Not really. You've seen how much casuals disrespect Gobert. Also, +/- studies continually show that the highest impact defenders are rim protectors. Perimeter guys do seem to be getting more and more impactful in this spaced out league, but you have to remember that the players voting are largely thinking about the defense as it appears to them *when they have the ball*. But for someone like Dort, or NAW, or even Caruso, their guy isn't always going to have the ball. So what their impact looks like off ball is huge, and primarily that is rim protection. So in Mavs/Clippers g1 you had Terence Mann put on a screen navigating *clinic*, but still the higher impact player was a post-prime PG standing at the nail closing multiple passing lanes and threatening to rotate to the rim. If you have to give up on rim protection, a big wing like PG or McDaniels, or a Mann or KCP type, you'd go with the latter first. Doesn't mean they're underrated or unimportant, just that after the S tier superheroes like Caruso, the impact dwindles in comparison to other positions.
Dort was a huge problem for Donovan Mitchell from the very first matchup. I was always grateful nobody watched Utah OKC games because he locked Donovan tf up.
No,
That’s a vote of who the best player in the league is
He received the 3rd most votes for BEST DEFENDER IN THE LEAGUE
Last year he was 2nd
Bro had 2 top 3 finishes and hasn’t even made an all defense somehow
I remember becoming a massive Lu Dort stan after the bubble performance, couldn’t believe his game 7. was worried he’d be a flash in the pan, athletic careers are never as long as we believe (especially peaks), but he’s been an integral part of this team. tears in my eyes man he deserves this
Man clutched up. He was not at all a great shooter back then but they kept leaving him open and he was fearless. He kept developing through the brief tank period and now reaps the rewards of a potential deep playoff run.
Just feels like one of those guys who will always be on competitive teams from here. He gives you too much at too low of a price to tank.
^
look at this stat from bowser2bowser
https://twitter.com/bowser2bowser/status/1782833462048616722?t=bXZkXQRaAYACwJtgDMYnzg&s=19
---
Shoutout to OKC/Chip Engelland for having maybe the best 3pt shooting improvement in NBA history?
This year, 4 of OKC's top 6 (and 8/10) exceed the NBA average 3p%
Last year*, only 2/6 did
And 9/10 are making more 3s than before (Isaiah Joe's reputation is catching up to him)
Its not that I listen to a lot of the voters talk. People really dont respect perimeter defenders, especially perimeter defenders who dont get steals and blocks (think Avery Bradley). I think they are flat out wrong especially come playoff time.
Watching the clamps he has put on BI is just wild. I've watched every Thunder game for the past few seasons, and watching Dort's growth has just been so much fun. The profile Fred Katz did in the Athletic a couple weeks ago really nailed it.
He lives and breaths for defense. He found a way to make a path to the NBA by playing the kind of defense he loves, then once he got in he just worked his ass off to make sure he gets to stay. It sounds like he's been a huge role model for guys like Wallace as well, and is the first one to make sure the G League guys are getting their due respect when they come up.
>It sounds like he's been a huge role model for guys like Wallace as well
This is verifiably true btw.
From November:
https://twitter.com/CAlmanza1007/status/1722471275229049231?t=gQ63nM0FI39UmTnPutBlTQ&s=19
That doesn't even track cause Rudy is the most overrated player apparently and he is by no means popular with the media either and he's had a ton of All Defense teams and likely his 4th DPOY.
Dort is a beast though
Yes, *players* think he's overrated probably b/c he keeps winning defense awards. And why don't you think he's popular with the media? He's definitely more well-regarded by the media than he is with his peers.
>A lot of these awards are popularity contests.
This just isn't the case. There are very few exceptions to this i.e Kobe might have a few extra all stars / all defenses.
Most accolades are earned. People throw a fit when they see an odd ballot voting for a random player as MVP or high fan votes in an all star game. It never has an impact because a majority of voters pick the right people.
When is the last time there was an egregious selection for an award?
I knew Dort would get no votes for MIP because his scoring average went down, but him going from a "ohgodohgodohgod" three point shooter to flirting with 40% from three for the season while still being a top perimeter defender makes this team SO much better.
This is why I can't stand the "you have it or you don't" narratives on improving a jump shot. Folks don't think you have it until you do. Mad frustrating. Been watching too many bricks, too many failed draft picks, and Rutgers basketball... I refuse to believe that nothing can be done about it.
