Tag: defensive player of the year

Can Kristaps Porzingis win Defensive Player of the Year with the Boston Celtics?

A Defensive Player of the Year nod for Porzingis is not out of the question.

In the Boston Celtics‘ season opener, the Celtics faced off against the New York Knicks, and it was a thrilling game with a final score of 108-104 in favor of Boston. The game saw the Celtics dominating in the first quarter but then witnessed the Knicks clawing their way back into the match with a barrage of 3-pointers and offensive rebounds.

However, the Celtics managed to secure the win, thanks to outstanding performances by Jayson Tatum and Kristaps Porzingis in particular, who broke both team and league records in his debut for Boston. And while his offensive contributions got the lion’s share of the attention, his defensive play had some league analysts suggesting a Defensive Player of the Year nod for Porzingis is not out of the question.

The hosts of the CLNS Media “How Bout Them Celtics!” podcast debated the likelihood of such hardware ending up in KO’s hands on a recent episode.

Check it out in the clip embedded above.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Kay Adams has a bold prediction for Chase Young’s 2023 season

What would be a successful season for Chase Young in 2023?

Kay Adams was in Ashburn for Washington Commanders’ training camp on Wednesday. The host of “Up and Adams” on FanDuel TV interviewed several Commanders, including Antonio Gibson, Jahan Dotson, Ron Rivera, Sam Howell and Chase Young.

Throughout the episode, Adams let it be known she sees a huge bounceback season for Young. Adams, on more than one occasion, called Young the 2023 NFL defensive player of the year.

As for Young, he smiled and laughed off the prediction.

“That’s funny,” Young said with a smile when Adams introduced him as the 2023 NFL DPOY. “I ain’t going to say nothing.”

Adams’ prediction is a bold one, but it’s not entirely out of left field. After all, Young was the NFL defensive rookie of the year in 2020. However, in the two seasons since, he has only nine sacks. Unfortunately, Young suffered a severe knee injury in Week 10 of the 2021 NFL season and didn’t return until Week 16 of the 2022 season.

Young’s injury and lack of production led the Commanders to decline Young’s fifth-year option for 2024, which would have guaranteed him over $17 million.

Young has the right attitude. He’s happy to be back with his teammates, mingling with Washington fans and enjoying the team’s new ownership. Regardless of whether Young wins an award or not, a healthy season with eight sacks or more should be considered a success.

Chiefs DT Chris Jones sets lofty goal for 2023 NFL season

#Chiefs DT Chris Jones is aiming to win the NFL’s highest honor for a defensive player in 2023.

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Kansas City Chiefs DT Chris Jones has a lofty personal goal for the 2023 NFL season.

Jones announced on Twitter on Wednesday that he intends to with the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2023. The eight-year NFL veteran has managed some dominant seasons, including last year’s 15.5-sack campaign. It was the second time he’d reached 15 or more sacks in his career. The truth is that Jones has rarely been considered a contender for the Defensive Player of the Year Award.

The last interior defensive lineman to win the award was Rams DT Aaron Donald in 2020. It was Donald’s third career DPOY award and he won it with just 13.5 sacks on the year.

Despite having some dominant defenders throughout franchise history, the Chiefs have never had a Defensive Player of the Year winner. That dates back to the inception of the award back in 1971.

Jones has a penchant for making accurate predictions, successfully calling his shot for the team’s win in Super Bowl LVII and many times beforehand. Should he win Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2023, it might be safe to call him a clairvoyant.

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Grace Lyons named Defensive Player of the Year by Softball America

Oklahoma Sooners shortstop Grace Lyons named Softball America’s Defensive Player of the Year.

The Oklahoma Sooners have had the luxury of the two best defensive players in the game on the field at the same time over the last three seasons. [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag] and [autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag] were incredible for the Sooners again in 2023.

Coleman was named D1Softball’s Defensive Player of the Year, and now it’s Lyons’ turn to earn an award. The Sooners’ captain and shortstop was named Defensive Player of the Year by Softball America for her efforts in 2023.

Lyons, who had a stellar career at shortstop for the Sooners, posted a career-best .978 fielding percentage in 2023. She had just three errors in 134 chances during her final season of college softball.

Oklahoma’s captain, who was a five-year starter at shortstop for the Sooners, won the Rawlings Gold Glove award at her position this spring. She is Oklahoma’s first Gold Glove recipient in the two-year history of the award. – Softball America

The Sooners had the best pitching staff in the game in 2023, marked by their NCAA-low ERA of 0.96. Jordy Bahl, Nicole May, Alex Storako, and Kierston Deal were fantastic in their own right, and a big reason for their success was the play of their defense behind them.

The Sooners had the best fielding percentage in the country, with Lyons and Coleman leading the way.

Heading into the offseason with their third straight national championship, the Sooners have a big hole to fill at shortstop with the graduation of Grace Lyons. She’s been a game-changing presence at short for the Sooners during her five-year tenure. Her leadership, ability at the plate, and defensive prowess will be truly missed when Oklahoma opens the 2024 season.

Jayda Coleman named D1Softball’s Defensive Player of the Year

After another tremendous season patrolling centerfield, Oklahoma’s Jayda Coleman was named D1Softball’s Defensive Player of the Year.

The Oklahoma Sooners have had arguably the two best defensive players in college softball for the last several years: [autotag]Grace Lyons[/autotag], the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, and [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag], the Big 12 Player of the Year.

In Oklahoma’s national championship run, it was Coleman who stole the show with her incredible athleticism and playmaking ability that made her the ace up the pitching staff’s sleeves. What she’s able to do patrolling center field for the Sooners has been a cheat code. A home run hit to center isn’t a home run unless it’s hit 20 feet beyond the wall. There’s no sneaking it over the fence in center because Jayda Coleman will not let you.

