Draymond Green is out to prove that he’s the NBA’s top defensive player.
The All-Star forward says he has been “incredible” on that side of the ball this season.
After two second-place finishes, Draymond Green wants the Defensive Player of the Year award. @WojVerticalNBA Pod: https://t.co/fTO8GoyrL8 pic.twitter.com/ABNKomeFS7
— The Vertical (@TheVertical) November 21, 2016
Green has finished second to Kawhi Leonard for the DPOY award the last two years.
Per CSN Bay Area:
“That’s definitely something that I want to win, extremely serious about trying to win that award,” Draymond told The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Sunday. “It’s something you can look at and it can go one of two ways. Number one — I don’t think our defensive numbers will ever be extremely high or something off the wall because this team plays so fast … it’s dangerous for transition defense so it makes it tough.
“When you look at our defense, that’s where we get hit at the most is in transition. When we get our set defense we’re pretty good. So I look at the numbers and I think about those things, and then I also think about how this is a completely different type of defense — it’ll take a little time for all that to come together…
“I think I’ve been incredible defensively this year. It’s one of the things that I really locked in on; I focused in on. I’m so locked in on that end of the basketball (court) right now. It’s fun. And I think part of the reason I’m so locked in on it is because of everybody talking about what we can’t do on that end and how we’ll struglee on that end — just all the doubt on that end from everyone — it just has me at another place mentally.”
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