Green: All-Defensive 2nd team
HOUSTON >> Draymond Green, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, did not hesitate when asked for his reaction to being named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team on Wednesday.
“Pissed,” Green said emphatically, before putting on his diplomat hat. “Nah, it’s an honor to make all-defensive teams, allNBA teams, all-rookie teams. It’s an honor. It’s such a great league with great talent. A lot of guys are good on the defensive end, so to be one of the 10 guys named to the All-Defensive Team is great.”
But that honor could be considered something of a slight for Green, who had been named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team three years in a row. Also, Green wasn’t a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year. He was the runner-up for that award in 2015 and 2016 before winning it last year.
This year’s first team consists of the Pelicans’ Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday, the Jazz’s Rudy Gobert, the Pacers’ Victor Oladipo and the 76ers’ Robert Covington.
Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr said anybody who understands basketball knows that Green is still one of the top five defenders in the NBA.
“If you asked every coach in the league, ‘You could have any five defenders you want,’ I guarantee you Draymond would be one of those five,” Kerr said. “The fact that he didn’t end up on the first team, stuff like that happens all the time. Michael Jordan should’ve won MVP about 10 times. LeBron (James) probably should’ve earned it more than — how many times has he won? Four? Maybe he should’ve won more.”
Stephen Curry seconded Kerr, adding that he was surprised Green was not named to the first
team.
“Yeah, I mean the guy won Defensive Player of the Year last year,” Curry said. “I don’t know advanced analytics but, to the eye test, he’s still as dominating a force on that end as he was last year or the year before. A lot of that is mostly he wasn’t talking about it as much this year as he was last year. Maybe that had a little something to do with it.”
It didn’t help that the stats also weren’t in his favor.
Green’s defensive box plus/minus rating fell from five last season (which ranked fifth in the league) to 2.7 this season (tied for 33rd). He had 154 steals last season, while finishing with 95 this season. And
he had 501 defensive rebounds last season, while finishing with 460 this season.
Kerr, however, said it was only natural for Green to have a bit of a dip this season.
“I think this year, given that this is our fourth year trying to get back to the Finals, I think our whole team had lapses this year where we didn’t have quite the same level of play, level of energy,” Kerr said. “I think Draymond has even admitted that to you guys. So what you’re seeing right now in the playoffs, yeah, that’s the real Draymond. And that’s what we’re excited about because he controls games with his defense.”
Green is averaging postseason career highs in defensive rebounds (9.1), steals (1.9) and assists (8.5). He averaged a triple-double in the Western Conference semifinals against New Orleans, becoming the first Warriors player to accomplish that feat in a playoff series.
Oh, and his defensive plus/minus rating this postseason is 5.3, up from 4.8 last season.
Kevin Durant has another theory as to why Green fell so low in the defensive awards this season.
Said Durant: “I guess they get tired of seeing Draymond up there.”
Curry, however, said he’s actually kind of happy that Green was left off the first team.
“That might give him a little bit of an edge or a chip on his shoulder,” Curry said. “He feeds off of that stuff.”
Green already proved Curry right. He’s planning to use that slight as blackboard material for himself heading into next season.
“It’s also motivation for me to make first team or go win Defensive Player of the Year again next year,” Green said. “So, that’s what I’m going to do next year.”
• Kevon Looney started in place of Andre Iguodala on Tuesday, marking his first postseason start of his professional career.
He finished with four points on 2-for-6 shooting, six rebounds, one assist and one blocked shot.
“Loon was good, he was solid; he helped us get off to a great start with his defense and rebounding,” Kerr said. “He’s one of those guys who pretty much every night you always know what you’re going to get. He’s just solid. He understands how to play and he’s going to be smart.”
• Durant wasn’t fazed that he’s not a finalist for the MVP award.
“It’s all good,” Durant said. “I wasn’t expecting it.”