After another incredible season, Jayda Coleman earned D1Softball’s Defensive Player of the Year award for 2023.

Coleman finished the season with a perfect fielding percentage and three assists. She showed how much she can impact a contest in the championship series, and unfortunately for Florida State’s Kalei Harding. In Game 1, Coleman erased one of the FSU’s two hits by throwing a strike to second base to prevent a double from Harding. The next day, Coleman kept Game 2 scoreless by robbing a would-be three-run homer off the bat of Harding. – D1Softball

There’s a case to be made that Coleman is the best player in softball. Though several players have strong arguments, Coleman’s ability to regularly take runs off the board is an X-factor that few teams can match. Her range and ability to go up over the center field wall reminds of the former Seattle Mariners legend Ken Griffey Jr. Griffey made a habit of robbing home run balls and in turn, snatching momentum.

Coleman does the same.

In both games of the WCWS championship series against Florida State, Coleman made momentum-stealing plays to keep the Seminoles’ offense at bay.

She’s simply the best there is, and we get to witness her greatness again in 2024.

 

On this day: Kevin Garnett presented with Defensive Player of the Year award; John Bagley born

On this day in Celtics history, Boston guard John Bagley was born, and KG was presented with his 2008 Defensive Player of the Year award.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, former Celtics point guard John Bagley was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1960. Bagley would play his college ball at Boston College before being drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1982 NBA draft with the 12th overall pick and would play with that franchise and the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets before being traded to the Celtics in 1989.

Bags would play for the Celtics for three seasons between 1989 and 1992 but missed the 1990-91 season entirely due to a knee injury and subsequent surgery. He would average 5.7 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 5.8 assists in that stretch with the team.

Bagley would sign a deal with the Atlanta Hawks in November of 1993, his last stop in the league before retiring.

Did the Boston Celtics get snubbed in the Defensive Player of the Year award voting?

With the No. 2 defense, last season’s winner and one of the best shot-blocking and charge-taking guards on their roster, shouldn’t Boston have gotten ONE vote, at least?

The Boston Celtics finished the 2022-23 regular season with the second-best defense in the NBA. They had the league’s 2022 Defensive Player of the Year playing point guard (Marcus Smart) and one of the Association’s best guards at blocking shots and taking charges (Derrick White) on the court regularly.

Yet, they somehow did not have a single player on the roster get even one vote for this season’s defensive player award.

Mind you, we are not suggesting that this season’s winner, Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies, is underserving or anything even vaguely close to that. But one would think it hard to be the Celtics with all the above-mentioned going on without someone casting a vote for a Boston player.

To try and get to the bottom of why this might have come to pass, the hosts of the CLNS Media “Garden Report” podcast recently debated the issue on an episode of the pod.

Take a look at the clip embedded above to hear why they think it happened.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Jaren Jackson Jr. ranked No. 2 in latest NBA Defensive Player of the Year ladder

Jaren Jackson Jr. ranked No. 2 in latest NBA Defensive Player of the Year ladder

The NBA and writer Steve Aschburner released their latest Defensive Player of the Year rankings this week, and once again, former Spartan and current Memphis Grizzlies All-Star Jaren Jackson Jr. is near the top, this time coming in at No. 2 behind Brook Lopez.

Here is what Aschburner had to say about JJJ:

‘If the Ladder had a penalty box, Jackson would be in it. His strengths have turned into weaknesses, his aggressiveness costing him and his team via fouls and the big man’s time on the proverbial pine. His line Sunday at Boston — fouling out in just 20:34 — undercut his plus-7 value in a game the Grizzlies lost by 10. Being overly aggressive can rack up flashy blocks and contests, but being reckless can send opponents to the line for easy points, put them in the bonus early and deprive your own team at both ends (no DPOY winner ever has averaged as few as Jackson’s 27.1 minutes).’

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Andrew Brewster on Twitter @IAmBrewster.

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Cowboys’ Micah Parsons finishes second in DPOY vote but with a surprise

Parsons had the second-best vote total in terms of points, but he didn’t get a single first-place vote. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The NFL Honors broadcast had a heavy Cowboys presence right off the bat. Host Kelly Clarkson took the stage in a dress that paid tribute to America’s Team, her opening monologue was peppered with one-liners joking about her lifelong fandom of the team, and then Micah Parsons served as a presenter for the first award of the evening.

Some naturally wondered if it was a setup for the theme to continue with the second piece of hardware handed out. But when the Defensive Player of the Year was announced- just as in the 2022 season- the Cowboys finished as an also-ran.

San Francisco edge rusher Nick Bosa was named the Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year. Parsons watched from his seat as the 49ers star accepted the accolade.

The voting totals show that Parsons finished second overall. But he did so without receiving a single first-place vote.

This year for the first time, the 50 AP voters were asked to cast ballots for their first-, second-, and third-place nominees.

Parsons received 30 second-place votes and 11 third-place votes, good enough to make him one of the the finalists for the award, but never a real threat to take the trophy from the frontrunner Bosa, who got 46 of the 50 first-place votes.

Finalist and third-place finisher Chris Jones of Kansas City and the Jets’ Quinnen Williams each received a first-place vote; Philadelphia’s Haason Reddick earned two.

It’s not difficult to imagine the uber-competitive Parsons adding the lack of first-place votes to his motivational toolbag for the 2023 season.

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49ers DE Nick Bosa earns NFL Defensive Player of the Year

Nick Bosa captured the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award

The San Francisco 49ers’ Nick Bosa is the NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

The defensive end topped Chris Jones of the Chiefs and Micah Parsons of the Cowboys.

The award was announced Thursday in Phoenix at NFL Honors.

Bosa led the league with 18.5 sacks. He played in 16 games. He also had 51 tackles and 48 quarterback hits for the rugged San Francisco defense.