This is why I don't take DPOY and All-Defensive team awards that serious

[1987_Lakers]

Who remembers this moment? Hibbert finished 10th in DPOY voting that season despite Hibbert anchoring the #1 defense, but once the playoffs started and people were actually forced to watch Pacers games they realized that Hibbert altered a shit ton of shots and probably should have finished higher in the voting.

Lots of people had this realization in 2022 I believe, but in an opposite way. Marcus Smart won DPOY, but wasn't nearly as impactful of a defender than his teammate Robert Williams when people watched them in the playoffs, I remember lots of people on here taking notice of that.

[basketballcat]

Ibaka led the league in bpg. Gasol led the league in defensive box +/-. Duncan ledthe league47.6 in defensive rating.

Playoffs, you say? Heat beat the Pacers. LeBron had more blocks than Hibbert.

[1987_Lakers]

Ibaka led the league in bpg.

Ibaka was the most overrated defender in the league while he was in OKC. Bad man defender who would jump at everything to make his block numbers look good.

[Xiao Yao You]

Ibaka was the most overrated defender in the league while he was in OKC. Bad man defender who would jump at everything to make his block numbers look good.

but it's all about blocks and steals!

[rawimpact]

Hibbert was very underrated... in fact that Pacers squad was. But I wont forgive him for his precipitous decline.

[ArbitraryWater]

Ibaka led the league in bpg. Gasol led the league in defensive box +/-. Duncan ledthe league47.6 in defensive rating.

Playoffs, you say? Heat beat the Pacers. LeBron had more blocks than Hibbert.

And Russell leads in Rings, Kareem in Scoring Totals, Oscar in Triple Doubles, Wilt in Records, and yet MJ / Bron are the GOATs.


No one cares about 1 picked out category for an entire dimension of basketball.

[ArbitraryWater]

Btw what the **** happened to Hibbert

[Kblaze8855]

Hibbert was more effective versus the heat than he would be versus a number of lineups. The playoffs giving you the right matchup has made a lot of guys overrated. Underrated too. The right matchup vs a team that will play to your strengths with the whole basketball world watching does a lot for you. He was pushing around soft and undersized Heat bigs and playing wings who became made men by getting to the basket. Just being big, strong, and in the way helped immensely in that matchup. Their toughest interior player was 6’8” and had no game outside the paint to make him extend himself. And their best big was soft(relative to Hibbert). Was that the series he was pushing them around getting all those tip ins and offensive rebounds too?

There are lineups you would have to totally remove him from the floor to play though. People on every level of involvement from coaches and executives to players and fans are starting to value defensive versatility a lot.

Just a few years later the Heat likely would have benched Haslem and played Bosh at the 5 spotting up and drew Hibbert to 25 feet and shredded him. And some teams would have done it then. A Haslem, Birdman, Joel Anthony bigman rotation couldn’t.

Hibbert was useful at the time but guys like him have damn near been solved. His effectiveness relies on the other team not having the personnel or desire to make the easy adjustment and it was amplified having the right series to show it. He didn’t have the opposing big take an outside shot that entire playoffs.

matchups have almost as much to do with perception as ability at times.

[RogueBorg]

I'll translate through this encryptic crap, it's because Lebron never won a DPOY and only has been 1st-Team All-Defensive 5x in 20 years.

[ArbitraryWater]

I'll translate through this encryptic crap, it's because Lebron never won a DPOY and only has been 1st-Team All-Defensive 5x in 20 years.

Are you retarded?

[Airupthere]

I'll translate through this encryptic crap, it's because Lebron never won a DPOY and only has been 1st-Team All-Defensive 5x in 20 years.

spot on

[Hey Yo]

I'll translate through this encryptic crap, it's because Lebron never won a DPOY and only has been 1st-Team All-Defensive 5x in 20 years.

Rent free

[basketballcat]

And Russell leads in Rings, Kareem in Scoring Totals, Oscar in Triple Doubles, Wilt in Records, and yet MJ / Bron are the GOATs.


No one cares about 1 picked out category for an entire dimension of basketball.

Nope. Try harder. The GOAT has 11 rings in 13 seasons.

[dazzer87]

I'll translate through this encryptic crap, it's because Lebron never won a DPOY and only has been 1st-Team All-Defensive 5x in 20 years.

[Manny98]

I'll translate through this encryptic crap, it's because Lebron never won a DPOY and only has been 1st-Team All-Defensive 5x in 20 years.

This