Draymond Green, Andrew Bogut Earn NBA All-Defense Honors
Draymond Green may have lost out on winning the Defense Player of the Year award, but he’ll be satisfied in knowing that he and Andrew Bogut are the two players representing the Golden State Warriors as part of the NBA’s All-Defensive teams.
Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Voters for the All-Defensive teams were told to select two guards, two forwards and one center for each All-Defensive team. Players selected were awarded two points for each First Team vote, with each Second Team vote being counted as just one point. The amount of accumulated points would determine the winners.
Green, who came up second in Defensive Player of the Year voting despite receiving more first place votes than the winner, Kawhi Leonard, earned All-Defensive First Team honors on Wednesday. He earned 107 first place votes and 15 second place votes, which translates to 229 total points.
Anyone who has watched Green this season knows how important Green was to Golden State’s defense, placing fourth among regular season players in defensive rating (96.0) and second in defensive win shares (5.2). His ability to force bad shots while playing nearly every position on the court is uncanny, which has put him in consideration for a max contract deal following this postseason run.
Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Bogut, who earns a $1.9 million contract bonus for being included on any of the All-Defensive teams, earned All-Defensive Second Team honors on Wednesday. He received 33 first place votes and 36 second place votes, equalling 102 total points.
Bogut has long been the defensive anchor for the Warriors, calling out defensive instructions on the floor while saving a league-high 3.08 points per game. He also contested 55.9 percent of shots at the rim during the regular season and held opponents to just 36.3 percent shooting at the rim.
The Warriors were the best defensive team in the NBA this past season, holding opponents to a league-high 42.8 percent shooting and finishing fifth in defensive rating (99.5). They also posted the highest rating in defensive efficiency (98.2), in addition to causing the fifth highest amount of turnovers per game (16.2).
Klay Thompson didn’t earn All-Defensive Team honors, but he did receive three first place votes and 13 second place votes. Stephen Curry had two first place votes and 10 second place votes, while Andre Iguodala had eight second place votes.
Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
News broke of Green and Bogut earning All-Defensive team honors following the team’s Tuesday night win over the Houston Rockets. Now in the Western Conference Finals, the Warriors were able to come away with a 110-106 win to go 1-0 in the series.
Green leads the Warriors in defensive rating with an incredible 94.5 points allowed per 100 possessions. Behind him in defensive rating is Curry (94.8), then Bogut (96.8).
In the playoffs, the Warriors have ranked fifth in defensive rating (99.5) and fifth in opponent’s field goal percentage (43.2%). Golden State is also third in opponent’s points per game (95.3) and first in opponent’s three-point percentage (30.2%).
Golden State will have a chance to go 2-0 in their Western Conference Finals series with the Rockets on Thursday at Oracle Arena.
All stats were provided by NBAStats.com and accurate as of 3:00 PDT on May 20, 2015 (unless linked elsewhere).