The way it usually happens is a 7-footer’s exercise in stealth. Nuggets center Marcus Camby rarely gets the challenge straight up, so he roams.
And players swooping in for layups, turning in for jumpers and slashing for floaters all get rejected.
Repeatedly.
“He’s my lifeline,” Nuggets guard Steve Blake said. “He’s the best guy I’ve played with that has your back on defense.”
On this Nuggets team, Camby is everyone’s lifeline. He is the last line of defense on a team that so often has needed it. He leads the NBA in blocked shots and is among the league leaders in rebounding.
But his finish has awed observers.
In April, Camby has averaged 11.2 points, 13.7 rebounds and 4.8 blocked shots, making him a strong candidate for the NBA’s defensive player of the year award. During the month (nine games) he has posted five or more blocked shots four times, including at least seven in three consecutive games from April 9-13.
Since he has been in Denver, coach George Karl called Camby’s past six weeks “the most consistent period of time that he’s played well.”
“I think he should get votes (for defensive player of the year),” Karl said. “I definitely think he should get votes. If you’re talking about the last six weeks, I’d definitely say, yeah. His defense in the last four, five, six weeks has been pretty incredible.”
Voting for that, and all NBA awards, ends Thursday.
“The last two years, I’ve made all-defensive second team,” Camby said. “So one of my goals this year was to actually make the all- defensive first team. So hopefully that can happen.”
But Camby’s most surprising number: 70.
He has been valuable to the Nuggets because he has played. Despite injuries to his finger, groin, knee and back, Camby has started 70 of Denver’s 81 games. For the 11th-year pro who has been labeled an injury-prone player, that is no small feat. He has played at least 70 games only one other time in his career – 2003-04, which was his second season with the Nuggets.
That alone has made Camby reliable.
“He really does make my job easier,” Blake said. “And everybody else’s job easier.”
Camby’s season hasn’t been without its adjustments. The midseason trades altered nearly everyone’s role and his was no different.
“I think Marcus had a period of time where he was kind of searching for where his role was, where his identity was. In the last four or five weeks, he’s found it,” Karl said. “He’s dominant at the defensive end of the court. In this offense he’s going to get enough offensive touches. And he knows how valuable he is.
“We as coaches feel that third guy is the reason we win. And Nene helps us out there, Marcus helps us out there. Having three studs a night is very difficult to defeat by most teams in the NBA.”
Camby, who has three years left on his contract, never has won the NBA defensive player of the year award, but admitted that this season “it crossed my mind a little bit.”
“I don’t really see who else has been putting in the work that I’ve been putting in on the defensive end,” Camby said. “If you add up all of the things that I bring to the table – rebounding, blocking shots; for a guy my size I take charges, I’m always on the floor. I do a lot of hustle plays out there. So I think all of that embodies what I think the award really is.”
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Chris Dempsey’s top three picks for NBA defensive player of the year:
1. Camby (11.2 points, 11.7 rebounds, 3.3 blocks, 1.2 steals): NBA’s best shot blocker and ranked fifth in rebounds.
2. Bruce Bowen, Spurs (6.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, 0.3 blocks, 0.8 steals): Still hounding all opposition.
3. Shawn Marion, Suns (17.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 1.9 steals): The “Matrix” does a little of everything.
Staff writer Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
