Dallas Mavericks: Tyson Chandler Regaining Defensive Player Of The Form
The Dallas Mavericks’ collective defense isn’t impressive. Actually, strike that. The Mavericks’ collective defense is more so atrocious.
Dallas is ranked 16th in scoring defense, but the main reason behind its terrible defense is allowing 40 percent from 3-point range, good for 29th worst in the NBA. While that is alarmingly problematic, Tyson Chandler has remained the constant defensive force that has given the Mavericks plenty of chances to win games.
He’s remained so constant that Chandler appears to be regaining his Defensive Player of the Year status, if not already eclipsing that status from 2012.
Chandler more than likely will not get much love from the voters at the end of the year if Dallas’ defense, collectively, continues to be as bad as humanly possible.
If the Mavericks continue to allow an absurd number of 3-pointers to teams like the Indiana Pacers, who had to play their D-League squad on Monday night, that might hinder his chances.
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Statistically speaking, Chandler is on pace to repeat his 2012 status, if not do way better than that year.
Chandler averaged 11.3 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, along with 1.4 blocks in his first season with the New York Knicks en route to winning that Defensive Player of the Year award. That was also the lockout-shortened season, where the Knicks went 36-30 and somehow played competent defense under Mike D’Antoni.
The Knicks averaged, as a team, 94.7 points per game.
That 36-30 record was only good for the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference before New York lost to the Miami Heat in the first round. Yet Chandler won the award by playing on that team with a coach who doesn’t understand the word defense.
Compare those numbers to what Chandler is doing now in his second stint with Dallas, although a much smaller sample size early on. Chandler is averaging 10.8 points to go with 11.3 rebounds and the same 1.4 blocks per game.
He’s also averaging 7.3 defensive rebounds per contest, the most he’s had since 2007-08 when he was with the New Orleans Hornets.
Chandler is grabbing nearly one more defensive rebound per game right now, so far, than the last four years. He’s more active and much more vocal on the defensive end this year, and he has to be. With Dallas’ struggles on defense, especially from the 3-point line, he has to do all he can.
When he gets his opportunities at the rim, Chandler has been a force in the paint.
Dallas’ collective defensive struggles may be the only thing that holds back Chandler from winning the award, but there is no doubt he needs to be in the conversation right now. Especially if the Mavericks can start playing some competent defense towards the end of the season, he’ll definitely get some consideration.
This is obviously a different team than the 2011 title team that had guys like Shawn Marion, Caron Butler and DeShawn Stevenson as defensive aces that could play in front of their man and get a stop when needed.
Dallas doesn’t have those luxuries. I mean, they could. If they felt like making a trade to Detroit and bringing back Butler, I don’t think one would mind it in the least. Or if the Mavericks decided to dig up Stevenson from wherever he is, that wouldn’t hurt either.
Hopefully for Chandler, that’s not the case. He’s doing more right now than he did in New York, and if the Mavericks continue to win games like they’re expected, then you can expect Tyson Chandler back in the Defensive Player of the Year race, and possibly winning it this season.