Bowen Vs. Ben for DPOY

[JamStone]

Rashard Lewis hasn't become a premier rebounder or shotblocker in the absence of serviceable big men in Seattle.

Ryan Bowen did not explode into a defensive superstar with all of the injuries to Tracy and Yao.

Al Harrington is bigger and stronger than both Marion and Gerald Wallace and he does't have better rebounding or blocked shot numbers than either, despite the lack of quality big men in Atlanta.

Carmelo Anthony didn't all of a sudden become a great rebounder and/or shotblocker with all of the games Kenyon Martin and Marcus Camby missed.


At some point, you have to give credit to players like Shawn Marion, Gerald Wallace, and Kirilenko for putting forth the effort and energy to do those things no matter who is missing from the line-up.

[Darrin]

Rashard Lewis hasn't become a premier rebounder or shotblocker in the absence of serviceable big men in Seattle.

Ryan Bowen did not explode into a defensive superstar with all of the injuries to Tracy and Yao.

Al Harrington is bigger and stronger than both Marion and Gerald Wallace and he does't have better rebounding or blocked shot numbers than either, despite the lack of quality big men in Atlanta.

Carmelo Anthony didn't all of a sudden become a great rebounder and/or shotblocker with all of the games Kenyon Martin and Marcus Camby missed.


At some point, you have to give credit to players like Shawn Marion, Gerald Wallace, and Kirilenko for putting forth the effort and energy to do those things no matter who is missing from the line-up.

I actually respect Kirilenko and Marion for their all-around games, and will have to see Gerald Wallace on a winning team to think he has something (Ben Wallace had 13.2 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, and 1.3 steals in 2000-01 and got as many DPOY votes as I did).

Rashard Lewis has the opportunity at any time to step up, whether he chooses to or not, whether he can or not. All I am asking you to do is to stop thinking about Shawn Marion and Gerald Wallace as perimeter players. I wouldn't call them great defensive players, more like all-around players who do what is asked of them.

I respect their games as jacks of all trades. I wouldn't consider them a master of the defensive skills.

[SenorSpur]

On yesterday, I was listening to our local Sports Talk radio here in Dallas. One of the local NBA Beat writers (Dwain Price - Fort Worth Star Telegram) was on discussing post season awards. During the discussion, he claimed he would cast his vote for Bowen.

In fact, he stated he polled about 1/3 of the writers with whom he is acquainted with. Most of them have claimed they cast their vote for Bowen.

On the Dan Patrick show today, Dan claims he has cast his vote for DPOY to Tim Duncan.

Bowen will win the award - book it!

[JamStone]

Who called them masters of defensive skills? I certainly did not.

I mentioned them in the first place to give examples of wing players who can rebound and block shots as well as many defensive minded big men, in response to FromWayDowntown's notion that there aren't any.

And, they are perimeter players. Shawn Marion cannot post down low. Gerald Wallace cannot post down low. Neither is very good at post defense either. They are both 6-7. Marion bulked up this season, but his playing weight had been traditionally around 220. Same for Gerald. They are wing players.

But, just because they have spent time playing power forward for their respective teams, that doesn't take anything away from the fact that they excelled at doing what was asked of them.

Go up to Desmond Mason and tell him to get 9-10 rebounds a game and block two shots a game. Think he will?

Ask that of Bobby Simmons, Hedo Turkoglu, Caron Butler, Peja Stojakovic, Mike Dunleavy, Kyle Korver. Could any of those guys consistently get 9-10 rebounds and 2 blocks over the course of a regular season?

And, about Rashard Lewis ... that's exactly what I mean. He's had the opportunity to get more rebounds and be more of a shotblocker. But, he hasn't. That's the point. He either can't or doesn't have the desire and mentality to do so.

That's why you should appreciate what Kirilenko and Marion and Wallace and Jefferson do even more. Just because they're been asked to do it, doesn't mean it's easy to do so. Just because there is more of an opportunity to do it with no serviceable big men on their respective teams, doesn't mean it should come easy. They still got to go out there and do it.

You could tell Rasheed to play the point, it doesn't mean he'll be effective doing it. Just because Marion and Wallace were asked to play out of position doesn't take away how impressive they've performed under those conditions.

[Darrin]

Okay, you have a point.