WTG Travis! Now what coach on earth voted for Travis ahead of those guys who made it? Can't be Nate since he can't vote for his own players.
Whoever it is, we should explore as a trade partner. He is an offensive talent, and if someone thinks he's an all-league defender, he should have some good value.
And even Joel, who not only got seven points but got a first-team vote over Dwight Howard. That's a little surprising as well.
Somebody in the league values the work Outlaw does defensively. I'll take that opinion over the hordes on boards like this that think they know better than people who actually work in the league.
I'd expect no less of anyone. I just didn't think the guy was as big a failure defensively as many seem to think. Looks like at least one person with more knowledge than anyone on this board agrees.
John Nash made multi-millions while baffling my unpaid opinion time and again. I'm sure we can collectively come up with many other examples of well paid idiots... just saying But like you, I don't think Travis is that bad defensively as some do here. He's okay... that he both gives up easy buckets and gets blocks/steals is a bit maddening, but the end result seems a wash to me. STOMP
Travis might be the worst defender on our roster. What he does well is block shots and make the hilite reel.
No, he's mediocre defensively, like Blake. Frye and Rodriguez are the worst defenders on the roster. (Randolph and Ruffin are probably awful too, but they didn't play enough for me to get very conclusive ideas of their defense and they hardly mattered at all.)
Travis is a slightly worse than average NBA defender. Of the 71 forwards who played at least 60 games and averaged at least 24 MPG, Travis was 43rd in DRtg (defensive rating) at 108.5. LeBron had the best DRtg among forwards at 99.1. Fancisco Garcia was last at 113.9. So, again Travis is slightly below average. What's frustrating is he has the tools to be a great defender, both man-to-man and help side, but lacks the focus. He gives up a ton of easy baskets because he simply loses his man and gives up a wide open 3-pointer or a back door cut for a dunk. It's the large number of mental lapses and easy baskets he gives up that makes him look like an even worse defender than he is (on whole). He seems to totally forget the most basic defensive principles - see your man, and see the ball. It's almost like he gets hypnotizzed by the ball and totally loses track of his man. Shane Battier killed the Blazers in the play-offs because he totally took advantage of Travis' lapses to knock down wide open threes or back door cuts for dunks (especially in games 3 and 4 in Houston). In terms of court awareness, Battier is the anti-Outlaw. BNM
How many voted did Oden get? After he was drafted, some experts picked him to be defensive player of the year in his first year.
