It always pays to look at the story you're about to bash.
Warning: what follows is really stupid. Seriously, it's dumb.
Anyway: Clippers coach/president Doc Rivers has been lobbying heavily for DeAndre Jordan to win Defensive Player of the Year. Hyping up Jordan is nothing new for Rivers: he famously compared Jordan to Celtics great Bill Russell last year. Many believe it's a calculated measure to give Jordan confidence and convince him there's glory in doing the dirty work.
But it's getting silly now. Here's where we are currently at:
1. Doc "demands investigation" if Jordan doesn't win
"He's clearly the defensive player of the year," Rivers said Sunday. "If anybody else gets that award, we need to have an investigation. ... What he's doing defensively, if he was doing that offensively, he would be recognized as the MVP or one of them, but because it's defense, no one notices."
We said there's no way DeAndre deserves it.
2. Doc says there's no No. 2 option
Before the game, Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers handicapped the Defensive Player of the Year field by saying, "I just believe that (DeAndre Jordan's) No. 1. I don't think there's a No. 2."
When asked specifically about Golden State's candidate, he said, "I mean, Draymond Green's great. I love his energy. He's phenomenal, but DJ's the best defensive player."
3. ESPN's Tom Haberstroh also says "No way, Doc"
Maybe "no one notices" because there's just not much that stands out. Rivers has been known to get out the pom-poms for his players. In fact, Rivers already had launched the Jordan DPOY campaign in June, saying, "100 percent, I think that's what he will be" when all is said and done in 2014-15. A few days ago, Rivers claimed that "D.J. is the best defensive player in the league. I just really believe that."
Unfortunately for Rivers, Jordan's DPOY case isn't much of a case at all. This screams confirmation bias on Rivers' part more than anything. All evidence suggests Jordan is a good defensive player; not a great one, and certainly not the best. Let's run through all the reasons.
Haberstroh presents a thorough statistical case that notes a couple of Jordan's positives, but also notes how Jordan's rim protection numbers aren't great, the Clippers aren't a good defensive team overall and don't even get much better with Jordan in the game. It's a similar case to what we presented, but with more statistical rigor.
4. Rivers didn't like the piece
From a media session on Friday.
Doc Rivers wasn't happy about @tomhaberstroh article saying DeAndre Jordan is not the defensive player of the year, saying he took offense.
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) March 13, 2015
Doc Rivers on article: "He didn’t mention rebounding. How the hell can you not mention rebounding in defense?"
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) March 13, 2015
Doc Rivers continued: "Rebounding is maybe the No. 1 thing about defense because you have to get the rebound to stop the other [team]."
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) March 13, 2015
Doc:"The other thing he said was there wasn't a lot of use, a lot of guys aren’t driving. Exactly! They’re not driving because D.J. is there
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) March 13, 2015
Doc: "Ask Dallas tonight if D.J.’s a good defensive player. I think the last time we played, Rick Carlisle used the word Wilt Chamberlain."
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) March 13, 2015 5. Haberstroh responds
Literally 250 words on it. RT @latbbolch: Doc on article: "He didn’t mention rebounding. How the hell can you not mention rebounding in D?"
— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) March 13, 2015
Actually, it was more:
6. So what happened? How could Doc miss this?
Doc Rivers admitted he had not read story by @tomhaberstroh and was fed excerpts by the team's PR staff.
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) March 13, 2015
Ooooooohhhhhh. I can imagine Haberstroh dropping one of these the next time he sees Rivers.
Source SBNation.com - All Posts http://ift.tt/1AwfMS1
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