What makes Marc Gasol great defensively?

[gyu]

Someone fill me in. I don't watch Memphis extensively, and was surprised when he won DPOY. He's not athletic so it's hard for me to see him defending the P&R well, not much of a shot blocker either. Memphis is a great defensive team but could it be because most of their players are good defensive players?
Conley - elite
Lee - elite
Allen - arguably the best in the league
Prince - above average

Does Gasol get too much credit?

[TaLvsCuaL]

Mostly the Memphis record without him

[ProfessorMurder]

The fact that he's 7' 300, intelligent, and on a good team of mainly good defenders.

[navy]

If you watch the games you could see why. He has good strength and great intelligence. He cant jump out of the world so he doesnt go after unnnessary blocks and worries more about positioning and body placement. Great defender.

Maybe not as good as portrayed as he has a great defensive team to help him but that doesnt mean he isnt a major part of it.

[Lebronxrings]

the system.

[plowking]

His defense.

[RoundMoundOfReb]

Look at what Bogut has done to GS's defense. It's a similar situation with Gasol.

[raprap]

He can challenge shots without fouling. But I agree. Memphis' first line of defense is strong. But I think he deserved the DPOY.

[Genaro]

As I like to say, it's not always about numbers. He doesn't have great rebounding or blocking numbers but he's a great defender. He's always on the right place, make great boxouts, contest and change shots in the paint and is a great post defender.
Those things doesn't show in the stat sheet but if you watch the games you will see.

[AussieG]

The system he plays in, teammates (all working together well) combined with high basketball IQ, strength and good work ethic (doesn't take a nap on D, isn't mentally lazy).

It's funny because I watched NBA.com's top 10 plays of November and basically every one of them was good to watch (highlight reel) but were mostly done by crap teams with poor defense. Athleticism and defense are two different things. A lot of the most athletically best defenders with highlight reel blocks are poor defenders. Serge Ibaka is an exception.

[T_L_P]

He doesn't do anything most great defenders can't do.

He doesn't grab 10 boards but he boxes out well (which I care about more than how many you grab). He has patience, timing, good mobility. He's the anchor of a team with great defenders around him. And it's reflected in the metrics that he has a large defensive impact (not as much this year as in the past, but that's the trade-off for much better offense).

[inclinerator]

he's good but not dpoy good

[masonanddixon]

Elite post defense (possibly the best in the game), great at finding the right spots, reads the offense perfectly, etc etc

[FKAri]

He's a surprisingly good shot blocker/changer.

[bdreason]

Court positioning, intelligence, and communication.