Ron Artest: Defensive Player of the Year

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Pacers F Artest named Defensive Player of Year, suspended

April 19, 2004
NEW YORK (Ticker) - Indiana Pacers temperamental forward Ron Artest has been recognized for the two things he seems to do best - play defense and get in trouble.

Artest was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year on Monday, shortly after the league suspended him for leaving the vicinity of the bench during an altercation with the Boston Celtics on Saturday.

The 6-7 Artest was third in the NBA with 2.08 steals per game. He also shut down the men he guarded, holding them to 8.1 points per game and 42.6 percent shooting, according to the league.

Artest received 476 of 605 points, including 80 of a possible 121 first-place votes, from a panel of sportswriters and boradcasters throughout the United States and Canada.

Detroit Pistons center Ben Wallace, who won the previous two awards, was second with 325 points. Portland Trail Blazers center Theo Ratliff was third with 90 points.

Bruce Bowen of the San Antonio Spurs received four first-place votes, two more than Andrei Kirlenko of the Utah Jazz.

Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Tim Duncan of the Spurs, Clifford Robinson of the Golden State Warriors, Kenyon Martin of the New Jersey Nets, James Posey and Earl Watsn of the Memphis Grizzlies, and Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal of the Los Angeles Lakers also got votes.

Artest set career highs with 18.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists during the regular season, helping the Pacers to an NBA-best 61-21 mark. Their defense was third in the league at 85.6 points allowed per game.

Indiana won't have Artest on Tuesday night for Game Two of its Eastern Conference first-round series against the Boston Celtics.

The incident occurred early in the second quarter with Indiana in the midst of a game-breaking run as Celtics coach John Carroll inserted rookie bruiser Brandon Hunter, who baited Pacers star Jermaine O'Neal into a technical foul.

Artest was not on the floor at the time but got suspended for "leaving the immediate vicinity of the bench."

The Pacers won the series opener, 104-88.

It's just the latest in a long line of disciplinary actions taken against Artest, who has racked up suspensions for exceeding the NBA's flagrant foul points limit and breaking a camera.

I think they got it right this year. Artest is a great defensive player, and he shuts his man down nearly every night. Plus, he's not a one dimensional player like Wallace so that makes him even better.

*waits for the Big Ben fan boys to start their crying*

[Nimbletoe]

As a pistons fan...

Ben deserved it the past few years, but not this year. Artest really stepped up his game, and played defense better than anyone in the league. This doesn't take anything away from Big Ben, but the award was well deserved for Artest this year. The pacers wouldn't be much without him. Kudos to him.


But even artest won't save indiana from the pisons in the eastern conference finals

[Nimbletoe]

But as for your one dimensional argument, this is a one dimensional award. Defense. Nothing else should be taken into account, so it doesn't matter if artest is better offensively, so stop bringing it up. If this were an MVP argument, then you would be right, but it isn't, so that is a moot point.

[Jesus Malverde]

Yeah Artest is the man. I love his style of play, he's tough, agressive and never gives up. I like that he isn't afraid to mix it up.

I'm glad Bowen got some first place votes, he is really overlooked sometimes as a great defensive player. I'm sure Kobe isn't looking forward to playing the Spurs in the playoffs.

[Blu2e354]

I'm glad they gave the award to a guard and not just a pf or center because they get rebounds and blocks

[SmileyG3]

Originally posted by Blu2e354
I'm glad they gave the award to a guard and not just a pf or center because they get rebounds and blocks

Dido, but i was dissapointed to see that Bowen was only fourth especially when more than one star starts crying to the media about a defensive player playing "too close"

[grumpyolddude]

Congrat to Artest. I stated at the beginning of the season that he was the key to the Pacers fortunes. He has matured nicely and is a force to be reckoned with.

Too bad about the suspension, though. A couple of steps in the direction of a teammate in trouble, and he gets canned. If he had gone all the way to the altercation, he'd desrve the sit-down. But he stopped and turned back. That should have been recognized by the league as a BIG chunk of self-control.

RE: Ben Wallace... his personal numbers were a bit down this year, defensively, but Detroit's TEAM defense was much better all season long, and especially after the Rasheed addition. Artest had a better season, individually, than Ben. For Ben's part, he has been very gracious and congratulatory, like the true sportsman and gentleman that he has always been.

I hope the Pacers and Pistons get to play each other in the conference finals. That would be the best series of the entire playoffs!