Celtics forward Kevin Garnett became the first Boston player to be voted as the league's Defensive Player of the Year today. Garnett earned 493 points (90 first place votes, 12 second place, seven third place). Denver Nuggets center Marcus Camby finished second with 178 points. Garnett led the Celtics to hold opponents to 90.3 points per game. Garnett averaged 7.3 defensive rebounds per game, 1.2 blocks per game and 1.4 steals per game. He had a season-high seven blocks at Chicago on Dec. 12. Kia Motors will donate a seven-passanger SUV in the name of Kevin Garnett to the Boston Center for Youths and Families, who supports KG's Big Ticket Challenge Program. Boston Globe
There has not been another player this season that has transformed a team's defensive identity like Garnett has for the Boston Celtics. He may not lead the league in shot blocking or finish in the top five in rebounding like Marcus Camby, but Garnett's impact on the defensive end goes far beyond the stat sheet. It's the fact that he is always focused, always talking, always directing, always making the right rotations, and always leading by example. Besides, how many seven-footers pressure point guards full-court with their own guard? Just one, folks, and that special someone is "The Big Ticket." In addition to that, he held his individual opponent to a league-best 13% below their scoring average night in, night out. The fact of the matter is that Kevin Garnett is the most versatile and complete defensive player in the NBA, and he is finally getting to show the world that trait once again, as he is finally back on a top-tier team. Congratulations, KG, on this well-deserved award.
Good to see the award go to the right person. Other guys had statistics but they didn't come close to having the impact KG had not just on the other team, but on his own.
So because the Celtics play good team defense, Garnett wins the DPOY award? wow, Camby definitely got robbed on this one. I think both Camby and Josh Smith beat Garnett in every defensive category.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Answer_AI03 @ Apr 22 2008, 02:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>So because the Celtics play good team defense, Garnett wins the DPOY award? wow, Camby definitely got robbed on this one. I think both Camby and Josh Smith beat Garnett in every defensive category.</div> The Celtics play great defense because of Kevin Garnett. Camby and Smith "beat Garnett in every defensive category?" Watch games, not box scores.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Answer_AI03 @ Apr 22 2008, 02:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>So because the Celtics play good team defense, Garnett wins the DPOY award? wow, Camby definitely got robbed on this one. I think both Camby and Josh Smith beat Garnett in every defensive category.</div> Camby's team was AWFUL on D, dude this one wasn't even close in my eyes
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Answer_AI03 @ Apr 22 2008, 02:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>So because the Celtics play good team defense, Garnett wins the DPOY award? wow, Camby definitely got robbed on this one. I think both Camby and Josh Smith beat Garnett in every defensive category.</div> Camby didn't robbed. It is a real shame when the DPOY goes to a player that is strictly a help defender like Camby.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Answer_AI03 @ Apr 22 2008, 01:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>So because the Celtics play good team defense, Garnett wins the DPOY award? wow, Camby definitely got robbed on this one. I think both Camby and Josh Smith beat Garnett in every defensive category.</div> Camby sure showed off his excellent defense against the Lakers, allowing Gasol to have a field day in the paint. I honestly find it funny how anyone would discredit Garnett for receiving this vote. There's no question in my mind he deserves this
So i guess help side D is not important then? Thats pretty much what Big Ben was when he won it. Camby is a better rebounder, shot blocker, and gets more steals. It shouldn't matter AT ALL what the Nuggets as a team do defensively. Camby is a great defender, maybe not the best at straight up man D, but he gets better numbers than anyone in the league. Furthermore, KG is NOT the entire reason why the celtics are so good on the defensive end. Their team isn't even close to the same as last year. The C's defense is a combination of everyone on the team putting forth a great effort both on man defense and team defense. They should have given the DPOY to the entire celtic team if their going to give it to Garnett.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Answer_AI03 @ Apr 22 2008, 04:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>So i guess help side D is not important then? Thats pretty much what Big Ben was when he won it. Camby is a better rebounder, shot blocker, and gets more steals. It shouldn't matter AT ALL what the Nuggets as a team do defensively. Camby is a great defender, maybe not the best at straight up man D, but he gets better numbers than anyone in the league. Furthermore, KG is NOT the entire reason why the celtics are so good on the defensive end. Their team isn't even close to the same as last year. The C's defense is a combination of everyone on the team putting forth a great effort both on man defense and team defense. They should have given the DPOY to the entire celtic team if their going to give it to Garnett.