Mark Stein's Awards Picks

[SpursFanFirst]

They're listed down the left side of the page.
He has Brent Barry in a list of "Most Improved Players?"
I really like Barry, but I guess I didn't think he'd make that list.
Of course, Duncan, Manu, and Bowen are listed as well...

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime

[Kori Ellis]

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Bruce Bowen
If you're thinking that I'm going to keep voting for Bowen until he wins this thing, just because we went to school together, I can't blame you. But that's really not (totally) it.

Even without such biases, you have to conclude that a Spur wins this thing, given that San Antonio revived its status as a fearsome le contender in the second half with great defense serving as a big-time complement to Ginobili's return to the bench.

The choice, then, comes down to the perimeter ace (Bowen) and the famed rim deterrent (Tim Duncan). As good as Duncan looks again now that he's not being slowed by plantar fasciitis, like last season, I can't punish Bowen just because of our Cal State Fullerton connection.

I know, I know. Some of you believe that nonsense about him slowing down. Uh-huh. How many guys in this league are asked to guard Nowitzki, Bryant and Nash? Bowen is still doing it at 35 and at a time, remember, when defenders continue to be severely limited by the rules regarding how much they're allowed to use their hands on the perimeter.

This remains a deep field, even with a handful of perennial DPOY candidates (Ben Wallace, Andrei Kirilenko and Ron Artest) fading from contention. Denver's Marcus Camby, Phoenix's Shawn Marion and Atlanta's Josh Smith have all been stalwarts for teams with well-chronicled frailties on D, Tyson Chandler has emerged as a serious presence in New Orleans and Oklahoma City and Charlotte is unexpectedly carrying two worthy nominees: Gerald Wallace and Emeka Okafor.

Yet it only feels right to single out someone from the best defense in the league and no one feels more right than Bowen, who's running out of shots to win an award he deserves at least once.

Stein's ballot:

1. Bruce Bowen, San Antonio Spurs
2. Marcus Camby, Denver Nuggets
3. Shawn Marion, Phoenix Suns

October prediction: Bowen

[Bruno]

I really hope Bruce will be DPOY. He really deserves it for his career. Too bad there isn't a stat that show what he does.

[Kori Ellis]

SIXTH MAN AWARD

Leandro Barbosa
Never imagined, back in camp, how hard this one would turn out to be.

Manu Ginobili barely qualifies -- contest rules dictate that you have to be a sixth man in at least one more game than you start -- but undeniably helped alter the course of the Spurs' season when he went back to the bench in late January.

Barbosa's numbers, meanwhile, don't outstrip Ginobili's significantly, but the Brazilian speedster has operated as a sixth man for a greater majority of the season, making him a more natural selection ... and making his 43.5-percent shooting from 3-point range look especially impressive.

The decision?

Using my preseason forecasting as the tiebreaker -- not exactly unbiased, perhaps, but it's my ballot -- Barbosa sneaks it, with Jerry Stackhouse trumping the Knicks' David Lee for third place because Stack played more games and supplies serious doses of the leadership and toughness for the team with the league's best record.

Stein's ballot:

1. Leandro Barbosa, Phoenix Suns
2. Manu Ginobili, San Antonio Spurs
3. Jerry Stackhouse, Dallas Mavericks

October prediction: Barbosa

[FromWayDowntown]

What I don't get about Stein's DPOY ballot is that he says "The choice, then, comes down to the perimeter ace (Bowen) and the famed rim deterrent (Tim Duncan)." But then when it comes time to give 3 votes, he gives the first place vote to Bowen and wholly excludes Duncan from the other two spots in the Top 3. I guess there's some logical consistency in that, but it seems odd that he would seriously consider Duncan and then not give him any points in the voting.

[Kori Ellis]

His mention of Barry as most improved player seems to be only noting that some readers mentioned Barry.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER

Andris Biedrins
Click here for more than you could ever wish to read on this subject, as covered in last week's Weekend Dime.

Stein's ballot:

1. Andris Biedrins, Golden State Warriors
2. Kevin Martin, Sacramento Kings
3. Al Jefferson, Boston Celtics

October prediction: Darko Milicic, Orlando Magic




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had a premonition that a full column devoted to the Most Improved Player race, listing no less than 20 possible winners, still would not be enough to satisfy some of you.

It was more than a premonition, actually: I had a line in the story bracing for a flurry of follow-up nominations via e-mail.

So far? Fifteen new names have been suggested, as listed here in alphabetical order:

Golden State's Matt Barnes.
San Antonio's Brent Barry.
Milwaukee's Charlie Bell.
Toronto's Chris Bosh.
New Orleans-Oklahoma City's Devin Brown.
Toronto's Jose Calderon.
Charlotte's Walter Herrmann.
Houston's Luther Head.
Dallas' Josh Howard.
New Jersey's Bostjan Nachbar.
Denver's Nene
Utah's Mehmet Okur.
Cleveland's Sasha Pavlovic.
Washington's DeShawn Stevenson.
Portland's Ime Udoka.

You're naturally wondering now how many of those names I wish I had as part of my original 20.

Sorry, friends. It's only a few.

[T Park]

That would be so awesome if Bruce did win.

A class guy, that deserves it. Go Bruce Go

[ponky]

What I don't get about Stein's DPOY ballot is that he says "The choice, then, comes down to the perimeter ace (Bowen) and the famed rim deterrent (Tim Duncan)." But then when it comes time to give 3 votes, he gives the first place vote to Bowen and wholly excludes Duncan from the other two spots in the Top 3. I guess there's some logical consistency in that, but it seems odd that he would seriously consider Duncan and then not give him any points in the voting.

