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I am just curious, I'm excited about the season for that prospect alone. Great shotblocking + backcourt scorers= an exciting team even if the record is boring and uninspiring. The record is 8.7 with the 1985-86 Washington Wizards, and last year's Thunder team was the only one of recent vintage that even came close to that record. It might be possible for this team to be up around 8-9 blocks per game. I don't care that it was Detroit, to have 14 blocks even when missing one of the top shotblockers on the game (Udoh) is pretty impressive to say the least. Harris, although an average shotblocker in college, looks like he might be developing in that area as well.

I would think they have the potential to be over 7 and possibly even compete with the Thunder for the league lead. Depends on who plays, though. We have four quality shotblockers in Henson, Udoh, Sanders and Dalembert. We also have a couple guys who are above average for their positions in Jennings and Tobias. We should block a lot of shots.

Last year we were right on the league average.

I don't know, but the number doesn't necessarily translate into wins. It could just mean our guards are letting a ton of people into the lanes. Will our power forward and centers also lead the league in fouling out? How many free throws and points in the paint will we give up? So yeah, a high number of one stat may be good, but it could be symptomatic of a greater problem.

drew881 wrote:I don't know, but the number doesn't necessarily translate into wins. It could just mean our guards are letting a ton of people into the lanes. Will our power forward and centers also lead the league in fouling out? How many free throws and points in the paint will we give up? So yeah, a high number of one stat may be good, but it could be symptomatic of a greater problem.

That's the other question for sure, but if Monta could just be an average defender, it wouldn't be too bad, as Jennings is already around average I would say for his position. Also, the blocks could fuel the fast break more than a rebound would depending on if it is blocked back toward halfcourt.

Sanders @ Udoh would be better defensive rebounders if they didn't try to block everything. Hopefully Henson is a bit more rounded.

I think they will definitely be top 5 and have a shot at the top spot. I'd put the over/under at 7.2 or something like that.

I would say though that great shotblocking doesn't necessarily mean great defense.

Last year, the top ten teams in blocks:

OKC: 10th in D (6th in pace)
WAS: 20th in D (9th in pace)
CHI: 2nd in D (28th in pace)
UTA: 19th in D (13th in pace)
PHO: 24th in D (8th in pace)
GSW: 27th in D (10th in pace)
BOS: 1st in D (21st in pace)
CHA: 30th in D (17th in pace)
IND: 9th in D (19th in pace)
MIA: 4th in D (15th in pace)

Dick Tate wrote:Sanders @ Udoh would be better defensive rebounders if they didn't try to block everything.

Udoh doesn't try to block everything. He just holds his box out forever, and then if the ball does come to him, he often doesn't catch it. Frankly, with his hands, we're best served with him boxing out the best rebounding big. He's great at sealing off his man. He is not great at catching the carom.

Sanders needs to be more disciplined than he's been in the past, but if he can make an interior shot difficult, I'm not going to quibble about whether or not he can secure the miss himself. We need to rebound as a team. I'd rather have Sanders trying to block every layup than Gooden in the same role rarely even contesting them. You don't get any rebounds out the bottom of the net.

I suppose it could also work as a negative if teams start changing their game plan b/c of our shotblocking ability inside to swing the ball around and only look for jumpshots, and scorch us from the outside because Monta and Udrih are poor defenders at the moment.

Id say top 5, no specific number. If we limit Gooden from playing, we could achieve this since Dally, Sanders, Udoh, Henson, and even Illy can get blocks.

What will the minutes look like for the backups? Gooden, Henson, Sanders, Udoh?

Nobody knows.

Literally nobody. Skiles hasn't spun his random rotation wheel yet.

I'm going to go the opposite way and say not that many. I think our bigs, since they aren't very good(sans henson's potential) will be getting in a lot of foul trouble thus not being able to stay on the court.

So far in the pre season we average 9. Considering Ilyasova will play more (probably?) in the regular season, our chances of averaging over 6-7 will probably hinge on how much PT Gooden gets vs our young bigs.

Whether this translates into less points in the paint for other teams or overall effective defense is another story. So far it has been up and down in the pre season but thats kind of to be expected.

Do you mean shot blocks or trade blocks by Kohl... or his 'handlers?'

It's a toss up...

I don't see Henson seeing the court much this year, and I don't trust in the Sanders and Dalembert to be able to accumulate 6-7 blocks between themselves per game.

H2tObes wrote:I don't see Henson seeing the court much this year, and I don't trust in the Sanders and Dalembert to be able to accumulate 6-7 blocks between themselves per game.

I think you can pencil in 5 blocks in the power positions if Gooden doesn't play substantial minutes. Sanders, Henson, Udoh and Dalembert are all excellent shotblockers. The field should be able to get at least one.

7.71 through 38 games.