Best Shot Blocker of All-Time?

[fpliii]

And they have all those great playoff results to show for it. Were better without him at both ends of the court. Went to two finals.

They improved offensively significantly, but how did they get better defensively? They were more mobile on that end yes, but their team defense?

[Xiao Yao You]

They were more mobile on that end yes

You answered your own question.

[MP.Trey]

You answered your own question.

Mobility's the only thing we're using to measure defense now?

[Xiao Yao You]

Mobility's the only thing we're using to measure defense now?

No but it made them a better defensive team.

[Patrick Chewing]

Blake Griffin

[ProfessorMurder]

From the numbers I've seen I feel comfortable enough in saying that:

Wilt (5500-6500, 6+ a game for his career)
Russell (4500-5500, 5+ a game for his career)
Kareem (needs [3830-3189]/321=~2.0 bpg in his first four seasons to jump Hakeem)
Hakeem (3830)

are the top four career shotblockers, in that order. Number five is either Mutombo or Thurmond (who'd need to have averaged [3289-553]/695=~3.94 bpg in his first ten seasons; very much possible but I don't want to go out either way...we're currently doing research on him so I might be able to give a more definitive answer in a week or two). Eaton, the Admiral, Artis Gilmore, Ewing finish out the top 10 (Duncan probably jumps Shaq next season).

Best!=most all-time though. I think BLK% among guys with a decent volume is a safer bet:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...ct_career.html

Among the top 10 leaders in NBA/ABA history (all >2500 career), here are their lifetime BLK%:

Hakeem 5.39
Mutombo 6.28
Kareem 3.80
Gilmore 3.68
Eaton 6.92
Robinson 5.69
Ewing 4.75
Shaq 4.60
Duncan 4.58
Rollins 6.24

3 have career BLK&% over 6.00. Kareem's would be higher with his first four seasons, but not enough to eclipse that margin. So among guys since they started recording, Deke is my pick (combination of volume and per-shot proficiency; I can't say very definitively now but I feel safe in saying Wilt, Russ, and possibly Nate would also be >6). All-time it's gotta be Russell, who blocked almost as many as Wilt and was skilled at deflecting them to his teammates.

Great post. Too bad we'll never know about the guys before they started tracking the stat...

I got in many a fight about how I thought Mutombo was better than Hakeem when it came to blocking shots. Mutombo has a lower fouls per block rate than Hakeem too.

Eaton and Bol blocked a ton of shots, but they didn't have that presence that other big time defenders had in my opinion.

[fpliii]

Great post. Too bad we'll never know about the guys before they started tracking the stat...

I got in many a fight about how I thought Mutombo was better than Hakeem when it came to blocking shots. Mutombo has a lower fouls per block rate than Hakeem too.

Eaton and Bol blocked a ton of shots, but they didn't have that presence that other big time defenders had in my opinion.

1) It's not much of a consolation, but there were a lot of mentions in newspapers (and the same statkeepers who tracked it when it was official seem to have recorded at least in the couple of years before 73-74), so we can get ballpark ideas. Imperfect, but the estimates you can produce aren't bad.

2) That's another great point. I'm a little busy at the moment, but it'd be cool to look at that for 15-25 guys.

3) I think that's subjective. Eaton definitely seems to have intimidated guys, but he wasn't really a traditional anchor/interior defender. Bol was great at blocking shots, but he's a weird case for obvious reasons.

[OldSchoolBBall]

Eaton and Bol blocked a ton of shots, but they didn't have that presence that other big time defenders had in my opinion.

Eaton definitely had that presence. He was the primary reason the Jazz were a top 3 defense from '85-'89 and #1 four times in that span.

[kNicKz]

Mutombo is the best I have seen. I know Camby isn't at their tier but he has put together many block parties which are worth noting

[KOBE143]

SG - Kobe

All time - Hakeem

[fpliii]

SG - Kobe

All time - Hakeem

Whose gimmick are you, seriously?

[Fudge]

When it's all said and done, Serge Ibaka.

[BasedTom]

SG - Kobe

Wade is a better blocker.

[fsvr54]

What is this obsession with singling out one single player as the greatest anything?

[ProfessorMurder]

1) It's not much of a consolation, but there were a lot of mentions in newspapers (and the same statkeepers who tracked it when it was official seem to have recorded at least in the couple of years before 73-74), so we can get ballpark ideas. Imperfect, but the estimates you can produce aren't bad.

2) That's another great point. I'm a little busy at the moment, but it'd be cool to look at that for 15-25 guys.

3) I think that's subjective. Eaton definitely seems to have intimidated guys, but he wasn't really a traditional anchor/interior defender. Bol was great at blocking shots, but he's a weird case for obvious reasons.

I had a breakdown of Mutombo vs. Hakeem in a text file that I put together, but I'm not sure where it is. I'll take a look in the next few days.

True about Eaton, I regretted lumping him in like that actually once I hit 'post'. He was massive and definitely intimidated people, he was just a tad on the stiff side.

Eaton definitely had that presence. He was the primary reason the Jazz were a top 3 defense from '85-'89 and #1 four times in that span.

Yeah, I f*cked up.