I think it's because you've taken that quote out of context, or at least reading it that way. He's saying that the Spurs, as most likely the top defensive team in the league, having been impressive in such a manner during the second half of the season, deserve to have one of their guys as DPOY...and so when it comes to the Spurs, they have two viable candidates, Bowen and Duncan. This doesn't mean that he would exclude good candidates from other teams, it just means that he would reward such a great defensive team with the reward.

[wildbill2u]

I really hope Bruce will be DPOY. He really deserves it for his career. Too bad there isn't a stat that show what he does.

Although I have my problems with Bowen this year as to his asset/liability to the starting team vs. previous years, I'd still like to see him win this one time.

I know it shouldn't be on a career basis, but how many awards, including All-NBA and All-star are based on career reputations and contributions instead of season records.

[FromWayDowntown]

I think it's because you've taken that quote out of context, or at least reading it that way. He's saying that the Spurs, as most likely the top defensive team in the league, having been impressive in such a manner during the second half of the season, deserve to have one of their guys as DPOY...and so when it comes to the Spurs, they have two viable candidates, Bowen and Duncan. This doesn't mean that he would exclude good candidates from other teams, it just means that he would reward such a great defensive team with the reward.

I understand what you're saying -- in fact, I considered that myself -- but that reading of Stein's argument would be more convincing to me if he had done anything more than mention Camby and Marion as stalwarts for defense-poor teams. I also don't disagree that it might be problematic for him to give 2 of his 3 votes to Spurs. It's just curious to me that he could go from giving Duncan serious consideration for the award itself, only to then exclude Duncan from any vote whatsoever.

[T Park]

Although I have my problems with Bowen this year as to his asset/liability to the starting team vs. previous years

[mardigan]

I would love for Bruce to win it, he desrves it

[boutons_]

Bruce ought to get it, at last as Half-Lifetime Defensive Achievement Award

[SpursFanFirst]

Thanks for clipping and pasting each of those, Kori. I had to get ready for work and didn't have much time.

[Kori Ellis]

Thanks for clipping and pasting each of those, Kori. I had to get ready for work and didn't have much time.

No problem. Thanks for pointing out the article - I hadn't read ESPN yet today.

[mardigan]

Here is the SI.com award link

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...cks/index.html

[Kori Ellis]

Here is the SI.com award link

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...cks/index.html

Defensive Player Of The Year

JACK McCALLUM
1. TIM DUNCAN
2. Marcus Camby
3. Bruce Bowen

Duncan is perenially underappreciated as a defender, a guy who stands his ground and is able to block shots and avoid contact. The Spurs are the top defensive team in the league, so I have no problem with recognizing two of them in my top three.

IAN THOMSEN
1. BRUCE BOWEN
2. Ben Wallace
3. Shane Battier

Bowen is the clear-cut winner: His Spurs lead the league in point differential (9.1) and rank first defensively in scoring (89.7) and third in field goal percentage (44.1). Wallace is still the best post defender, and Battier is a versatile stopper for the stingy Rockets.

MARTY BURNS
1. BRUCE BOWEN
2. Shawn Marion
3. Marcus Camby

Bowen's ability to defend the opposition's top perimeter threat every night is critical to the Spurs' outstanding defense. Though not an athletic game-changer like Marion, he is a true stopper who hangs his hat on the defensive end.

[Kori Ellis]

Looks like the national writers are leaning toward Bowen. Hopefully, he can get this one.

[T Park]

How awesome would that be.

If Bowen won, Id prob shed a tear I'd be so happy for him.

Heck I look forward to every game now and his interaction with his son.

Just shows how much of a regular guy he is. Here he is getting ready for a big game vs Phoenix, but looks over and plays with his son.

Hes awesome.

[mardigan]

How awesome would that be.

If Bowen won, Id prob shed a tear I'd be so happy for him.

Heck I look forward to every game now and his interaction with his son.

Just shows how much of a regular guy he is. Here he is getting ready for a big game vs Phoenix, but looks over and plays with his son.

Hes awesome.

Couldnt agree with you more. I love Bowen as a player, but part of what makes him so great is his journey, and who he is as a person. He is one of my all-time favorite people in sports

[TMTTRIO]

I think next year Pop should just save a bunch of time and bench Manu from the start of the season and then next year he could get 6MOY award . I think he deserves something for all that he does.

[Spurminator]

I was starting to get worried because there really hasn't been any DPOY buzz this season at all. So I was kind of expecting that most writers would just look at the BPG stat and pick a winner from there like they always seem to do. For a player like Bowen to win, it seems like there has to be significant buzz throughout the year.

Hopefully this will help, but I'd still be surprised if Bowen wins it.

[Findog]

Do you guys really care what Mark Stein thinks?

[GINNNNNNNNNNNNOBILI]

Looks like the national writers are leaning toward Bowen. Hopefully, he can get this one.

Weird... I thought he deserved it more so last year than he does this year

[LaMarcus Bryant]

Bruce should have won at least once during 2003 - 2005, he got robbed by the overrated defense of Ben Wallace (1 emphatic block is equal to 5 non emphatic blocks in today's nba) and the bull artest hype that his coach used "unsubstantiated stats" (pops words) to vouche for.