NBA Defensive Player of the Year: Manu Ginobili Right On Target About Voting

Your 2012-13 NBA Defensive Player of the Year is Marc Gasol. It wasn’t a poor decision, as the Memphis Grizzlies were the No. 1 team in the NBA in scoring defense, giving up just 89.3 points per game. Gasol was the anchor of that defense, patrolling the paint very effectively. Still, Manu Ginobili had some choice words about the process.

Why did Ginobili care so much? It’s because his teammate Tim Duncan finished sixth in the voting. Ahead of Duncan was Gasol, LeBron James, Serge Ibaka, Joakim Noah and Tony Allen.

Tim Duncan has been a terrific defender for many years now. (Photo: Keith Allison, Flickr.com).

None of those guys are pushovers, but Ginobili had a different (and logical) take on the process of selecting them (courtesy of San Antonio Express News):

"“It’s the toughest award they give away because players don’t vote. It’s the player that goes against other players who know. Sometimes the best rebounder is not the best defender; or the best in steals is not a great defender. He just gambles a lot. It’s not that I’m complaining, but probably we do know better than the media.”"

This would be a terrific idea. Similar to how coaches cannot vote for their own players, the players wouldn’t be able to vote for their own teammates. The fact is, even though these guys are very proud individuals and a few might not want to vote for players they don’t like, the cream would certainly rise to the top.

There are a lot of intangibles involved with being a good defender. Basic stats don’t show those intangibles, nor do advanced metrics. Let’s take a deeper look at Gasol’s numbers to illustrate my point.

His defensive rating was solid, at a 98, which was good for fifth in the league. However, Duncan led the league with a minuscule 95.

MySynergySports ranked Gasol at the No. 29 defender in terms of points per possession (PPP), at .76. In isolation and the post (where he spent 55.6 percent of the time), he was ranked No. 21. James was No. 168 in PPP and Ibaka was No. 195.

According to 82games.com, Gasol held opposing centers to a 14.6 PER, which is decent, but not eye-popping. James held opposing small forwards to just 12.7 and Ibaka held power forwards to 14.7.

As you can see, Gasol wasn’t a bad choice by any means. But, the metrics don’t tell the whole story. Players tell the whole story. Teams that play tremendous help defense raise the level of everyone on the court. Paul George is an excellent offensive player, but do we really believe he’s the third best defensive player in the league, as his defensive rating would attest?

The NBA should strongly consider moving to a player-voted system in future years. Coach of the Year should be voted on by the coaches in the NBA. We can still let the same guys vote for MVP and the other awards, but let’s allow the players (the ones who know best) vote for the best defenders.