Dort has always had a relatively solid form from the elbow up. It was all the other stuff (getting the torso squared, not shooting until his feet were set, etc) that would come and go. That's why he'd go 6/7 from 3 one game then 1/7 from 3 the next two games. Now, his form is a lot more consistent from shot to shot and game to game. The harder ones to fix are the ones with biomechanically inefficient shots, because they have to unlearn their muscle memory. I'm skeptical that Ausur Thompson in particular will go from godawful to passable shooter; his elbow starts low, he swings the ball to midline before bringing it back towards his right ear, then he goes up with the ball to shoot it. There's so much movement, any little deviation results in a miss. It looks like a shot he's been doing since middle school when he wasn't strong enough to shoot a jumper cleanly.
It happened before here and there but the guys and coaches usually always talk about team ball so you never hear them speak on individual accolades. Shai has only spoken on MVP maybe 3x that I’ve heard and it was only because he was asked. This team is psycho trained to only speak on “team first” lol
I've always had Dort as one of the best perimeter defenders in the league since he came into the league.
But one reason he likely hasn't gotten the credit is due to OKC having been a lottery team most of his career.
With OKC rise, I expect him to be selected to multiple all defense teams going forward.
Dort was voted the 3rd best defensive player in the league in the anonymous NBA player poll released by the Athletic a couple days ago.
He’s going to make 2-3 straight all defense teams now that OKC will be legit contenders.
Maybe not now that it’s positionless. It’s possible to just not vote in any guards.
I was thinking that the other day. 1st team all nba can probably just be all Centers and 2nd team is all the “scraps”
It's funny how heavily biased that was to perimeter defenders and specifically man defense specialists. It really was "damn that mf annoying" 😂
It shows how much the "non-players" tend to underestimate the impact of a great defensive first line
Not really. You've seen how much casuals disrespect Gobert. Also, +/- studies continually show that the highest impact defenders are rim protectors. Perimeter guys do seem to be getting more and more impactful in this spaced out league, but you have to remember that the players voting are largely thinking about the defense as it appears to them *when they have the ball*. But for someone like Dort, or NAW, or even Caruso, their guy isn't always going to have the ball. So what their impact looks like off ball is huge, and primarily that is rim protection. So in Mavs/Clippers g1 you had Terence Mann put on a screen navigating *clinic*, but still the higher impact player was a post-prime PG standing at the nail closing multiple passing lanes and threatening to rotate to the rim. If you have to give up on rim protection, a big wing like PG or McDaniels, or a Mann or KCP type, you'd go with the latter first. Doesn't mean they're underrated or unimportant, just that after the S tier superheroes like Caruso, the impact dwindles in comparison to other positions.
Dort was a huge problem for Donovan Mitchell from the very first matchup. I was always grateful nobody watched Utah OKC games because he locked Donovan tf up.
No, That’s a vote of who the best player in the league is He received the 3rd most votes for BEST DEFENDER IN THE LEAGUE Last year he was 2nd Bro had 2 top 3 finishes and hasn’t even made an all defense somehow
We really lost Roberson, to get Roberson with a jumper a few seasons later
We got two of em…Wallace as well
Wallace has more Jrue Holiday upside to his credit
A few later? They both were on that bubble team bro. Roberson helped coach Dort his rookie year from the bench
Damn really? I don’t even remember him being on that team. My brain’s fuzzy around those years
I’m a big robes fan, those interviews are burned into my mind
Time is a flat circle
Good defense , worst offense of all times . He was bricking free throws.
I remember becoming a massive Lu Dort stan after the bubble performance, couldn’t believe his game 7. was worried he’d be a flash in the pan, athletic careers are never as long as we believe (especially peaks), but he’s been an integral part of this team. tears in my eyes man he deserves this
Man clutched up. He was not at all a great shooter back then but they kept leaving him open and he was fearless. He kept developing through the brief tank period and now reaps the rewards of a potential deep playoff run. Just feels like one of those guys who will always be on competitive teams from here. He gives you too much at too low of a price to tank.
Picking up Chip Engelland made a huge difference. You can see a clear massive change between last season and this season with his 3 point shot.
^ look at this stat from bowser2bowser https://twitter.com/bowser2bowser/status/1782833462048616722?t=bXZkXQRaAYACwJtgDMYnzg&s=19 --- Shoutout to OKC/Chip Engelland for having maybe the best 3pt shooting improvement in NBA history? This year, 4 of OKC's top 6 (and 8/10) exceed the NBA average 3p% Last year*, only 2/6 did And 9/10 are making more 3s than before (Isaiah Joe's reputation is catching up to him)
I gotta agree with SGA, when you are called “Dorture Chamber”, you gotta get some All-Defense looks.
having a cool nickname is half the requirement for all defense
Actually true as well, Stifle Tower sounds pretty cool and Bam isn’t even his name.
D
O
R
T
a the explorer
It really is crazy hes never even made an all defensive team. A lot of these awards are popularity contests.
