It was announced on Thursday afternoon that junior point guard Zavier Simpson had been named one of 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award.
In fact, he was the only player from the Big Ten to make the list, with the other nine being Duke's Tre Jones and Zion Williamson, Gonzaga's Brandon Clarke, Kansas State's Barry Brown, Kentucky's Ashton Hagans, Tennessee's Grant Williams, Texas Tech's Tariq Owens, Virginia's DeAndre Hunter and Washington's Matisse Thybulle.
Simpson has gained a reputation for being a defensive stalwart during his three years at Michigan, and the statistics back that sentiment up in a big way.
The chart below examines the 15 players the Ohio native has primarily guarded in each of Michigan's 15 league games so far this season, and the extent to which he stifled each of them.
Simpson has held 14 of the 15 players on the list above below their season averages, with Indiana junior guard Devonte Green being the lone exception (he scored nine on Simpson, but is only averaging 7.7).
Eleven of the 15 were limited to nine points or fewer, with Purdue junior Carsen Edwards being the only one who scored more than 13 (and it took him 21 shots to do it).
SImpson has also limited eight of the guards on the chart above to a 33.3 shooting percentage or worse, including a 1-of-9 showing from Rutgers sophomore Geo Baker (11.1%) and a 2-of-12 effort from Indiana freshman Robert Phinisee (16.6%).
In fact, only one Big Ten guard this year has shot better than 50 percent against Simpson, — Ohio State senior C.J. Jackson, who went 4-of-6 (66.6%) — despite the fact that every player on the list above took at least six shots against the junior.
---
• Talk about this article inside The Fort
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @BSB_Wolverine, @JB_ Wolverine, @AustinFox42, @Balas_Wolverine, @DrewCHallett and @Qb9Adam.
• Like us on Facebook
