Rivers is backing Jordan to claim honours this year…
Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers has insisted that an “investigation” will be needed if center DeAndre Jordan doesn’t win the Defensive Player of the Year award this season.
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Jordan leads the NBA in defensive rebounds per game with an average of 9.7 each contest, while he ranks fifth in blocks per game at 2.3.
While the general consensus is that the 26-year-old does a great job protecting the rim and is a huge defensive presence, he does have flaws in his game which could prevent him from winning the award.
Opponents shoot 49.2 percent at the rim when he is on the court protecting it and the Clippers in fact allow fewer points per possession when he sits.
The likes of Anthony Davis, Serge Ibaka, Hassan Whiteside and Rudy Gobert are all involved in the conversation given that their numbers put them up with Jordan for the award, but it remains to be seen whether or not any of them can do enough to deny him winning it.
“He’s clearly the defensive player of the year,” Rivers said Sunday according to ESPN.
“If anybody else gets that award, we need to have an investigation. … What he’s doing defensively, if he was doing that offensively, he would be recognized as the MVP or one of them, but because it’s defense, no one notices.”
This isn’t the first time this season that Rivers has jumped to his player’s defence as he slammed the decision to snub him for the All-Star game this year.
Particularly with Blake Griffin sidelined for the past fortnight, Jordan has done enough to certainly be considered in the running for DPOY. However, he faces stiff competition and it would not be a huge shock if he doesn’t win.
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