The Dream Shake - a Houston Rockets blog: Shane Battier: Being kicked while he's down

Monday, May 12, 2008

Shane Battier: Being kicked while he's down

The NBA released the names of the 2008 "All Defensive Team" this afternoon... as I anxiously awaited seeing Shane's name finally and deservedly included among the members of the First Team. So... what the hell happened?

NBA awards voters screwed the pooch. Again.

Look, it was bad enough that Shane wasn't named DPOY to begin with. We all know he should have been the recipient of that award and that it ended up being a consolation prize to KG for not getting the MVP. Fine... but Shane being only 3rd (behind Marcus F'n Camby?) was a total joke. I thought that was the end of it though.

Nope.

Turns out Shane (just like last year) did not make the First Team.
Naturally, you may ask, if not Shane - then who did make the team?

Kevin Garnett - Forward (I guess he belongs)
Tim Duncan - Forward (no argument here)
Marcus Camby - Center (freakin' joke)
Bruce Bowen -Guard (looks like we're voting out of habit still)

and

Kobe Bryant.

WTF?

Look, I am a huge, huge, very huge Kobe fan. I'm not even a Lakers fan and I'm a Kobe fan. That says something, right? And yet, this is absolute bullshit. There is no freakin' way that Kobe Bryant was a better defensive player this season than Shane Battier. No freakin' way.

Yes, I realize that Kobe is the MVP and has been first-team all defense a handful of times now. Most of the time he deserved it. And if, say, Bruce Bowen were kicked off the team for being a no-good dirty scrub, I'd be okay with Kobe's selection. But Shane Battier had to be on the First Team. This is two years in a row now that Shane finished top 5 in DPOY and yet failed to make the First Team All Defense. How the hell does that happen?

It's a traveshamockery!!!!!!

Hey, just because the Rockets' season may be over doesn't mean I'm not paying attention to all of these undeserved slights of my guys. To all the voters who inconveniently forgot to put Shane's name on the ballot......... you're all ON NOTICE! And whomever voted for Josh Smith to be DPOY, don't think I forgot about you either. Oh, yeah, some ass clown also voted for Tyson Chandler as DPOY. Yes, really.

This biggest insult to injury of all?

Shane wasn't even a unanimous pick for the *2nd* team?!?!?

(First-team votes in parentheses)

FIRST TEAM -- Kevin Garnett, f, Boston, 52 (24); Kobe Bryant, g, L.A. Lakers, 52 (24); Marcus Camby, c, Denver, 37 (14); Bruce Bowen, g-f, San Antonio, 36 (13); Tim Duncan, f, San Antonio, 33 (12).

SECOND TEAM -- Shane Battier, f, Houston, 29 (9); Chris Paul, g, New Orleans, 26 (10); Dwight Howard, c, Orlando, 25 (8); Tayshaun Prince, f, Detroit, 20 (3); Raja Bell, g, Phoenix, 18 (4).

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES -- Chauncey Billups, Detroit, 14 (5); Jason Kidd, Dallas, 13 (4); Rasheed Wallace, Detroit, 13 (3); Rajon Rondo, Boston, 11 (3); Deron Williams, Utah, 8, (3); Josh Smith, Atlanta, 8, (3); Ron Artest, Sacramento, 8 (2); Tyson Chandler, New Orleans, 8 (1); Andrei Kirilenko, Utah, 6; Derek Fisher, Los Angeles Lakers, 4 (1); LeBron James, Cleveland, 4 (1); Manu Ginobili, San Antonio, 4 (1); Kirk Hinrich, Chicago, 3 (1); Samuel Dalembert, Philadelphia, 3 (1); Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia, 1 (2); Brandon Roy, Portland, 2; Paul Pierce, Boston, 2; Andre Miller, Philadelphia, 1; Andres Nocioni, Chicago, 1; Baron Davis, Golden State, 1; Caron Butler, Washington, 1; Chris Bosh, Toronto, 1; Dikembe Mutombo, Houston, 1; Josh Howard, Dallas, 1; Richard Hamilton, Detroit, 1; Ronnie Brewer, Utah, 1.

It is clear that some of our voters need their privileges revoked. This is a f--king joke. A sick, twisted and altogether unfunny joke at that.

1 comment:

Robin said...

Yeah, the all-defense teams are a joke. Bruce Bowen can still guard a couple players (can't defend Melo or Pierce well), but he's no comparison next to Shane Battier. Apparently people don't realize that Shane Battier guards everyone from point-guards to power-forwards, or that Shane actually guards people without using dirty tactics. And Marcus Camby's defense is way overrated. He roams for blocks way too often, gets killed by opposing big men (see: first round of the playoffs, every game against houston), and pads his rebounding stats by going after every single rebound even when his teammates could easily grab them. Also, you'd expect Camby to average at least 3 blocks per game considering Denver's porous perimeter defense.

I am raging so much right now.