'All-defence absolutely,' Raptors back NBA steals champion O.G. Anunoby for defensive honours

O.G. Anunoby became the first Raptor ever to lead the NBA in steals per game, Fred VanVleet tied for second and Gary Trent Jr. tied for fourth. For good measure, Anunoby joined Marcus Camby as the only Raptors to ever lead the league in a major statistical category .

If Anunoby doesn’t make the all-defensive first team and get votes for defensive player of the year, the voters have gotten it horribly wrong. On any given night, Anunoby will guard a centre, a point guard, or anything in between, all at an elite level. “He really had some tough defensive assignments night after night after night,” Nurse said of Anunoby.Article content

“The steals thing is kind of a unique thing for him. He can really dart into a passing lane at any moment and he’s such a big body and player to do that. Usually those guys are smaller, quicker guys that are just in the mix for that stuff, so that’s unique. But as we have talked about many times, he really has guarded literally every position and had some nights where he’s given some really, really good players a tough time out there,” Nurse said, before going to bat for his player.

“I mean, I hope he gets recognized for that. I can’t see who else does what he does defensively and positionally in the league and does such a good job of that.”“Defensive Player of the Year. All-Defence. Absolutely,” Achiuwa said when asked about Anunoby.Share this article in your social network

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