</div> I never supported Ben Wallace winning DPOY either. Rebounds, blocks and steals are not good indicators of defense and have led to some poor choices for DPOY.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Brian @ Apr 22 2008, 04:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Camby sure showed off his excellent defense against the Lakers, allowing Gasol to have a field day in the paint. I honestly find it funny how anyone would discredit Garnett for receiving this vote. There's no question in my mind he deserves this</div> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Answer_AI03 @ Apr 22 2008, 04:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>So i guess help side D is not important then? Thats pretty much what Big Ben was when he won it. Camby is a better rebounder, shot blocker, and gets more steals. It shouldn't matter AT ALL what the Nuggets as a team do defensively. Camby is a great defender, maybe not the best at straight up man D, but he gets better numbers than anyone in the league. Furthermore, KG is NOT the entire reason why the celtics are so good on the defensive end. Their team isn't even close to the same as last year. The C's defense is a combination of everyone on the team putting forth a great effort both on man defense and team defense. They should have given the DPOY to the entire celtic team if their going to give it to Garnett.</div> Brian pretty much summed up what i would say, KG brought defensive intensity, the thing is with help side defenders is even though they block a shot, 9/10 in the NBA now a days, it goes out of bounds going str8 back to the team that just shot the ball, KG may do that as well, but Camby does it a whole lot more imho
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>9/10 in the NBA now a days, it goes out of bounds going str8 back to the team that just shot the ball, KG may do that as well, but Camby does it a whole lot more imho</div> completely irrelevant statement unless you provide some proof for that one. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Camby sure showed off his excellent defense against the Lakers, allowing Gasol to have a field day in the paint. I honestly find it funny how anyone would discredit Garnett for receiving this vote. There's no question in my mind he deserves this</div> Every time Gasol scored Camby was helping out on the guy that got around the nugget defender and dished the ball to Gasol. Gasol never took Camby 1 on 1 the whole game. At least i cant remember a time when he did. The reason Gasol went off is because of George Karl's inability to develop a sense of team defense and structure, allowing Phil Jackson to pick apart the Nuggets D with the triangle. Garnett is a good defender, but its like i said before, the Celtics are a team dedicated to team defense and winning. Garnett is a fierce competitor, but how could you credit an entire teams defensive turnaround to 1 player? pretty stupid IMO
I'm kind of confused with the justification for the selection. I thought DPoY was supposed to go to the best individual defender in the league. But everyone's pointing to the team's defensive turnaround for their reasoning. Unless that roster is completely devoid of defensive talent (not true) and the coaching staff is completely inept (they just hired Thibodeau this past summer), I'm not sure how much the turnaround reflects on KG's individual defense. I still think the award should've gone to Battier.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Chutney @ Apr 22 2008, 05:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I'm kind of confused with the justification for the selection.</div> All of the awards have lost meaning over the past few years. I'm not sure if there is one I respect
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ Apr 22 2008, 04:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Chutney @ Apr 22 2008, 05:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I'm kind of confused with the justification for the selection.</div> All of the awards have lost meaning over the past few years. I'm not sure if there is one I respect </div> Yea I definitely agree. But this still feels like a dramatic turnaround in the criteria for the award, on the levels of the MVP award. The last few years you could definitely argue that their arguments or reliance on certain stats was illogical, but the fact remained that the voters still thought they were voting for the best individual defender of the year. Now they've suddenly started voting for overall team impact, ignoring all external factors, kind of like its the CoY award.
Garnett anchors the Celtics #1 defense (3rd best all-time statistically speaking)...Marcus Camby is a help defender and the best at that. It doesn't make him the best individual defensive player this season And I think people look to much at stats like steals and shots blocked and saying "his post defense is ___, his team defense is ___ and his perimeter defense is ____" No way Camby puts all the work all over the floor defensively Garnett does, yelling, guiding the rest of his team mid-play and pressuring guards. No way. In all the Nuggets games I've watched I've never seen him do that. Anybody whining about this needs to sit down and shut the **** up.
