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Stromile Swift is a much better shot-blocker than Fabricio Oberto.
Athletic freaks tend to shoot them into the stands, great shot blockers do just enough to basically make the block a steal.
Stromile Swift is a much better shot-blocker than Fabricio Oberto.
I think the other factor that makes a great shot-blocker is brains. A guy like Duncan knows which blocks to go for and which ones to leave alone. Because of this, he is "posterized" more often than a guy like Amare, who tries to contest everything he sees.... but in important games, it's extremely rare to see Tim sitting on the bench late in the 3rd quarter or early in the 4th with foul trouble, whereas that has been a common situation for Amare, and one of the deciding factors in the Spurs/Suns rivalry of the past half decade or so.
Last edited by Tully365; 07-28-2009 at 03:37 PM.
Those three. Mutombo was a shot blocking beast 'till his 40's when he had no athleticism left.
I'm sure he's the only one to ever be able to do that
My whole point was a good "shot blocker" and a good "defender" are two completely different things.
My point exactly......
Duncan is a much better shot blocker than LaMarcus Aldridge
neither. its height+wingspan
Hardly any effort? Yeah right. Get off the guy's nuts.
Chamberlain is also alot taller than Howard or LeBron and they probably could still do it.
I wasn't aware Aldridge was known for great athleticism.
No it wasn't. I have the quote if you'd like. You were talking about Dirk blocking shts and said that it didn't matter (presumably about how good defensively he was), because athleticism is "a lot more important" than playing good defense.
Your story constantly ing changes
Please find that, I never said athleticism was more important than defense. And please don't tell me what my point was, my point was that players who block a lot of shots aren't necessarily good defenders.
yeah, my point was the fact Dirk doesn't block a lot shots doesn't make him a bad defender, since a lot of blocks doesn't necessarily = good defense, a la Amare Stoudemire.
you sure do want everyone to think that's what you were saying.
great. Athleticism still isn't "a lot more" important than good defense (timing and position).
Intelligence not your strong suit? Reiterating the point you were trying to make before you made a colossal faux pas dumbass wtf don't you know jack ? type of error, doesn't change the fact you made the error. You even threatened this re ed poll like you were in the right.
What are you talking about, got? Get off his nuts.
you sure do want everyone to think that's what you were saying.
Yes, I said it was more important to blocking shots. I never said athleticism was more important than good defense in general which you were implying I said.
You seem to think I'm saying that blocking shots is important, my whole point is that you don't need to be able to block shots to be a good defender.
As far as being a good shot blocker, that's what I thought we were arguing about.
As far as winning basketball games goes, of course good defense is better, I never said otherwise.
Anyone who says athleticism isn't more important in blocking shots is ing re ed.
Ben Wallace, Samuel dalembert, Dwight Howard, The Birdman, Robinson, Duncan (prime), Shaq (prime)
What do they all have in common?
Me saying "Athleticism is more important than defensive fundamentals at blocking shots," somehow turned into, "Athleticism is more important than defensive fundamentals in general." Don't ask me how.
No, you're just wrong. Defensive fundamentals are required to block shots is what I have been saying this whole time. Timing and positioning are required. Jumping out of the house is not.
The problem is with your logic. It is inherently false. If used, its the same as saying Vince Carter or LeBron James are better help defenders than Timmy or Camby because they can run much faster and jump much higher. And before you say it, the size/length argument is a totally separate discussion. First off, without size and length, most if not all big guys wouldn't be in the NBA period. What makes even Dirk so special? The fact he's a knock down shooter, or the fact he's a 7 foot knock down shooter? Second, these players reaches can be more than made up for by the verticals of the aforementioned smaller players.
btw, don't forget the 'a lot' you made sure to put in there. It's half the reason I called you out.
Last edited by z0sa; 07-28-2009 at 05:10 PM.
Saying timing is more important than athleticism doesn't mean athleticism isn't required at all, and vice versa. And, there are examples of players for each side of the argument. A player like Elton Brand who doesn't have elite level athleticism, but positions well and has very long arms blocked shots at a very high rate. And, then a player like Chris Andersen, who I don't believe worries too much about positioning gets a lot of his blocks on sheer athleticism. Doesn't mean he uses no positioning or no timing, only that he relies more on his athleticism.
Athleticism is required to a certain degree, as is timing. I personally think timing is more important, but you don't forsake athleticism completely.
And, then back to my earlier post, I think size and length are more important than either timing/positioning and athleticism. That's why a guy like Shawn Bradley averaged 2.5 bpg in his career despite averaging less than 24 mpg. Even guards that block shots at a high rate for a guard, like Dwyane Wade does, have extraordinary length for their size. Most great shotblockers have 7+ foot wingspans. Then you add some athleticism and some timing, positioning, and there you go.
I'd also like to add that in terms of athleticism versus timing/positioning, sometimes that depends on what type of shot-blocker the player is. Players that block a lot of shots from behind use more athleticism than timing. Shotblockers that block shots head on with the offensive player going right at them, that takes more timing and positioning.
You can be completely out of position on your own man and still get a block. Off ball and backside blocks often happen as a result of poor footwork initially.
That's Amare.
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