Lebron for DPOY?

RhapidKid · Post #1 » by **RhapidKid** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 8:19 pm

I really think Lebron's defense is the most underrated part of his game. This season is also his best defensive season in his entire career. He has shut down pretty much ANYBODY he has handled. The two most impressive defensive performances from him this season were Vs Howard & Vs Gasol, IMO.

He totally took Dwight Howard OUT OF THE GAME. Do you know what it means to take that dude out of a game? Its not even easy for a SF to guard a centre in the first place, much less the best center in the league. I was really impressed.

He also took out Pau Gasol in the Lakers game.Gasol couldn't even get the ball anymore. Too bad we didn't have Bosh to take on Gasol, then he would have had a chance to guard Kobe and if he did, Kobe doesn't go off for 33. FACT.

Additionally, I'd say the game against Portland were he guarded ALL FIVE POSITIONS. ALL FIVE POSITIONS! Last person to do that was Magic Johnson in the 1980 Finals when Kareem was hurt. I don't think there's ANY player in this league right now, that can do what Lebron did that night. Wow!

I think Lebron is a STRONG candidate for DPOY despite the award looking like a lock AGAIN for Howard. But who knows? He just may win it! Remember how Lebron ended up with very few votes in last year's MVP voting just because he came to Miami?(despite having better seasons than everyone else). If Howard does something that'll make the media mad at him, he just may lose the award to Lebron.

What do you think?

Riley Tha Don · Post #2 » by **Riley Tha Don** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 8:40 pm

Why not? On the block, this guy is the Darrelle Revis of the NBA. He just erases opposing bigs down there. Not to mention he almost always accepts the challenge of guarding the best player on the other team in the 4th, is disruptive in the passing lanes, and has very solid rebounding numbers. I think Wade would have also been in the conversation had he not gotten hurt earlier.

RhapidKid · Post #3 » by **RhapidKid** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 8:52 pm

Riley Tha Don wrote:Why not? On the block, this guy is the Darrelle Revis of the NBA. He just erases opposing bigs down there. Not to mention he almost always accepts the challenge of guarding the best player on the other team in the 4th, is disruptive in the passing lanes, and has very solid rebounding numbers. I think Wade would have also been in the conversation had he not gotten hurt earlier.

I don't think Wade is that good a defender to be in that conversation. He's definitely a top 8 defender in the league though.

Riley Tha Don · Post #4 » by **Riley Tha Don** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 8:55 pm

RhapidKid wrote:
Riley Tha Don wrote:Why not? On the block, this guy is the Darrelle Revis of the NBA. He just erases opposing bigs down there. Not to mention he almost always accepts the challenge of guarding the best player on the other team in the 4th, is disruptive in the passing lanes, and has very solid rebounding numbers. I think Wade would have also been in the conversation had he not gotten hurt earlier.

I don't think Wade is that good a defender to be in that conversation. He's definitely a top 8 defender in the league though.

Keep in mind Wade was on a tear to start off the year, he was bringing in what felt like 2 blocks per game. For a 2 guard thats phenomenal

RhapidKid · Post #5 » by **RhapidKid** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 9:00 pm

Riley Tha Don wrote:
RhapidKid wrote:
Riley Tha Don wrote:Why not? On the block, this guy is the Darrelle Revis of the NBA. He just erases opposing bigs down there. Not to mention he almost always accepts the challenge of guarding the best player on the other team in the 4th, is disruptive in the passing lanes, and has very solid rebounding numbers. I think Wade would have also been in the conversation had he not gotten hurt earlier.

I don't think Wade is that good a defender to be in that conversation. He's definitely a top 8 defender in the league though.

Keep in mind Wade was on a tear to start off the year, he was bringing in what felt like 2 blocks per game. For a 2 guard thats phenomenal

True. True. But he's not on Lebron's level though.

Jan_Sobieski · Post #6 » by **Jan_Sobieski** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 9:49 pm

Lebrons intangible is amazing though.

Post #7 » by **DefenseWins** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 10:02 pm

I think if he gets his blocks to 1 per game, and not .8, I think he can get a push for it.

Dwight Howard... well... he seems to be a lock for it, but I think LeBron should be in consideration.

He can guard all freakin' 5 positions, as well as mess with Dwight (there's no video of this but I remember it clearly when Magic were in Miami).

