Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner won the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award on Sunday afternoon, beating out Tennessee guards Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack as well as Houston forward Joseph Tugler for the nation’s top individual defensive award.
Kalkbrenner won the award after blocking a nation’s third best 93 blocks on a Creighton team that finished 44th in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency and lost to Auburn in the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.
Both Zeigler and Mashack had incredibly strong cases to win the award. Zeigler became just the third ever SEC player to win SEC Defensive Player of the Year twice after totaling 70 steals. The “head of the snake” for a Tennessee team that finished third nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, Zeigler made life challenging for opposing guards for 94-feet every game.
“He’s the two-time Defensive Player of the Year in the best conference in basketball,” Tennessee walk-on guard Grant Hurst said of Zeigler. “He’s 5-foot-9 and you fear him more than anyone else on the court. He’s got a heart that outweighs everything about him in size and stature.”
While Zeigler had a strong case to win the award, it feels like Mashack is the true snub for Tennessee. The 6-foot-4 guard talked openly about his desire to win the award and was the Field of 68’s Defensive Player of the Year award winner.
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Mashack blocked 20 shots and totaled 64 steals, ranking 72nd nationally in steal rate. But the physical guard’s greatest strength on the defensive end isn’t found in the stats.
“Just watch me on the court, you see how I play. I honestly don’t think there is a case,” Mashack said. “I think I got it. Don’t tell Zakai that though. You watch how I play. Players don’t score more than 10 points, something like that, they shoot lower than their field goal percentage all the time they play against me. It’s for a reason. I’m a guy that, you don’t look at steals. You don’t look at blocks. You use your eyes, you trust your eyes. You look at if they’re talking on defense. You look at all the intangible stuff. That’s what makes a player the Defensive Player of the Year, in my opinion. All the other stuff.”
Mashack defended Tennessee opponent’s top offensive guards and wings every night, routinely shutting them down. His value on the defensive side of the ball is far more valuable than just his impressive stats indicate.
The Fontana, California native’s teammates and coaches regularly talked about how sharp Mashack’s defensive mind is and his ability to understand defensive concepts and the game as a whole.
“The IQ that he has on defense,” Chaz Lanier said of Mashack. “I haven’t played with anyone like him either. I just remember when I first got here and he was breaking down defense and angles and cutting. It was things I’ve never heard before I met him. He’s so detailed oriented on defense. I’ve never seen anything like that. He’s a defensive mastermind.”
“He held the coaches accountable too, your game plan better be on point because Shack is watching film too and he’s studying and asking questions on why you’re doing this and not doing that,” Tennessee associate head coach Justin Gainey said. “His defensive thoughts. His willingness to defend will be something we talk about for a long time.”
Zeigler and Mashack led Tennessee to a 30-8 season and the Vols’ second straight trip to the Elite Eight, coming up a game short of the program’s first Final Four in their senior seasons.
One Response
Our boys got ignored. Defense is not just blocking shots! Vol fans know who should have won the defensive player of the year!