Edy Tavares responds to Sloukas' words about Walkup deserving DPOY more / News - Basketnews.com

Edy Tavares replied that the stats don't lie and show him to be the best defender in the tournament after Sloukas argued that Walkup deserved the award for troubling his opponents despite lacking the size that Tavares has.

Credit: Pedja Milosavljevic/SIPA - Scanpix; Olympiacos BC Credit Pedja Milosavljevic/SIPA - Scanpix; Olympiacos BC

Real Madrid's center Edy Tavares was announced as the EuroLeague Best Defender on Saturday. After the trophy winner was revealed, Olympiacos Piraeus star guard Kostas Sloukas was not happy with the selection.

Kostas Sloukas

Team:Olympiacos PiraeusPosition:PGAge:33Height:190 cmWeight:95 kgBirth place:Thessaloniki, GreeceProfileNewsStatistics

Sloukas took to Twitter to voice his opinion about the outcome of the voting.

"With respect to EuroLeague & a great player who has dominated ELB for years Walter Tavares, in my humble opinion, Thomas Walkup deserved DPOY this season. Despite lacking size like Walter, he troubled every opponent, contributed immensely, and helped our team clinch 1st place," the star guard wrote.

Many believed Sloukas's teammate Thomas Walkup should've snatched the trophy this season after an impressive campaign, leading the league in steals. However, the EuroLeague coaches voted Tavares to be the winner.

"He deserves it too but the numbers don't lie," Tavares replied to Sloukas.

In fact, Tavares broke the EuroLeague single-season blocks record during the regular season. During the 2022-23 regular season, Tavares blocked 77 shots to become the first EuroLeague player to surpass 70 in the entire year. Tavares' average of 2.3 blocks per game during the regular season was the third highest in EuroLeague history.

Tavares was named the Best Defender for the third time in his EuroLeague career, tying his career mark with Kyle Hines (3) and trailing only Dimitris Diamantidis, who has six such trophies.

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