He also seems to be rebounding better, he's in there with the bigs. I think people started to recognize his defense more when he was guarding Gasol. Good for him.

arifgokcen · Post #8 » by **arifgokcen** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 10:39 am

I have said this before if they decided not to give it howard,lebron will get it.However i dont think lebron will win it over howard.Even though he is the best defender in the game,you cant go wrong with howards impact.However even yesterday he literally shut down collison,who happens to be one of the quicker pgs in nba.He can literally shut down anybody from 1 to 5.Only other player that did this was rodman.His defensive versatility is more amazing than what he does offensively

TheMiamiHeat3 · Post #9 » by **TheMiamiHeat3** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 11:42 am

Deng and Iggy over Lebron for me. Both guys are the best defenders of the 2 best defensive teams

SweetTouch · Post #10 » by **SweetTouch** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 12:25 pm

Ask David West about this. LBJ guarded this guy for about all the 3rd quarter I believe.

Monarch · Post #11 » by **Monarch** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 12:41 pm

There's just no way anyone not named Dwight Howard wins this. He's the default DPOY by reputation, and I can live with that, despite how elite Lebron his defense always has been.

narmerguy · Post #12 » by **narmerguy** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 1:41 pm

Thing about Deng and Iggy is, they can't guard the versatility like Lebron can. And for Lebron, it's not a gimmick. He is completely effective at every position, which is incredible. How many players in the history of the NBA could shut down a player like DRose in the 4th quarter and then body up on a center the next game?

RhapidKid · Post #13 » by **RhapidKid** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 2:24 pm

TheMiamiHeat3 wrote:Deng and Iggy over Lebron for me. Both guys are the best defenders of the 2 best defensive teams

Lebron can shut down both Deng and Iggy! He's done it before, especially Iggy. Haven't you noticed that Iggy never shows up against us? Lebron shuts him down and then dominates him with his offense too. Besides, none of those guys can guard positions 1-5 like Lebron can.

Riley Tha Don · Post #14 » by **Riley Tha Don** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 2:37 pm

Pass on both Iguodala and Deng. Both of those guys have been lit up this season in some of their individual match-ups, outside of LeBron maybe sagging into the paint too long and giving an open 3 to another player, I dont think we've seen anybody really take it to LeBron in a one on one matchup. One guy that hasnt been mentioned that is probably in the conversation is Serge Ibaka, who is averaging over 3 blocks per game, and even had a game this year with 10 blocks.

EscapoTHB · Post #15 » by **EscapoTHB** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 3:01 pm

I don't think Deng or Iggy are as versatile defensively, and I think Lebron is a much better help defender than either of them. Plus Lebron also plays at the top level offensively too, so he can't rest on offense like Deng and Iggy can. I don't think those guys are anywhere near Lebron's level.

Put it this way. You need someone to shut someone down, any position, for one play to win the game--who is better than Lebron?

You can put Lebron on anyone position 1-5 and he will get the clutch stop. You can't say that even about Dwight Howard.

When Dwight Howard can stop DRose one on one then we'll talk.

This IsMy House · Post #16 » by **This IsMy House** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 4:33 pm

As long as Howard is in the league, that award is his.

Mars · Post #17 » by **Mars** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 4:46 pm

This IsMy House wrote:As long as Howard is in the league, that award is his.

People used to say the same thing about Jordan regarding the MVP.

Post #18 » by **mopper8** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 6:55 pm

Magic are 11th in Drtg with largely the same personnel that in previous years put them in top 5, #3 last season. Not obvious to me why he should be a shoe-in for DPOY this year.

SideshowBob · Post #19 » by **SideshowBob** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 11:01 pm

mopper8 wrote:Magic are 11th in Drtg with largely the same personnel that in previous years put them in top 5, #3 last season. Not obvious to me why he should be a shoe-in for DPOY this year.

Yeah, I think Deng and Iggy are the DPOY frontrunners thus far. Lebron rounds out the top 3

GreenHat · Post #20 » by **GreenHat** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 4:32 am

Lebron isn't going to win a DPoY until after he wins a championship. I think once he does that he will get one at some point. Rings make your defense "better" for perimeter players in the minds of voters (how Kobe gets all of those 1st defensive teams)

mopper8 wrote:Magic are 11th in Drtg with largely the same personnel that in previous years put them in top 5, #3 last season. Not obvious to me why he should be a shoe-in for DPOY this year.

Incumbency.

DPoY has a lot of repeat winners because individual defense is hard to evaluate, especially since most voters don't really see all of the teams play.

Also as much as either of us would look at Drtg I would wager a guess that less than 10% of the voters would even be able to tell you what it is. Philly has a huge lead in Drtg but hardly anyone in the media would consider them the best defense in the league.

Plus the top defenses in the league don't really have that one guy to single out who could win it over Dwight.

Based on the usual voting I would say Dwight is a shoe-in for DPoY

If we had won the title last year then I think there might be some traction for Lebron. Don't ask me why that makes any sense but that's how it goes.