In my opinion, one of the biggest energizers for the defense besides the charge is having somone's shot get blocked from the weak side by an opposing defender. When someone is blocked from the weak side the ball goes flying out into the stands, unlike a regular block which usually goes only a few feet. It is the equivalent of a slam dunk on offense. The ball goes soaring out into the stands and the offensive player is really shaken up as nobody likes to have thier shot rejected, especially having it sent back a couple of rows into the stands. These type of block intimidates the offensive player and they will remember that for the rest of the game. I think Kevin Garnett will lead the NBA in blocks this year. As everyone knows, the T-Wolves have completly revamped their team from last year by bringing in the likes of Cassell, Spree, and Kandi. Kandi will probably help get KG more blocks than anyone on the team. Some might see it as the direct opposite but I beg to differ. Having Kandi allows KG to play the weak side on the low block and basically have free reign when someone is posting up on Kandi. KG will get quite a few blocks coming from the weak side this year unlike last year when they had Rasho sd Kandi is big enough to go back and forth in the post with players like Duncan and Shaq. Sure he might not be able to stop them but he can push them around and make them work for their shots and push them to shoot fadeaways. Alot of players like to use the fadeaway from the post because the guy guarding them can not usually make a play on the ball. However a disadvantage to this is that this leaves you blind to the weak side defender coming across for the block and there are very few players that can shoot a fadeaway jumpshot from the post that KG can not get to coming from the weak side. This is one reason why I think that KG will get quite few more blocks this year than last year. Another reason, and the main reason is the defensive game plan that the wolves will use. In a man to man defense you defensive philosophy can either be to force your defender to the paint or force your defender baseline. Both have their pros and cons however I think that the Wolves will try to force the players to the middle because they have 2 seven footers. Allowing people to "hunt the paint" allows KG along with Kandi to have the offense come to them and there is no one in the league that can shoot a shot right in KG's face and not have it rejected. People will try to do this and fail. These are just a few reasons that I think Garnett will win the block race. He has the advantage of height, wingspan and vertical jumping ability that alot of other players just dont have. Having Kandi allows him to play weak side and get alot of blocks from this position and having people being forced to the middle also allows him to rack up a few.
i agree with you guys...a block surely can turn the game around...let's not forget the time when Deke was still in his prime doing the wag the finger everytime he blocks a shot...crowd always go wild with that... i think theo will lead the league in shotblocks....i remember one block that he made way before...one guy made a shot and theo grabbed the ball with two hands at the top of the ball's peak...when it was about to go down...man that was sick...
You can go ahead and add EJ to the best shotblocking guards list. He led all guards in steals and blocks 3 years ago and avg. around a block a game.
