3QC Mid-Season Awards: Defensive Player Of The Year (Except Dwight)
by erivera7 on Jan 21, 2009 1:00 AM EST
in Evaluations
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PrintSince the first-half of the season has gone by for the Orlando Magic, it's time to present the inaugural Third Quarter Collapse Mid-Season Awards. Instead of conducting a regular poll, we at 3QC have decided for you to vote and comment which Magic player you feel is most deserving of each award.
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In points of sheer hustle . . .
I will go with the Rook’s work out on the perimeter.
I would like to give honorable mention though to Rashard solid work on guarding bigs as well as Jameer’s improvement this year (he doesn’t get burned as much this year).
I’m going to pick Rashard Lewis. I think he’s done a very good job helping Dwight in the paint, defending his man at the four spot, and using his quickness/length as a help defender. I think he’s been a huge part of the Magic’s defense.
Courtney Lee would be next in line.
http://nbaroundtable.wordpress.com/
Shard and Jameer have the stats....
I would also throw out Gortat’s reserve defense which is terrific….
However, Lee has the intangibles. He has just played lock down defense. He forced Kobe to get rid of it a lot.
"I have come that you may have life, and life to the max"
Rashard Lewis
And again, this is not really that close imo. He logs the most minutes on a top 5 defensive team, guarding one of the toughest positions in the game.
'Coach, Dwight is a nice guy. Dwight don't hit anybody. But Superman will knock the crap out of you.' - D12
Rashard
Last year everyone always commented how he was playing out of position, this was even more obvious when he was on D. This year it seems he is much more comfortable playing the 4
Courtney Lee
Its crazy that I thought Pietrus was going to be the guy to “shut” down opposing perimeter players. Lee has been such a great draft pick, it makes you almost forgot about the dozen or so blown draft picks the Magic have made.
The Rook.
Lee. Best defender on the team. We’re playing Pierce, Bron, Kobe, Parker… who’s defending during crunch team? Lee.
Sports Picks 365
"Shoot first, ask questions last" Jameer Nelson
by DieSlowKeyshawn on Jan 21, 2009 3:02 PM EST reply actions
crunch time* AGGGH. what's with my spelling/grammar!!!
Sports Picks 365
"Shoot first, ask questions last" Jameer Nelson
by DieSlowKeyshawn on Jan 21, 2009 3:02 PM EST up reply actions
My vote is for Rashard.
2nd on the team in DRtg (101).
2nd on the team in Defensive Win Shares (2.7).
.. and he’s giving up only 17.7 points per 48 minutes, which is just a .1 points off the leader, which is Dwight Howard (duh).
The fact he’s doing that OUT OF POSITION is astounding, even if the numbers I stated are influenced a bit due to the overall team success defensively.
Senior Writer for DePaul's Scout.com website
If not Dwight, then it's gotta be LEE.
The rook plays better D than most vets and isn’t intimidated when playing greats. Also, he makes very few “rookie” mistakes.
Lewis
This category might as well been called the underrated aspect of the season. D12 deservedly gets the pub for the intimidation and presence he provides defensively. But I love seeing night in and night out sweet Lew work his tail off on the defensive end of the floow. His weakside rotation and rebounding help may be tough to watch at times but thats going to happen to smaller guys with true fours at time. What is awesome to see, is the way he refuses to back down to true fours who try to post him. His length makes entry passes on him very difficult and he doesn’t like or take easily getting backed down. He willingly takes on the burden early in games of guarding scoring fours to keep dwight out of foul trouble.
"Iron man, iron man, does what an iron man can"
I'm going with Rashard...
…but probably only because Gortat doesn’t play enough. Not that he could play much more — you can’t play him alongside Dwight, and you’re not playing him instead. But the man’s a defensive force.
So this year, Rashard. Next year, probably Lee, assuming he keeps improving at this rate..
C. Lee
"Poor guy is probably out there without a flipper, swimming around in a circle, freaking out his whole family."
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