Feature Presentation: 2015-16 BDL Defensive Unit of the Year

We at Ball Don’t Lie enjoy healthy debate about basketball and its strange cast of characters, from Oscar Robertson’s “get off my lawn” diatribe on Stephen Curry to D’Angelo Russell’s sting operation on a self-dubbed dude named Swaggy P and his Australian hip hop artist fiancé. (Yup, those things happened.) It’s NBA with a twist here at the BDL, so we wanted to stir the pot and shake up the league’s annual awards.

BDL DEFENSIVE UNIT OF THE YEAR

NBA games aren’t played five-on-one. We’ve seen one-on-five (Hi, Dion Waiters), but not the other way around, unless four Sacramento Kings forgot to get back on defense again. So, why does the NBA recognize one Defensive Player of the Year, rather than a five-man unit. How many times do we hear the best defenses work on a string, constantly rotating into position? We don’t want to cut that string. 

AND THE WINNERS ARE …

Tony Parker–Danny Green–Kawhi Leonard–LaMarcus Aldridge–Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs

“In training camp, we decided that if we were going to be a team that had a shot at the end of the year, we had to be the No. 1, 2 or 3 defensive team in the league,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told the San Antonio Express-News, actually answering a question for once. “That commitment has to happen first.”

By Christmas, San Antonio indeed ranked atop the NBA in points allowed per 100 possessions (92.9), at which point Popovich told reporters, “I feel like wer’re ahead of the curve defensively, but we’re still sputtering offensively. I’d give us a about a B-plus defensively and a C-plus/B-minus offensively,” which might be the nicest thing he’s said about his defense all season. They owned a 25-6 record at that point.

By the All-Star break, the Spurs still led the league in defensive rating by a full four points allowed per 100 possessions (95.2). Naturally: “I’m concerned,” said Popovich. “It’s terrible. We stink on D right now.”

Now, the Spurs are sure to reach their training camp goal, still leading the league in defensive rating (96.5), thanks to a starting lineup that features reigning Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard. But it’s not just The Claw who makes the machine go. San Antonio’s starters don’t force an extraordinary number of turnovers; they play sound defense, force bad shots and rarely spare teams a second chance.

We say all that to hide the fact Tim Duncan is an alien sent to us for the purpose of disrupting opposing offenses decades on end, which is why the Spurs indeed have “a shot at the end of the year.” Again.

AND THE NOMINEES WERE …

AND NOW A WORD FROM THE ACADEMY …

We understand some of the fun comes with picking apart the voting panel and publicly shaming their misfires, so we’ll do our best to explain ourselves before you folks let us have it in the comment section.

George Hill–Monta Ellis–Paul George–Myles Turner–Ian Mahinmi, Indiana Pacers

DAN DEVINE: The Pacers’ “Well, hello there, Myles Turner” meat-grinder.

BEN ROHRBACH: The perfect blend of chaos up top (NBA-best 7.4 points off turnovers per game) and condensed in the back (43.2 opponents’ field goal percentage). They’re basically a reverse mullet.

Stephen Curry–Klay Thompson–Harrison Barnes–Draymond Green–Andrew Bogut, Golden State Warriors

KELLY DWYER: Hard to leave the small lineup off the list, but Bogut’s angry arches deserve some recognition.

ERIC FREEMAN: Not as good as last season but still elite when locked in.

BEN ROHRBACH: They’re the Warriors, and 72 wins need no explanation.

Jeff Teague–Kent Bazemore–Kyle Korver–Paul Millsap–Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks

KELLY DWYER: Ten arms to hold you.

Mike Conley–Courtney Lee–Tony Allen–Zach Randolph–Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies

DAN DEVINE: Long live Grit-and-Grind.

ERIC FREEMAN: Let us celebrate them one last time.

CUE THE AUDIENCE REACTION …

2015-16 BDL AWARDS

IN THEATERS NOW: Bench of the Year • Coach(ing Change) of the Year • Defensive Unit of the Year

COMING SOON: (Non-Lottery) Rookie of the Year • Executive (Decision) of the Year • (2nd) Most Valuable Player • Most (Random) Improved Player • Comeback Player of the Year • All-Potential Team • All-Defensive* Team • All-BDL Team

WE REALLY, REALLY LIKE YOU

First and foremost, we’d like to thank Yahoo Sports Photos and Multimedia Manager Amber Matsumoto for her tireless work on graphics. None of this would’ve been possible without her. And special thanks to Basketball Reference and NBA.com/stats for statistics, Graphiq for the stat box and, of course, Gregg Popovich for endless entertainment in his sideline interviews with Craig Sager. God bless them both.

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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach