clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

NBA All Defensive Team voters = HUGE joke

NBA head coaches, you guys are not too intelligent. Shane Battier absolutely owns Bruce Bowen on the defensive end. Yes, Bowen gets more head lines, mostly because he is a dirty bastard of a defender, but Shane does every single thing on the defensive end better. I feel like a Spurs hater today even though I truly respect what they've done, but Tim Duncan is only an 11 time All NBA first team defensive player because power forwards suck at defense apparently. That's not to say Duncan isn't a really good defender, he's just not a great one. Throw the 11 in a row at me all you want, the stats and my eyes say he is really good, but not great.

Shane Battier was the best defender on the league's third best defensive team. He was also the only truly good defender on the entire team. Let that sink in, Shane carried a team, sometimes by himself, on the defensive end to the third best statistical team on defense. How exactly was he 1. Not the defensive player of the year or 2. Even on the list of first teamers? He constantly guarded the other teams best player and just about always held them down in some easily understood way. Shane out-averaged Bowen in rebounds (5.1 -2.9), steals(1.0-.7) and blocks(1.1-.3). He did lose out to Bowen on a-hole plays (1, the Durant trip, to Infinity, also known as every thing Bowen does).

The most ridiculous part? Shane wasn't even a unanimous second team pick. In fact, 9 coaches (Adelman wasn't allowed to vote for him) didn't put him in the top 2. That's just pathetic and tells me that coaches have no business doing anything but coaching. Chris Paul, who I would trade your first born child for, was only 3 points behind Shane. Chris Paul, while great at playing the passing lane, is simply not a good defender. Even the Hornets fans can admit to this. Yet there Shane is, sitting barely in front of him.

I'm so upset at this. I thought it was just an anomaly that would get corrected this year. And while I'm sure Shane doesn't care, I do. Shane, maybe it's time to be an a-hole on the court, it makes people think you are a better defender than you actually are. You went to Duke, I thought they taught y'all that stuff there?