Why do players block shots hard instead of grabbing the ball out of the air?

[Living Being]

it does happen in the flow of the game sometimes.. where it's so obvious and natural the players do it without even having to intent to. most of the time, blocks are out of reach, you extend your arms as far as you can, and you can only get part of the ball.

but how about you show us some videos where the player blocked it, and you think it's possible to grab it?

Probably half of LeBron's chase-down blocks qualify. The problem is the loss of extension over the person when using two-arms. It depends on the angle you are coming from and how much higher you are.

[Basketbolero]

In before OP's next thread: Why do players attempt floaters, layups and hook shots instead of dunking?

[Big#50]

I believe they have a stat for this. Maintaining possession after a block or something. I think Duncan is numero uno.

[chosen_one6]

Another "why dont they" question.....

WHY DONT HOCKEY TEAMS find an incredibly obese person to be goalie? Seriously, the goal isnt that big. You take someone who is like 700 lbs, put all those pads on them and lay them on their back in front of the goal theyd take up like 99% of the air space to squeeze a puck through.

Never understood why that hasnt been done

700 pound people can't stand on their own. If they lay down, hockey players are skilled enough to snipe the holes. If that didn't work, then teams would just shoot at the goalies pads and then get the rebound and put it in. Hockey goalies need to be extremely quick and agile. The best goalie of all time was only 6'1" 205

[j3lademaster]

Because it's too risky imo. 99% of hard blocks are in the lane relatively close to the basket; if you tip it up for a rebounding opportunity or try to catch it and fumble it, it creates an opportunity to give the opposing big or a slashing player with momentum a chance to get possession in a great position to score or draw a foul. Better to just swat it back for morale purposes.

[ripthekik]

In before OP's next thread: Why do players attempt floaters, layups and hook shots instead of dunking?

Why don't people shoot 3's all the time. It's 1 more point than a normal shot.

[Basketbolero]

Why don't people shoot 3's all the time. It's 1 more point than a normal shot.

Antoine Walker would be proud of you

[Rake2204]

I think a bit part of it is reflexs. Most block opportunities are pretty reactionary, so they go by instinct, which is to block. To do it consistently would require you to basically train yourself to look at every block opportunity as a catch opportunity, otherwise instinct kicks in. You'll notice most of the GIF's/vids used here as examples (The McGee one is the exception) the person blocking/catching has an extra bit of time to read the play because of where the shot it taken relative to where they are. They've had time to think 'block, nah I can grab this'

That about sums it up. 99% of the time, grabbing a block is not going to be something that just randomly happens. It usually requires, as you mentioned, a unique defensive opportunity where a defender has an opportunity to survey a situation and conclude that the angle an offensive player is attacking combined with how they'll likely attempt their shot will give that defender a chance to catch the shot.

Otherwise, as various posters mentioned, most NBA shot blockers are averaging two to three blocks per game. With such a low rate, that means they likely will be doing whatever they can to get their fingertips on the ball, let alone catching it. I feel having a "catch-first" mindset may severly inhibit one's ability to reach, claw, and extend for every shot attempt possible. There's a certain angle required for catching and as I mentioned, catching a shot is usually not something a player just stumbles into. So in the long run, I believe actively looking to catch all shots would be a detriment to one's defensive ability.

Then again, perhaps you say, "Why not jump as high as possible to try to catch it but if it's too high, then just block it?" Maybe there's some truth to that, but blocking a shot is still much, much easier said than done.

[upside24]

Players love the reaction from a shot blocked into the 4th row so they keep doing it instead of using a controlled tap.

In "The Art of A Beautiful Game" Chris Ballard claimed that he had once talked to Dwight and he said that when he blocked it out of bounds it gave him a chance to get another block after the other team inbounded for the next possession.

Doubt we will ever see controlled blocks to lead to fastbreaks anymore. It has become a lost art.

[Djahjaga]

The negative responses on this thread are ridiculous.

That said, it does strike me as a bit hard to bring the ball down instead of blocking it, but you've brought up good points, OP (e.g. comparing it to guiding down a high pass, etc.).

What strikes me as more annoying is when idiots like Howard spike the ball into the third row. Looks cool the first time, and I'd be fine if it occurred like once a game (less would be ideal...once every two games?), but he does that sh*t all the time, so damn needlessly. It's ridiculous. And he's not doing it to hype the crowd up, or does he think they need to see sh*t like that 4 times a game to get excited?

Tipping the ball down, redirecting the shot is still demoralizing to the offensive player. And you can probably get your team a fastbreak opportunity. Think of the offensive options that arise from this. Basketball would be so much more fun to watch. Who doesn't love a good fastbreak?

But of course this won't happen. I defend Howard a lot because I think he gets too much shit at times, but he's an idiot.

[Djahjaga]

Players love the reaction from a shot blocked into the 4th row so they keep doing it instead of using a controlled tap.

In "The Art of A Beautiful Game" Chris Ballard claimed that he had once talked to Dwight and he said that when he blocked it out of bounds it gave him a chance to get another block after the other team inbounded for the next possession.

Doubt we will ever see controlled blocks to lead to fastbreaks anymore. It has become a lost art.

Haha this post says everything mine does in a more succinct, elegant way. Sorry, I didn't see it!

I'm not surprised that Howard said that, but it is kind of shocking how f*cking retarded he is sometimes

[BuffaloBill]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fBdAPfk8r4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t98hZOkoUIY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkCYXgfFyKU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qjLYrwQeOI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOsaoEr8-eI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roz5FWWHDtg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0HoDopuc9w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrFTu2-x_LI



It's not that rare for players to attempt it. If it's possible they will usually try to grab it out of the air instead of block it.

[monkeypox]

Well you can wipe the shot out and force them to restart with a shorter clock. If you tip it inbounds there's always that chance that the opposing team gets it. A loose ball under the opponents basket is way more dangerous for you than it is for them.

[winwin]

OP

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

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=234809


hmmmm

[The Choken One]

ITT: people don't actually play basketball