The Molten BBL Defensive Team of the Year features the league’s top stoppers as voted on by BBL coaches and captains, including the Great Britain international paint guard and one of the country’s all-time defensive greats appearing for the third consecutive year.
Jamil Anderson – Cheshire Phoenix
A mainstay of the Molten BBL Defensive Team of the Year, Great Britain’s Jamal Anderson is making his fourth career appearance – and third season in a row – putting him third with Zaire Taylor in career appearances. He finished fourth in the league in steals with 1.9 per game and also set career highs with 3.5 defensive rebounds and 14 total blocks on the season. Anderson has guarded all five ground positions for the Nix this year, most notably facing top opponents in the final month due to injury troubles among the Cheshire ranks as the team went the furthest in the BBL play-offs since 2016.
Larry Austin Jr – Cheshire Phoenix
Compensating keeper Larry Austin Jr. makes the Molten BBL Defensive Team of the Year for the second consecutive season, after setting the tone as Cheshire’s defense captain throughout the season as they achieved their highest finish in the BBL Championship since 2015. He has led the league in steals by long with 2.6 per game and is among Best in the league at turning his solid defense into an instant attack, culminating in seven steals on 25 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds against Surrey. Scorchers in April.
Prince Anwas – Caledonian Gladiators
Experienced forward Prince Onouas was a do-it-all player for the Caledonia Gladiators all season as they finished fourth in the BBL Championship and won the BBL Cup, finishing second on the team in total minutes played. Onwas averaged 4.0 defensive rebounds and a team high 1.3 steals per game and consistently proved difficult to score opponents as he regularly took on the harder defensive duties for his team, while running big at both ends on BBL Cup final day at the Emirates Arena.
Anthony Roberson – Manchester Giants
Manchester Giants defensive backbone Anthony Roberson joined in the summer after three campaigns for the NBA’s Oklahoma City Blues and brought with him a fearsome defensive reputation. Tough from both ends of the floor, he was third in the BBL for blocks with 1.5 per game, including several highlight chases and two saves of four per game in two wins over Sheffield which eventually secured the tie between the two teams and thus sixth place for the Giants. He was also the fourth leading player in the BBL with 7.5 per outing, while defense runs in the family as brother Andre is a former NBA All-Defensive Second Team player and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year.
Josh Sharma – London Lions
British big man Josh Sharma is the paint guard on the league’s best defensive team and was a near-consensus selection for the Molten BBL Defensive Team of the Year. In his first campaign on these shores, the former Utah Jazz NBA Summer League representative was second in the league in blocked shots with 1.9 per game in under 20 minutes of action, with a season-high six blocks with 28 points and eight boards against. Manchester Giants in December. Sharma previously led Stanford and was eighth in the Pac-12 in blocked shots during his stellar collegiate career.
The full record of votes can be found below:
Bristol Flyers coach vote | Larry Austin Jr | Jamal Anderson | Princeton Onwas | Gabriel Adekoya | Josh Sharma |
Vote for Bristol Flyers captain | Larry Austin Jr | Jamal Anderson | Princeton Onwas | Justin Gordon | Josh Sharma |
Caledonian Gladiators coach vote | Jamal Anderson | Josh Sharma | Anthony Roberson | Larry Austin Jr | Zack Jackson |
Caledonian Gladiators Voice Captain | Josh Sharma | Jordan Taylor | Anthony Roberson | Jamal Anderson | Larry Austin Jr |
Vote for Coach Cheshire Phoenix | I am today | Mike Miller | Princeton Onwas | Anthony Roberson | Josh Sharma |
Vote Cheshire Phoenix captain | Mike Miller | I am today | Anthony Roberson | Josh Ward Hubbert | Josh Sharma |
Leicester Raiders coach vote | Larry Austin Jr | Jamal Anderson | Mike Miller | Josh Sharma | Anthony Roberson |
Leicester Raiders captain vote | Larry Austin Jr | Josh Sharma | Jamal Anderson | Taj Green | Aaron Best |
London lions coach vote | Deverell Ramsey | Larry Austin Jr | Kimball McKenzie | Jamal Anderson | William Lee |
Vote captain black london | good french | Jamal Anderson | Mike Miller | William Lee | Princeton Onwas |
Manchester Giants coach vote | Larry Austin Jr | Jamal Anderson | Costa Koufos | Princeton Onwas | Josh Sharma |
Manchester Giants captain vote | Darius Defoe | Larry Austin Jr | Mike Miller | Josh Sharma | Sam Decker |
Newcastle eagles coach vote | Josh Sharma | Thomas Bell III | Jamal Anderson | Larry Austin Jr | Malcolm Delpechy |
Newcastle eagles captain vote | Aaron Best | Jordan Taylor | Josh Sharma | Mark Loving | Jamal Anderson |
Plymouth Patriots coach vote | Josh Sharma | Anthony Roberson | Taj Green | Larry Austin Jr | Jamal Anderson |
Plymouth City Patriots captain vote | Jamal Anderson | Josh Sharma | Larry Austin Jr | Kipper Nichols | Anthony Roberson |
Sheffield sharks coach vote | Larry Austin Jr | Jamal Anderson | William Lee | Sam Decker | Josh Sharma |
Sheffield sharks captain voice | Larry Austin Jr | Jamal Anderson | Josh Sharma | Sam Decker | Malcolm Delpechy |
Surrey Scorers coach vote | Larry Austin Jr | Jordan Taylor | For Soluade | Jamal Anderson | good french |
The voice of Captain Surrey Scorchers | Taj Green | Larry Austin Jr | Jamal Anderson | William Lee | Josh Sharma |