Defensive Player of the Year Favorites 2009
September 20, 2008 by Stephen Kersey
Filed under NBA News, NFL Player Analysis
5) Bruce Bowen, San Antonio Spurs
At 37, Bruce Bowen’s chance of taking home the Defensive Player of the Year award has probably come and gone. But if the voters want to give it to a player who has been close plenty of times but never got the award, Bowen is the one.
4) Marcus Camby, Los Angeles Clippers
Camby won the award just two years ago and now that he’s heading to a larger market, he may get some votes yet again. If he plays with a chip on his shoulder and stays healthy, he has a decent shot.
3) Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets
Paul is the huge favorite to lead the NBA in steals in 2008-09. If he does, voters often look at steals before casting their vote. Paul will get extra points if the Hornets improve as a team defensively.
2) Ron Artest, Houston Rockets
As one of the most interesting stories in the 2008-09 season, a lot of attention will be paid to Artest. If he plays as well as he possibly can defensively and the Rockets are again one of the best defensive teams in the league, Artest has to be considered a very strong candidate.
1) Kevin Garnett, Boston Celtics
The reigning Defensive Player of the Year could take home another one at the end of this upcoming season. The Celtics will likely be one of the best defensive teams once again and Garnett is the leader of their defensive unit.
my favourite is other player: Shane Battier. But of your five players, I ‘d like to win Ron Artest.
i’m sorry, but chris paul will never win a defensive player of the year award.
at 6′0″, can you picture him locking down anybody? controlling the paint?
steals do not equal defence.
(its easy to be fooled by stats)
shane battier avg’d 1.0 spg last year, but ask any nba coach who they’d rather have defending the opposing team’s best player…
although it’s not their fault, short players can never be stoppers…players like paul and iverson, accumulate steals by playing passing lanes, playing passing lanes requires a gamble…
if you never had stats and watched a hornets game, would you truly believe cp3 is the BEST defensive player on the court?
defensive player of the year is LeBron!
Lebron is the DYP and MVP… Lets make “LEBRON the NBA “Defensive Player of the YEAR” he just broke Mark Prices Steal Record. Gets it done in only 3 quarters.
Rebounds blocks and does the things that dont show up in stats.
LeBron is the NBA 2008 – 2009 BEST Defensive Player of the Year
http://www.hoopsfantasy.com/defensive-player-of-the-year-favorites-2009/
KG will not win it thise yr. Howard won it because he diserved it. Lebron came in second because he worked very hard this yr on defense. He will also win the MVP hands down this yr. Lebron is just comming into his own. He even said by playing in the world championship with so many other great players it has made him six time better this yr than last. I beleive him after watching him this season
You guys are crazys you think that Ron-Ron, Lebron, or KG. Superman is’nt even in this discussion. You’re got KG number 1 and Dwight is’nt even on the list he has 100 more than KG.
Superman leads the NBA in blocks and Rebounds
Plz take hi into consideration and change your list once your seen this comment cya!!!!
From Grayson from down under in New Zealand.
The person who said LeBron is DPOY is not even close, LeBron would be lucky to get more then 2 or 3 votes at this point. Players like Shane Battier, Ron Artest and Bruce Bowen once again won’t get alot of attention, simply because they don’t possess the gaudy stats. Still, the true way of judging someone’s defense is by looking at team success and defense. For example, Garnett was an obvious winner last season becuase he was a major factor in bringing the Celtics to the top of the league in terms of defense. However, another, more common way is to just look at stats. A perfect example of that is Marcus Camby, who was on a terrible (sorry, TERRIBLE) defensive team, led the league in blocks and was in the top 10 in rebounds. If you’re going to do it that way, then you should also consider if that person is actually good at defense, or just getting blocks and steals, because obviously there is more to defense then those two stats. Camby may have had great stats, but is still one of the premier defenders. I’ve heard discussion about Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, among others. LeBron sometimes gets highlight blocks, and Wade’s stats are hard to ignore (averaging 2 blocks/ 2 steals per), but neither is more than an average defender right now, and even though they will get better, it is unlikely that either will be considered among the elite defenders. The real candidates should be guys like Garnett, Duncan, D-Howard, Ben Wallace, Ron Artest, people who anchor the best defenses in the league.
The fact D Wade isn’t on the canidate for the Defensive PLAYER of the Year, means nobody is watching the games. A 6-4 PG/SG averaging 1.5 blocks a game with over 2 steals a game. His defense keeps the HEAT in the game. The only reason he doesn’t consistently play the other teams top players ALL THE TIME, is that he needs some energy to play offense. The writers on this site KNOW NOTHING.
LeBron!
el mejor jugador de la nba king jamessssss
palom0o0o0o0o0o0o0ossss
you guys are all crazy chris anderson has it locked up