Congrats Big Ben... 8) 8) 8) Ben Wallace of the Detroit Pistons won the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award for the second straight season Wednesday. Wallace became the sixth player to win the award in consecutive seasons, receiving 100 out of a possible 117 first-place votes from a panel of sports writers and broadcasters. Ron Artest of Indiana, Kevin Garnett of Minnesota, Tim Duncan of San Antonio and Doug Christie of Sacramento rounded out the top five. The 6-foot-9, 240-pound Wallace averaged a league-best 15.4 rebounds, the highest regular-season average since Dennis Rodman's 16.1 in 1996-97. Wallace averaged 3.15 blocked shots, second to Atlanta's Theo Ratliff, who averaged 3.23 blocks. Sidney Moncrief, Dennis Rodman, Hakeem Olajuwon, Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning also won the award in consecutive seasons. Last year, Wallace was a nearly unanimous choice after becoming just the fourth player to lead the league in rebounding and shot blocking. ``Ben has proven himself to be the most dominant defensive player in the league again this year,'' said Joe Dumars, the Pistons' president of basketball operations. ``I'm happy to see that people around the league have recognized him once again.'' Wallace, who averaged a team-high 39.4 minutes, helped Detroit limit opposing teams to a league-low average of 87.7 points during the regular season. The 28-year-old Wallace became the first undrafted player to be voted an All-Star starter this season. He played in the game one day after his mother's funeral. After missing two weeks with a sprained ligament in his left knee, Wallace finished with 13 rebounds and three blocked shots in the Pistons' loss to the Orlando Magic on Sunday in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series. Before getting injured, Wallace was on pace to become the first player in NBA history to lead the league in rebounds and blocks twice. Last season, he joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton and Hakeem Olajuwon as the only players to lead in rebounds and blocks. The seven-year NBA veteran, who went undrafted out of Virginia Union in 1996, averaged 6.9 points and helped the Pistons win their second straight Central Division title and earned the top-seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs with a record of 50-32.
no surprise but have any other awards been announced? I say 6th man goes to Van Exel or.....Bobby Jackson
i think normally it's one a day or something like that, tomorrow will probably be most improved, then coach of the year, then 6th man, then roy, then mvp, but don't hold me to this, because i'm not sure.
I believe you're right. That's how I remember it last year, when the Pistons were raking in the post-season awards. Ben got DPOY, Corliss got 6th Man, and Carlisle got Coach.
He was looking good in the tapes from practice. He said he didn't feel any soreness after Game 1, so I would imagine he'll be around 85-90%. At the very least, he's still a threat in the middle, even if he can't jump as high or as quickly. He'll be a threatening presence regardless.
yeah, i noticed in game 1 he changed a lot of shots from tmac and other magic players when they drove in. they had to redirect their shots, so ben wouldn't block it, and that forced a lot of misses of layups.
You could tell ben was not heathly enough in game 1...he should be better and ready tonight...gooden will be in for ALOT harder time then he did in game 1
