Why don't more players catch the ball instead of swatting it on defense?

This thread is simply wrong without this epic Laphonso Ellis block

[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVFSfRVzQ8s"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVFSfRVzQ8s[/URL]

[QUOTE=artificial]This thread is simply wrong without this epic Laphonso Ellis block

[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVFSfRVzQ8s"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVFSfRVzQ8s[/URL][/QUOTE]

For the love of God. That was downright nasty! Now that's how you block a shot.

hmmm

Fun clip - Kenyon Martin catching Dwyane Wade's layup: [url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9g1o00oVVw[/url]

Cuz it looks kewler mayne!

You know how hard that is?

poor clippersfan86, trapped in the realm of the banned forever

[QUOTE=Eat Like A Bosh]You know how hard that is?[/QUOTE]

It is tough to do, but certain guys excel at it, like Old Man Duncan. Case in point:

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEuu3NmF400[/url]

Someone actually did a study of the percentage of blocks recovered by the shot blocker, how many went to his team, and how many went to the opponent last season (no idea how the hell they even get this info):

[INDENT]Blocking Out of Bounds or to Opponents

Let's face it, out-of-bounds blocks are sexy. When an athletic player loads his spring-like legs and soars to confront an incoming scorer, swatting the ball into the stands at ludicrious speed, we love it. It is precisely this brand of athleticism for which most people enjoy watching the NBA. Statistically, though, these blocks, and blocks which are recovered by the opposing team, have the same value as an opponent offensive rebound. They allow the opponent a new possession, a new chance to score, and even the chance to set up a go-to inbound play. They are much less valuable than blocks which are recovered by the blocker or his teammates.

Tim Duncan also excels at blocking the ball to himself or his teammates. Below is a table with how each players blocks are recovered, courtesy of Evan Zamir of nbawowy.com. %Own is the percentage the player himself rebounds his block, %Team is the percentage a teammate rebounds his block, and %Opp is the percentage the other team recovers the block.

[B]Player %Own %Team %Opp[/B]
Tim Duncan 29.6 34.5 35.9
Larry Sanders 19.3 36.0 44.7
Serge Ibaka 10.1 54.7 35.2
Roy Hibbert 17.8 48.5 33.7
Dwight Howard 16.7 42.7 40.6
Joakim Noah 15.0 47.4 37.6
Brook Lopez 11.6 47.1 41.3

Duncan's Opp% is 3rd lowest in this list, and his %Own is tremendous. Duncan recovers nearly a third of his blocks. When you consider how talented he is as an outlet passer, this is no insignificant feat.

[url]http://www.poundingtherock.com/2013/3/20/4117576/tim-duncan-is-the-defensive-player-of-the-year[/url][/INDENT]

So Timmy basically keeps about a 1/3 of the shots he blocks himself. It's a skill that the vast majority of big men do not possess. Just one of the many skills/nuances that have separated him from the pack

[QUOTE=Clippersfan86]I was just thinking about how we always see guys swat shots.. or block them in general... but half of the time.. they could of probably just grabbed and held onto the ball and controlled it rather than sending it out of bounds to the other team. Why don't more players just catch the ball? I know super athletic bigs like DJ, McGee and Dwight could easily do this. DeAndre got good this year at swatting it to teammates but why not just catch it?

I understand swatting into the 10th row gets the crowd and team going.. but it's also not a really smart basketball play.[/QUOTE]


If anyone on this board outed themselves as a non hooper the OP did with this post.