of the worst defense in the league, people like to look at Camby's stats (blocked shots and rebounds) and take that as conclusive that he's a great defensive player.

Talk to me when he guards players like Kobe Bryant, Manu Ginobili, etc throughout the game one on one.

[JamStone]

Sadly I almost garantee it's going to go to Marcus Camby again. Despite the fact that the Nuggets play one of the worst defense in the league, people like to look at Camby's stats (blocked shots and rebounds) and take that as conclusive that he's a great defensive player.

Talk to me when he guards players like Kobe Bryant, Manu Ginobili, etc throughout the game one on one.

Kind of faulty logic here. What about a perimeter defender guarding Duncan, Yao, Shaq, Amare, KG, Dwight? In general, bigs can't guard smalls and smalls can't guard bigs. If this is your main argument against Camby, it's a similar argument against guys like Bruce. Might as well give the DPOY to a guy like Kirilenko or KG then because they can guard bigs and smalls.

[1Parker1]

^Well, my point was more towards arguing it should be given to Bruce who is a more versatile defender than Camby. Bruce has guarded Dirk one night, and Kobe the next.

Again, Camby has great timing on his shot blocking, and he's a great rebounder, but I don't know if that's all that neccesarily makes a "great defensive player."

[JamStone]

Dirk is not a big. And, KG, Marion, Kirilenko, Gerald Wallace, Josh Smith, K-Mart can also guard Dirk one night and Kobe the next. And, they can probably defend more traditional back-to-the-basket bigs as well.

[jacobdrj]

He is great, but lets not forget Kobe did drop 56 points against him in 3 quarters not too long ago. What's funny is this is what Kobe has done to Battier during his career. Battier definitely changed things up today and was very successful.

56 (Memphis)
53 (Rockets)
53 (Rockets)
45 (Rockets)
45 (Memphis)
45 (Memphis)

We have to check his FG% and his FTA's... if he got 56 points on 40 shots, that is still a good job.

[The Franchise]

I think the perception of Bowen as a dirty player is what may kill his chances.