Kawhi Leonard = Defensive Player of the Year

[mr. dee]

I'm actually fine with this. His impact on the spurs showed when he missed many games during the regular season. And he is also the first non-big to win the award since Ron Artest. Draymond Green would be nice too. But I have yet to see how much impact his absence will be.

[esel1000]

Crazy how Green had more first place votes... but congrats to Kawhi, wish we could get him... perfect fit here. He's a rookie but pretty ridiculous that Smart isn't on that list at all...

[mr. dee]

People usually vote for players on a contending team. Smart will get his share once we are ready to -compete for banner 18. Hopefully they will make consideration on him for All-Defensive team.

[slamtheking]

the picture doesn't display.  what's it supposed to show?

[Fafnir]

the picture doesn't display.  what's it supposed to show?

Chart of the vote totals.

[slamtheking]

the picture doesn't display.  what's it supposed to show?

Chart of the vote totals.

thanks -- ended up looking up the chart on the side.

I think the 2 things that surprise me most is:
A) Marcus Smart didn't get a single vote while Patrick Beverly, Demarre Carroll, MKG and Chris Paul received votes.  Smart was every bit as good a defender as they were if not better.
b) Both Mike and Tommy voted and neither of them had Smart on their lists.  they only agreed on Anthony Davis

[PhoSita]

Smart's already a very good defender but he's still got work to do to be considered for one of the All-NBA Defense teams, let alone getting DPOY votes.

The Celtics were not even a top 10 defensive team, which in itself precludes any of their players getting DPOY consideration, in my opinion.

Anyway, if I were voting for DPOY, it would be hard for me to ever place a vote for a guard ahead of a wing stopper or paint protector.  A guard would have to average 3 or 4 steals a game and totally blanket opposing ball-handlers (e.g. Alvin Robertson).

[LooseCannon]

The Celtics were not even a top 10 defensive team, which in itself precludes any of their players getting DPOY consideration, in my opinion.

The Celtics were 12th in defensive rating while the Clippers were 16th and the Pelicans 22nd, so you must be strongly protesting that DeAndre Jordan and Anthony Davis received votes, let alone first-place votes.

[PhoSita]

The Celtics were not even a top 10 defensive team, which in itself precludes any of their players getting DPOY consideration, in my opinion.

The Celtics were 12th in defensive rating while the Clippers were 16th and the Pelicans 22nd, so you must be strongly protesting that DeAndre Jordan and Anthony Davis received votes, let alone first-place votes.

I wouldn't have voted for either for first place.  I definitely don't agree with giving DPOY votes to anybody whose team finished in the bottom 10 for defensive efficiency.  That's a result of people only paying attention to highlights, or block / steal totals.

Draymond and Bogut deserved consideration ahead of both Davis and Jordan.

Davis is a highlight reel on defense, but he still has some work to do in order to consistently make his team better on that end.

Duncan and Marc Gasol deserved to get more votes, as well, and guys like Horford, Gortat, and Hibbert probably deserve more credit for anchoring top defensive squads.

[mef730]

Wow.  I don't watch a lot of west coast basketball, so I haven't seen much of Leonard, but he looked unbelievable last night.  That dunk was beyond ridiculous.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2442716-kawhi-leonard-skies-to-throw-down-1-handed-alley-oop-vs-clippers

Mike