UcanUwill wrote:Yeah, as I said second team was hard, I went with Grigonis and Dubljevic because their percentages are still pretty elite, Dubljevic is just so good against players like Tavares, he can be a game changer in a series I think (maybe I already projecting possible play offs on a regular season list, kinda like NBA voters will project play offs dud on Giannis this year and most likely wont vote for him as MVP). And Grigonis is just easily top class player this year, up and downs lately, but he almost always get his numbers, 2 incredible game winners, insane percentages, I stick with my choice. And speaking about Larkin, hes been cooking, I think he is a lock for a all Euroleague team at this point.
McKissick was my most not surish pick, I just went with numbers, Hanga had better numbers, but I thought I will go with something more obscure. I think Thomas Walkup is a lock as best PG defender, Singleton is as good as it gets at PF, Center is really up to the debate, lots of good choices. A lot of people might say Tavares is a lock, and I settled with the fact that Tavares is good in Euroleague, but really yesterdays game once again shook Tavares credibility as defender in my eyes, they put Shengelia and Voightman and Tavares instantly turned into biggest liability. Thats why I dont like him as DPOY or best Center defender, I think Davies or Hines, they are not as dominant on defense in some areas, but they never a liability, Tavares for how good of a rim protector he is, he is just so bad at perimeter and pick and pop defense.
Don't get me wrong, I really like Dubljevic and Grigonis. But I'm just not sure that Dubljevic had an All-EuroLeague level this year. As for Grigonis, he probably did, he was probably even an MVP candidate early in the year. But his team doesn't look like they are going to make the playoffs. I have a hard time putting someone on the All-EuroLeague team if they don't even make the playoffs.
I think I might put Howard Sant-Roos on a defensive team. He's a very versatile defender. And maybe also Pierria Henry. He's a really tough perimeter defender, for the most part. As far as defense at the center position, Dunston is probably still the best defender at that spot.
There seems to be a double standard with how people judge Tavarers on defense. He almost completely shuts down the paint area and around the rim, but as you said, he can't guard outside the paint, due to his enormous size. But he's basically considered an elite defender it seems. I would compare that as a strange double standard to Papagiannis. Papagiannis also shuts down the paint area for the most part, and he might actually be an even better shot blocker than Tavares. He's certainly quicker and gets to the ball faster, and is definitely a better weak side help shot blocker. Papagiannis has the same issue on defense of course, of not being able to cover on the perimeter, again because of enormous size. But when you compare him to Taveres, Papagiannis is more mobile, quicker, faster, more athletic, and he's actually also noticeably better at covering on the perimeter. I mean he struggles with it, but he's not a complete liability with it. At times he does a good job even at showing on the picks and then recovering to the paint, or to a corner shooter.
Basically, Papagiannis is a better version of Taveres on defense. Yet, he's basically considered to be a horrible defensive player, while Taveres is considered to be elite. European basketball has some of the same complete BS on who is a good defender and who is a bad defender as the NBA does. It's pretty much the same thing with how some fans / media just start saying a player is a good / bad defender and that's pretty much it. That's how they are rated, whether it's true or not.
A perfect example is the trolling of Panathinaikos fans and media. Diamantidis was never the best offensive player, so to make him be the "best player ever", and "even better than Jordan", they just started trolling and spamming endlessly about how he was this god on defense. It worked, he kept winning defense awards and now people that didn't actually watch and analyze, believe he was peak Pippen on defense or something. The reality is that he often couldn't guard the small and quick point guards.
It's funny actually, because on Panathinaikos, and the Greek NT, it was Spanoulis that always got assigned to guard the best offensive guard of the other team, and not Diamantidis.......How does that make any sense at all if Diamantidis is really "the greatest defender of all time", as the ridiculous trolling and spamming claims he is.
Or in the NBA, like are we really to believe that guys like Kobe and LeBron were always elite defenders? Even in their mid to late 30s? Even when they were clearly taking off lots of possessions on defense, even entire games, or even whole stretches of the season on defense? Somehow we are, because with that being the case, they would still get on an all defense team.
Unfortunately, the whole so and so is a good or bad defender is largely just based on fan and media trolling and spamming. Tavares, as an example, is really obviously a case of just exactly that. Granted, he does shut down the paint area, but it still doesn't add up to being a defensive player of the year. There are other centers that also shut down the paint, and can cover on picks and switches, for example, someone like Dunston. Actually, on Tavares' own team, Garuba is probably a better all around defender at the five position than.