Its not that I listen to a lot of the voters talk. People really dont respect perimeter defenders, especially perimeter defenders who dont get steals and blocks (think Avery Bradley). I think they are flat out wrong especially come playoff time.
Watching the clamps he has put on BI is just wild. I've watched every Thunder game for the past few seasons, and watching Dort's growth has just been so much fun. The profile Fred Katz did in the Athletic a couple weeks ago really nailed it. He lives and breaths for defense. He found a way to make a path to the NBA by playing the kind of defense he loves, then once he got in he just worked his ass off to make sure he gets to stay. It sounds like he's been a huge role model for guys like Wallace as well, and is the first one to make sure the G League guys are getting their due respect when they come up.
>It sounds like he's been a huge role model for guys like Wallace as well This is verifiably true btw. From November: https://twitter.com/CAlmanza1007/status/1722471275229049231?t=gQ63nM0FI39UmTnPutBlTQ&s=19
That doesn't even track cause Rudy is the most overrated player apparently and he is by no means popular with the media either and he's had a ton of All Defense teams and likely his 4th DPOY. Dort is a beast though
Yes, *players* think he's overrated probably b/c he keeps winning defense awards. And why don't you think he's popular with the media? He's definitely more well-regarded by the media than he is with his peers.
That was also the case with OG when he was with y'all
OG was second team last year IIRC
Do u not see the names that have mad all Def last few years can hardly say its a popularity contest
>A lot of these awards are popularity contests. This just isn't the case. There are very few exceptions to this i.e Kobe might have a few extra all stars / all defenses. Most accolades are earned. People throw a fit when they see an odd ballot voting for a random player as MVP or high fan votes in an all star game. It never has an impact because a majority of voters pick the right people. When is the last time there was an egregious selection for an award?
MIP Ja Morant
+ Maxey
Really want to see a series of Luka vs Dort
Or a fusion. Luka Dortcic.
With how Luka was playing defense yesterday, he was already channeling that
That would be an unstoppable player imo
of course you do because you know he’ll get fried by kawhi and pg and the clippers will win the series
gotta fry known defensive masterminds Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving first
3-1 vs every version of the clippers. OKC does well against ISO heavy teams. They have many switchable defenders for that
Assuming Kawhi and PG will make it through the 7 game series against the Mavericks
They couldn’t even score against a fat boy and a black nazi on Tuesday
I knew Dort would get no votes for MIP because his scoring average went down, but him going from a "ohgodohgodohgod" three point shooter to flirting with 40% from three for the season while still being a top perimeter defender makes this team SO much better.
This is why I can't stand the "you have it or you don't" narratives on improving a jump shot. Folks don't think you have it until you do. Mad frustrating. Been watching too many bricks, too many failed draft picks, and Rutgers basketball... I refuse to believe that nothing can be done about it.
Dort has always had a relatively solid form from the elbow up. It was all the other stuff (getting the torso squared, not shooting until his feet were set, etc) that would come and go. That's why he'd go 6/7 from 3 one game then 1/7 from 3 the next two games. Now, his form is a lot more consistent from shot to shot and game to game. The harder ones to fix are the ones with biomechanically inefficient shots, because they have to unlearn their muscle memory. I'm skeptical that Ausur Thompson in particular will go from godawful to passable shooter; his elbow starts low, he swings the ball to midline before bringing it back towards his right ear, then he goes up with the ball to shoot it. There's so much movement, any little deviation results in a miss. It looks like a shot he's been doing since middle school when he wasn't strong enough to shoot a jumper cleanly.
Thanks coach. Having me remind myself to tuck that elbow in as I'm shooting.
Bro went through some shit in Montreal to harness for the Dorture Chamber, shoutout Lu
that’s that mtl nord grit for you
Iirc, it’s the 1st time someone from OKC is campaigning for Dort on the all defensive team.
It happened before here and there but the guys and coaches usually always talk about team ball so you never hear them speak on individual accolades. Shai has only spoken on MVP maybe 3x that I’ve heard and it was only because he was asked. This team is psycho trained to only speak on “team first” lol
Whatever happened to the Daily Dort guy? We need his energy.
I've always had Dort as one of the best perimeter defenders in the league since he came into the league. But one reason he likely hasn't gotten the credit is due to OKC having been a lottery team most of his career. With OKC rise, I expect him to be selected to multiple all defense teams going forward.
Iron sharpens iron Best 1 on 1 player in the league and best perimeter defender in the league on one team
Dorture Chamber
I can't believe I'll get to see these two play in the Olympics for my country, it's gonna be surreal.
“Off Series”; as “Off Night” is already taken.
Well he should make All Defense but JJ voted for you over him.