Ben Wallace wins Defensive Player of the Year?

[Ray Allen34]

link
abcnews.go.com/Sports/ESP...?id=721310


May 2 AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Pistons center Ben Wallace won the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award for the third time in four years, a source within the league said Monday.

The Pistons scheduled an afternoon news conference, and the source, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, said Wallace would be presented with the award at that time.

Wallace also won it in 2002 and 2003.

During the regular season, he ranked fifth with 2.38 blocks per game, second with 12.2 rebounds a game and 23rd with 1.43 steals a game. The 6-foot-9, 240-pound Wallace ranks second in the playoffs with three blocks a game.

The defending champion Pistons will try to clinch their first-round series against Philadelphia when they host Game 5 against the 76ers on Tuesday.

Philadelphia coach Jim O'Brien has marveled at Wallace's ability to pressure players rebounding the ball, then harass the point guard as he dribbles up the court.

Wallace drew a charge near the Sixers' basket on such a sequence in Philadelphia against 6-foot, 165-pound Allen Iverson, one of the NBA's quickest players.

 

[jacobdrj]

IMHO, while Big Ben is still the best team defender in the game (nobody is even close in that catergory) I don't think he was really the favorate to win. I actualy think he deserved the award more in 2001, he got cheated then, I think by Mutumbo.

 

[bdouble013]

AK47 should have won it this year had he not gotten injured.

 

[funsc]

but he was the guy who initiated the brawl at Detriot

The interesting thing is that

he regains the title "defensive player" by pushing down the last year " defensive player" on the court.

 

[funsc]

besides AK47, I vote for Marks Camby

 

[sloter]

Bruce Lee Bowen is still pretty good and so is Trenton F Hassell.

 

[Daniela]

Big Ben deserved it hands down. Hmmm, maybe the Kings can trade for him.

 

[Dave McNulla]

no way ben deserved it. there are two other big men that are better defenders than him - garnett and duncan - and most of the scoring in the league today comes from the pg, sg, and sf, which ben never guards.

on the other hand, it's a popularity contest just like mvp, roy and miss america.

 

[Daniela]

Dave have you been watching Ben all year?

 

[jacobdrj]

no way ben deserved it. there are two other big men that are better defenders than him - garnett and duncan - and most of the scoring in the league today comes from the pg, sg, and sf, which ben never guards.

on the other hand, it's a popularity contest just like mvp, roy and miss america.

Not true, that is actualy his strength. His weekness is people like Shaq, Duncan, and Webber. The guards on Detroit gamble on D, and anything that gets through is swatted by Ben. He also is able to get rebounds even from those 3 I mentioned above. Concidering the size discrepency, that is a big deal.

 

[Evenstar]

i would have given it to bowen, as he has the job of guarding guys like t-mac, kobe, ray allen, peja etc, almost every night, much more demanding.

either him or duncan since the spurs have just as good a D in a confrence with much better teams then the east.

 

[Fillmoe]

BIG BEN! i hate bowen, he might have the job of guarding all the hard dudes but hes DIRTY!