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4 OKC Thunder players receive votes for NBA All-Defensive Teams

By Tamberlyn Richardson

SACRAMENTO, CA - NOVEMBER 7: Paul George #13 and Andre Roberson #21 of the Oklahoma City Thunder high five during the game against the Sacramento Kings on November 7, 2017 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA - NOVEMBER 7: Paul George #13 and Andre Roberson #21 of the Oklahoma City Thunder high five during the game against the Sacramento Kings on November 7, 2017 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The NBA announced their two All-Defensive teams Tuesday with four OKC Thunder players receiving votes, but missing the cut.

As the Association continues to roll out the hardware the most recent announcement honors the top defensive players league-wide. Four OKC Thunder players received votes. Paul George fell just shy of making the second team. Andre Roberson received votes despite his injury.

Russell Westbrook nabbed votes no doubt due to his penchant for theft and rebounding. And, Steven Adams garnered votes as a rim protector.

Players were awarded two points for every first team vote and a single point for second team votes. Then the accounting firm adds up the votes to determine the top performers and create the first and second All-Defensive Teams.

The following ten players make up the two teams. Following each honorees name is a bracket containing first place votes, second place votes and their point total. Based on the voting and placement it could be a sign Rudy Gobert will be honored in June as Defensive Player of the Year.

First Team All-Defensive Honorees:

  • Jrue Holiday, New Orleans Pelicans – point guard (39/27: 105 points).
  • Victor Oladipo, Indiana Pacers – shooting guard (58/20: 136 points).
  • Robert Covington, Philadelphia 76ers – small forward (27/36: 90 points).
  • Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans – power forward (73/17: 163 points).
  • Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz – center, 192 (94/2) points (94/4: 192).

Second Team All-Defensive Honorees:

  • Dejounte Murray, San Antonio Spurs- point guard (32/16: 80 points).
  • Jimmy Butler, Minnesota Timberwolves – shooting guard (20/39: 79 points).
  • Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors – forward (26/34: 86 points).
  • Al Horford, Boston Celtics – power forward (24/37: 85 points).
  • Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers – center (4/82: 90 points).

NBA.com offers statistical details on each of the above ten players defensive competence.

Paul George, Andre Roberson receive ample support:

Paul George came close to cracking the second team garnering 69 votes including 22 first team votes. Chris Paul (74 votes/20 first place votes) placed a single point ahead of George, but also missed the list.

Andre Roberson also received 17 (3 first place) votes. This is no small feat given the forward missed more than half the season after the patellar injury he suffered in his 39th game. It’s also likely his absence is the reason George didn’t crack the lists. Prior to Roberson’s injury the team and George were among the league best defenders.

Rudy Gobert also missed (26) games, as did Jimmy Butler (29). But, the 43 games Roberson was out obviously played a factor with voters.

Other players with votes:

The following list notes other players who received votes, but failed to make the cut. Numbers noted in brackets are first place votes.

Clearly some players received single votes based on local love, or being solid defenders tied to bad defensive squads.

Top Defensive Teams vs. Players making the lists:

A scan of the top ten defensive players isn’t necessarily reflective of the best defensive teams. For example the top ranked Boston Celtics landed a single player in the top ten (Horford) on the second team. Two other Celtics (Smart, Brown) received votes.

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Of the top five ranked defensive squads all but Toronto landed a player in the top ten. Four players on Utah received votes with Gobert in the first team. Two 76ers made the top ten (Covington/Embiid) with Simmons being the third player on the squad to collect votes.

Three Spurs  got votes with Murray honored on the second team and Green/Aldridge collecting votes. Toronto’s Lowry and VanVleet received votes but no Raptors made the list or came close to cracking it.

Post break defense factors:

Perhaps the surprise is two Pelicans (Davis/Holiday) making the first team despite New Orleans 13th rank this season. Still, given what the Pelicans had to deal with after losing DeMarcus Cousins and the fact the team finished in the top five defense post All-Star break offers solid rationalization for their inclusion.

Likewise strong second half showings by the Blazers and Rockets led to three players on each squad receiving votes.

Conversely, the place of Draymond Green on the second team plus Durant and Thompson missing the list likely was tied to the Dubs 14th ranked post break defense.

Oddities:

A couple of head scratching vote recipients are two players from each of the Bucks, Nuggets and Clippers. None of these teams cracked the top half of team defensive rankings pre or post break.  That said, an argument can be made for Antetokounmpo, but the Bucks overall defensive performance didn’t help the superstar.

Perception of OKC Thunder as defensively strong:

The takeaway from the voting does lend itself to a view of the OKC Thunder having defensive prowess. Only the Jazz and OKC Thunder had four players receive votes. In hindsight, it’s clear Roberson’s injury kept George and himself off the Defensive teams and potentially Westbrook or Adams.

Next: Paul George Season Review - Explaining the inconsistency

In terms of the honorees, each one has a solid case for inclusion. If Andre Roberson hadn’t been injured it would’ve been hard to keep him off one of the teams. Moving forward, let’s hope ARob can use this as motivation to make an All-Defensive team next season.

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