ESPN Ranks Lebron #1 on DPOY Rankings

RhapidKid · Post #1 » by **RhapidKid** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 11:14 pm

Quite pleasing to see. I expected to see him second behind D12. Hopefully he becomes the 2nd person in history to win MVP, DPOY & Finals MVP in the same season(1st was Hakeem).
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/NBA ... y-rankings

bemzk · Post #2 » by **bemzk** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 11:27 pm

Orlando are ranked number 11th in the legue when it comes to defense. Now i know its a team effort, i dont know know the numbers the Magic allow when Howard is in and out of the game.

Lebron definetely would deserve this award, he is such a smart defender. He roams around the paint and is a great weak side helper. He thinks the game.

lolcat · Post #3 » by **lolcat** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 11:37 pm

Love it! Dude is so versatile defensively you can't deny it. Was going to post on GB but too many haters and trolls right now. Really wanna see Bron win this award.

But a Finals trophy would be nice as well haha :p

Post #4 » by **DefenseWins** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 11:55 pm

I'm happy for him, but sometimes 1vs1 he doesn't "shut down" players.

He steals, chase down blocks, and does have an impact defensively, but sometimes he slacks off and doesn't guard him man. It could be a rotation issue, but in the beginning of the season, LeBron's man would always light up the team...

He really has been trying this year to get stops.

But I don't know about #1 yet. I'm glad he has been recognized, but surprised they put him #1 when everyone saw John Lucas shoot over him like nothing :lol:

CablexDeadpool · Post #5 » by **CablexDeadpool** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 12:01 am

DefenseWins wrote:I'm happy for him, but sometimes 1vs1 he doesn't "shut down" players.

He steals, chase down blocks, and does have an impact defensively, but sometimes he slacks off and doesn't guard him man. It could be a rotation issue, but in the beginning of the season, LeBron's man would always light up the team...

He really has been trying this year to get stops.

But I don't know about #1 yet. I'm glad he has been recognized, but surprised they put him #1 when everyone saw John Lucas shoot over him like nothing

John Lucas has been torching everyone...and like we all know Great Offense>Great Defense

And Lebron is roamer, he's not a one on one defender, it's not the same standard, it's not like he's a Tony Allen, he's more like a SF Version of Dwight.

Post #6 » by **DefenseWins** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 12:06 am

JL is 5'9 however... it was just funny to see.

But he is a very smart defensive player, doesn't rack up fouls either (unless it's an offensive foul barreling into people).

Wow he almost averages 1 block a game and 2 steals a game

HEATKingEz · Post #7 » by **HEATKingEz** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 12:44 am

Overrated defender tbh... happy for him tho'.

Post #8 » by **DefenseWins** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 12:55 am

I see there's a GB topic already... I mean I can't hide it. There are numbers that say otherwise about LeBron's defense. He isn't like the other defenders who have it on 100% and isn't a stopper. Yeah a roamer, but sometimes he does get burned on defense 1vs1. Even against good players. Even bad players..

it happens to everyone, but I don't know about DPOY. In candidacy yeah, but I don't know about winning it.

And he doesn't shutdown Rose, the team shuts down Rose. It's a different look however for Rose, because of LeBron's size. Will be interesting come playoff time and the next meeting with Chicago.

Let's not forget Terry lighting up LBJ as well.

SweetTouch · Post #9 » by **SweetTouch** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 1:20 am

The thing is who is lebrons man on the given night? If we say he guards different positions, he has no set man to guard..

hard to judge players like that, same way with howard

RhapidKid · Post #10 » by **RhapidKid** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 2:10 am

SweetTouch wrote:The thing is who is lebrons man on the given night? If we say he guards different positions, he has no set man to guard..

hard to judge players like that, same way with howard

He guards different positions BECAUSE he guards the guy that's hot(no homo :lol:

) a.k.a the guy that's going off on the opposing teams. Otherwise he just guards the SF's and the PFs.

CablexDeadpool · Post #11 » by **CablexDeadpool** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 2:17 am

DefenseWins wrote:I see there's a GB topic already... I mean I can't hide it. There are numbers that say otherwise about LeBron's defense. He isn't like the other defenders who have it on 100% and isn't a stopper. Yeah a roamer, but sometimes he does get burned on defense 1vs1. Even against good players. Even bad players..

it happens to everyone, but I don't know about DPOY. In candidacy yeah, but I don't know about winning it.

And he doesn't shutdown Rose, the team shuts down Rose. It's a different look however for Rose, because of LeBron's size. Will be interesting come playoff time and the next meeting with Chicago.

Let's not forget Terry lighting up LBJ as well.

The thing is, Lebron is the Heat's best defender period.

Wade checks out on defense routinely when it comes to man to man. Shane is a good one on one defender. Cole is useful for quick guards. Joel is just a pick and roll defender.

When it comes to rebounding, weak side help, communicating on defense and defensive versatility...Lebron is the best defender on the Heat.

Lebron makes the Heat defense run right now. The reason why the Heat can get off with horrible center play is Lebron. He rebounds and guards the weak-side and communicates like a center should.

Now, yeah, of course he's gonna get burned occasionally, but seriously, he went from guarding a small forward, to a power forward and then to a point guard and he is likely to do it all over it again.

Then you have him roaming the sideline to sideline on defense, then he also has to most likely get the rebound.

Then you might have him guarding the opposing team best perimeter player in the last seconds of a game.

So Spo uses Lebron for basically every single thing to make the Heat defense run. He's like Ed Reed, he isn't gonna be showing up on the stat sheet with blocks and steals or points allowed, but he shows up overrall in the defensive scheme.

And yeah Lebron did shut down Rose lets not be silly now.

zogster · Post #12 » by **zogster** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 2:33 am

The reason LeBron is getting love for DPOY is not because he is a lock down defender on everyone he guards, it is because he can literally guard every single player in the league pretty damn well.

Let's say you are given this question:

You must choose a player to guard any one player I pick for one possession at random. Meaning, I can pick any player in the NBA and you must pick only one. You can pick Dwight Howard, but I could have picked Derrick Rose as the offensive player. You can pick Igoudala, but I can pick Bynum on offense.

What player would you pick over LeBron in such a "game"? Of course, you could also pick Howard and I could pick Bynum, and then you'd be in pretty good shape. Better than if you picked LeBron in that case.

Point is LeBron can and has literally guarded almost every player in the league this year, and has done a damn good job at it on every player.

That's just man to man defense too, LeBron is a better help defender than man to man.

EscapoTHB · Post #13 » by **EscapoTHB** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 3:03 am

Some of the rotations Lebron makes on defense are even more highlight worthy than his blocks or steals. It's almost unfair that we have Wade, Lebron, Battier, Haslem and Joel Anthony. Even Chris Bosh is pretty elite in terms of pick and roll defense.

nyk_buc · Post #14 » by **nyk_buc** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 3:07 am

LBJ isn't the best man defender, but he's up there. The guy shut down Rose/Gasol... I think the reason you see sometimes he gets lit up b/c he rotates so much since he's like the safety in football (he is the main help defender all over).

But the main reason he could win DPOY this year is b/c he's the most versatile defender in the L, and he does it well. He anchors a top 2-3 team WITHOUT a legit defensive big man; that's something.

iboxlefty · Post #15 » by **iboxlefty** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 8:47 am

If you're looking at a man defender like say a battier or tony Allen then lebron doesn't generally defend that way. Ever play ball in your life? His body doesn't allow for much of that sliding they do...

I wish he would get up more in guys faces and contest harder but not necessarilly jumping at the pump fake. Both him and wade do this wildly.

Otherwise he probly is DPOY, as he guards different positions and when focused can shut anyone Down. He also plays smart defense for the most part and he has ultimate impact on the game defensively. Pretty scary how good we look when he's out there

iboxlefty · Post #16 » by **iboxlefty** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 8:50 am

I should add that, if lebron wasn't so important offensively he would probably be more like Pippen on defenze. He's similar now but pippen slid with his man and everything. Way too exhausting to play both defense and offense at max level in today's game

EscapoTHB · Post #17 » by **EscapoTHB** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 1:25 pm

Pippen was also allowed to handcheck and never guarded 5s.

This IsMy House · Post #18 » by **This IsMy House** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 4:09 pm

With the level of defense LeBron has been playing, never backing down from a challenge, and guarding ANYONE on the court, he should be the DPOY without a doubt. I don't think hell win because of Howard, but it'd be pretty tight to see him win DPOY and MVP in a Heat uni.

RhapidKid · Post #19 » by **RhapidKid** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 4:15 pm

This IsMy House wrote:With the level of defense LeBron has been playing, never backing down from a challenge, and guarding ANYONE on the court, he should be the DPOY without a doubt. I don't think hell win because of Howard, but it'd be pretty tight to see him win DPOY and MVP in a Heat uni.

He'd be the only Heat player not named Zo to win it.

This IsMy House · Post #20 » by **This IsMy House** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 4:41 pm

RhapidKid wrote:
This IsMy House wrote:With the level of defense LeBron has been playing, never backing down from a challenge, and guarding ANYONE on the court, he should be the DPOY without a doubt. I don't think hell win because of Howard, but it'd be pretty tight to see him win DPOY and MVP in a Heat uni.

He'd be the only Heat player not named Zo to win it.

Ya that'd be pretty sweet Zo, and LeBron in the record books for the Heat.

Who was the last player to get DPOY and MVP in the same year?