Every business day from now until opening night against Kentucky, we will be posting a staff picks article for a number of topics surrounding Michigan State Men’s Basketball’s 2019-20 season. Each writer on our three-person staff will make their selection along with a short blurb explaining their pick. Here are our picks for the Defensive Player Of The Year.
You can read our other picks here:
Click here to read our picks for Offensive Player of the Year
Click here to read our picks for X-Factor
Click here to read our picks for Most Improved Player
Click here to read our picks for newcomer of the year
Staff Picks
Andrew Brewster: Xavier Tillman
Depending on what you value on defense, you could possibly make an argument for Aaron Henry here, but my answer is Xavier Tillman. At the center position, he will be anchoring the defense and providing rim protection for the #1 preseason team in the country. He’s a much more mobile big man than someone like a Nick Ward which makes him a force guarding the pick-and-roll. Tillman was the best defender on the team last year and I expect that to continue this season.
Wil Hunter: Xavier Tillman
Some love certainly needs to be given to Aaron Henry here and he is absolutely a candidate for first team All-defense in the Big Ten. However, the pick here has to be Tillman.
We saw consistent stretches of excellent defense from Tillman at the end of last season and he’s gotten stronger and more athletic this year. Seriously, he looks like he’s chiseled out of stone. Tillman is switchable anywhere on the court. He can bang bodies with bigs and is fleet of foot enough to hang on the perimeter. He’s a true weapon on the back end and has shown great shot-blocking instincts.
Also, and this might be the most important thing, he’s got a great defensive mind. He is so smart. Tom Izzo compared his defensive thinking to Draymond Green’s. Think about that. Izzo doesn’t just toss around crap like this without reason. We’ve seen plenty of evidence of this, especially in the NCAA tournament. Tillman single-handedly flipped the Duke game with some huge defensive plays. If he puts it all together we could be looking at a more athletic version of Draymond on defense. That. Is. Scary.
Lawson Robinson: Rocket Watts
Why? Because he’s a dog, a Spartan Dawg to be exact. Izzo himself said Watts shows shades of Gary Harris. People forget how good of a defender Garry Harris is in the NBA and how good he was in college as well. I think Watts plays a huge role in Michigan State’s season. So watch for him to lock up opposing team’s guards out on the perimeter. All the while, he will bring some defensive toughness to the floor.
