The art of blocking shots and....

[GIVE_WADE_THE_MAX]

Let's be honest, Bill Russell blocked a lot of players that were slower and less athletic(jumping). His reaction time to block a shot was much greater then in todays game. With this added time I'm sure B Russ could develop a strategy on how exactly to block a shot and where it should land. In today's game, players are lightning quick and defenders have to rely on instinct as there reaction time is limited to fractions of a second. A defender in todays game faces a much more athletic and intelligent offensive player(pump fakes, shot fakes, up and unders, reverses, Mj's behind the back layup, dunking, fadeaways, etc)

As far as I see it a block is wonderful by itself. If you manage to keep it in bounds to a teammate it's like the cherry on top.

[Philly Fresh]

How much time does a player really have to decide whether the offence is going up for a lay-up or passing it off? You have to make a decision in a split-second and by then you only have enough to time to get the tips of your fingers on the ball and even if you fo jump high enough to get your entire hand on ball, it's too late to realize that you could have actually caught it. And if you play basketball, you know that you're gonna have to swing your hand at the ball if you want to stop the ball from proceeding any further towards the basket because you never know how high the lay-up may be. You may get an entire arm on it, or it may just scrape the tips of your fingers.




EDIT: Lol, I never read Give_Wade_The_Max's post above mine. So i pretty wrote the same thing. And I'd have to agree with him.

[tha_rock220]

I'm willing to bet half the posters in this thread don't play basketball. Because if you play basketball you know that perfect chance at a block is one of the things you look for and you throw that sumbitch if you can.

That said, it's hard when you're coming over as a helper to control where you block the ball. The direction the ball goes has a lot to do with the direction you're coming from. If someone is going down the baseline and you come from the free throw line chances are the ball is going into the seats behind the basket.

Keeping a blocked shot in bounds happens usually when you're blocking the man you're guarding which is harder.

[WesWesley]

I did state that when the player blocking the shot has the OPPORTUNITY to keep it in play.

I do understand that sometimes you have to block it out of bounds due to angles and timing.