Garnett is League's MVD

4/7/2008

Garnett is League's MVD

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The deadline for media voting on NBA awards is April 17, and those banking on a second MVP honor for the Celtics' Kevin Garnett will likely be disappointed.



But as Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and maybe even Paul Pierce fragment the process, Garnett should have another calling.

He has transformed the Celtics into the league's best defensive team. He's not only responsible for the greatest turnaround in league history but one of the NBA's most remarkable defensive turnarounds, as well.

It's inconceivable that Garnett has never won the league's Defensive Player of the Year award, but that drought deserves to end this year.

Regardless of Shaquille O'Neal's recent snippy remark about Garnett not playing defense - an apparent reference, we think, to Garnett's preference to play off his man - no one has had a greater impact this season on shutting down the other team.

Try to think of the last time the Celtics were noticeably beat off the pick-and-roll.

Think of the Hornets' Paul and the Suns' Steve Nash - two of the best at cutting apart a set defense who ran into a wall of denial while trying to find cutters off picks in their last games against the Celtics.

Think of Kendrick Perkins' development as an enforcer now that he has a great player at his back.

Think of a team that leads the league in both scoring and field goal defense after wallowing in the bottom five of both categories last year.

Think of the Celtics' win Saturday at Charlotte, without Garnett, Pierce or Ray Allen on the floor. The team has grown so accustomed to Garnett's communication and direction, shutting down the Hornets - who shot just 42 percent from the field - was like second nature.

Roughly a month into the season, an impressed Brian Scalabrine called Garnett the greatest defender against the pick-and-roll he had ever seen.

If anything, Scalabrine is even more resolute on the subject now.

Defensive player of the year?

Scalabrine, enjoying a postgame southern meal of fried fish, cornbread and greens Saturday night, excitedly put down his plate to make the case for Garnett.

``No question,'' he said. ``No one else should be getting any votes for that award. He anchors our defense. If he doesn't win that, then it would have to be the craziest vote that there is.''

For Scalabrine, it goes back to the pick-and-roll argument.

``There can be 90 pick-and-rolls run against you in a game, and not a lot of those are going to work against us,'' he said. ``He's so quick that he can hedge out on a shooter and still get back quickly enough to cover every time.

``I might be biased. But I'm not saying this from a biased standpoint.''

P.J. Brown, who developed his defensive chops under coach Pat Riley in the mid-1990s with Miami, should also be considered an authority on the art of defense - and interior defense in particular.

``I've been in this league for 15 years and (have) never seen a team make the total jump that this one has,'' he said. ``This team is as good defensively as any I've seen.''

The reason is ironclad, according to Brown.

``I would think that (Garnett) is the best defensive player in the league - he'd get my vote,'' he said. ``He sets the tone, along with Perk, and that filters out to our guards. Everyone on this team is on the same page.

``The MVP award is something that goes to the wire, and there are a few guys who can get that. But defensively? There's no one who has his kind of impact.''

Surely, the voters realize that much.