Dwight Howard Named Defensive POY
Dwight Howard (photo. Mannion)
When Phil Jackson said last week that he would pick Dwight Howard over LeBron James, Dwyane Wade or Chris Paul if he were building a team from scratch, I thought he was crazy. Sure, you don’t find a 6-11, 265-pound player every day of the week, but it’s a guard’s game right? Wrong.
Despite our pick of CP3, later today the 23-year-old Howard will be named the Defensive Player of the Year, making him the youngest player to ever win the award.
Leading the League in rebounding (13.8 rpg) and blocked shots (2.92 bpg), it’s safe to say that Superman has joined an elite class of big men alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1976), Bill Walton (1977), Hakeem Olajuwon (1990) and Ben Wallace (2002) as the only other players to accomplish that feat in the same season.
But with the Magic down 0-1 at home after a Game 1 meltdown, Howard has his hands full and no award will be able to console him this offseason if they get blown out in the first round.
Source: Orlando Sentinel
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April 21st, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Dagomar says:
At least the league got it right, even if Dime produced the worst DPOY candidate I’ve seen this year (in the worst Dime article I’ve ever seen).
Howard is a great choice; his man-to-man D isn’t where it could be yet but his help D is amazing. I would have also been cool with Lebron getting it, considering he’s a defensive force this year and also anchors one of the best defenses in the league. And of course this would have been KG’s award to lose if he hadn’t been injured. But like I said before somewhere else this award is increasingly going to the best two-way players in the league, rather than guys who bust their asses concentrating on defense for entire games. I’d like to see guys like Battier win it more.
April 21st, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Dagomar says:
Oh, by “league” I mean “other journalists.”
April 21st, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Tee says:
@Dagomar
Your right. I think they look at rebounding and blocked shots way to much. Battier is a much better defender than Howard and I love Howard. Shutting a wing down for 48 minutes is a lot harder then blocking 3 shots a game and grabbing 10 rebounds when you are 2 feet from the basket. The problem is the voters don’t watch enough games and only look at stats. Losers look at stats.
April 21st, 2009 at 1:51 pm
hahns says:
“it’s safe to say that Superman has joined an elite class of big men alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1976), Bill Walton (1977), Hakeem Olajuwon (1990) and Ben Wallace (2002)”
not a chance- hes only been in the leage 4 years and youre going to compare him to dream and kareem? nah. hes not that good yet. REALLY high celing…but hes not there yet.
April 21st, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Rangerjohn says:
@tee so if blocking 3 shots is so easy, or grabbing 10+ rebounds is so easy then why isn’t ever PF/center doing it? And then he did them both at the same time.
April 21st, 2009 at 2:30 pm
doc says:
They picked the right man.And what he do is not EASY which is why he is the only player in the league with his numbers.
April 23rd, 2009 at 3:18 am
K Dizzle says:
Who’s gonna take this award from him for the next 8-10 years. He’s only gonna get better…
April 23rd, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Dunkadelic TV says:
Dunkadelic-Superman Howard was the best defensive player of the 2008-09 season, nuff said!
April 23rd, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Dave says:
What a tuuhhhrrrebile pick. If I’m looking to score a basket at the end of the game I would MUCH rather have DHoward guarding me than CP3, whatever NBA, get a clue, CP3 not only is the Greatest Defensive PG in the history of basketball, he looks great on posters and can dribble the ball between his defenders legs going full speed. For that alone he should get DPOY.
April 23rd, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Dave says:
Dime should make up an award for CP3 since he really isn’t eligible for any of the current ones.
Ideas would be:
The Best Smile of the Year Award
Coolest Between the Legs Pass at Full Speed Award
Angriest look at an official of the Year Award…
April 25th, 2009 at 3:08 am
QQ says:
@ 9:
Stop posting as ‘Dave’, Austin Burton.