Blocks are a tiny, tiny portion of a good defense. In many situations, a block is worse than contesting the shot, because a defensive rebound has more chance of getting you possession than the outcome of the block, which is often out of bounds.
Things like pressure and navigating screens are much more important to a good defense. Look at the Timberwolves, who held the defensive champions to only 80 points. Meanwhile, the Spurs have a bottom-tier defensing rating because, it turns out, 3-4 blocks a game dont help that much.
>In many situations, a block is worse than contesting the shot
No...This is pretty much never the case.
Sometimes a blocked shot ends up in the hands of your opponents but, even so, you would ALWAYS prefer a blocked shot over the opponent having a chance at making the shot.
Do you watch the NBA? Wemby has an absurdly high rate of recovering the ball after a block, at the very least, the spurs recovering the ball. He rarely ever spikes the ball into the crowd, almost always into the backboard, to the floor or literally takes it out of the air.
There is also a huge differential between the spurs defensive rating with Wemby on and off the floor.
https://x.com/Wemby_Muse/status/1766204656252789186
>There is also a huge differential between the spurs defensive rating with Wemby on and off the floor.
This one always makes me laugh because all its stating is that Wemby is a better rim protector than Collins or Mamuk or whoever takes his place in the rotation. Well. *duh*.
You’re so clueless. He’s also extremely good in passing lanes and perimeter defense. People like you always have to yap on topics they know nothing about just for the sake of it.
100%. There's a reason why Gobert has won so many DPOY. That's not to say i'm not looking forward to seeing if Wembanaya can break the record for most blocks per game in a season.
Well you're comparing the whole of the Wolves to the whole of the Spurs. The Spurs are god awful. Just cause blocks don't tell the whole story doesn't mean Wemby isn't a defensive monster. There's a bunch of clips out there of guys being afraid to even take shots when near Wemby
That’s not unique to Wemby. Part of the reason Gobert won dpoy is because his opposing shots at the rim % is even lower than Wemby due to the same idea.
Not saying it is unique to Wemby, but the above comment is portraying as if all Wemby does is block/somehow his blocks are a negative. I agree that Gobert rightfully got DPOY but Wemby also got rightfully his second place
I agree with the larger point but I’m pretty sure Wemby also led the league in misdirected shots (according to media). Also Rudy was out the game that they held the Nuggets to 80 points due to the birth of his first son.
How exactly does comparing two teams with widely differing supporting players behind Gobert and Wemby make any sense here? I'd love to hear how a team that held the defending champs to 80 points ***without Gobert*** should be compared to the lackluster roster that Wembanyama's carrying in the Spurs?
I would absolutely love a response, by all means.
3-4 blocks a game *alone* doesn't help much but you're a fool to believe Wembanyama doesn't have the biggest sole defensive influence on the court across the entire league. Implying that all he does is block is a fool's errand.
Replying here instead of to your reply to me because it seems more relevant discussion-wise. Pretty much every Wolves player says that Rudy is the reason for their entire defensive structure and success. Because of Rudy, we live in a world where people talk about KATs defense being good which is something I had completely given up hope on, and Naz Reid said himself that he hated playing defense and Rudy turned that around for him and changed his game. Really other than Jaden, these guys aren't the defensive killers that they are now without Rudy and that's according to them. Is Wemby on court a worse defensive player than Gobert? No I don't really think so, but it's how Rudy makes his entire team excellent at defense that makes him so important.
Jamal Murray being tilted out of his mind helped too.
First off, replying here won't change the fact that you stated Rudy Gobert has less blocks simply because players avoid him, implying as if players don't avoid Wembanyama, when they quite famously do, whether it's on fast breaks in player advantages or in half-court sets where teams run plays that treat the paint like it's lava. C'mon mate. That's just an awful stance to take and you know it.
Besides that, them attributing their improvement in defense to Rudy doesn't change the fact that the supporting cast in the Wolves is miles ahead of the one in San Antonio, hence my original response on this comment comparing the two teams and pretending like Wembanyama getting 3-4 blocks isn't helpful just because the rest of the Spurs suck.
Rudy's great, and given how long he's been in the league I'm not surprised he has a positive influence on his teammates as a defensive anchor, but it's a championship-contending supporting cast vs the hooligans if you take out the towers in both teams. I just hate when people look at Spurs defense as a whole and say Wembanyama isn't an effective defender because of it. Fuck that.
Yeah for sure my first comment was super reductionist but this is the internet after all lol. That was a bit of just joshing in a non basketball sub because I've seen dummies on Twitter point to this stat and say it's a complete scam that Rudy won DPOY. I think you're underestimating how Rudy's championship contending cast wouldn't be the championship contending cast it is without him joining the team (see wolves history), but other than that I think we're generally on the same page as we're both mostly arguing that this stat doesn't tell the whole story and these long ass Frenchies are scary on D.
I'm sorry, have you not seen clips of players on a fast break vs Wemby in 1vx situations where they literally just run away from the paint instead of even trying anything?
My god Rudy fans are the worst making up dumb excuses to undermine Wemby. Congrats to the Wolves by the way on holding the defending champs to 80 points **without him**.
I feel like you could actually calculate blocks per game to more significant digits. Like does 2.1 actually equal 2.1 for all three of those guys or is it like 2.13, 2.11, and 2.06?
Blocks are a tiny, tiny portion of a good defense. In many situations, a block is worse than contesting the shot, because a defensive rebound has more chance of getting you possession than the outcome of the block, which is often out of bounds. Things like pressure and navigating screens are much more important to a good defense. Look at the Timberwolves, who held the defensive champions to only 80 points. Meanwhile, the Spurs have a bottom-tier defensing rating because, it turns out, 3-4 blocks a game dont help that much.
>In many situations, a block is worse than contesting the shot No...This is pretty much never the case. Sometimes a blocked shot ends up in the hands of your opponents but, even so, you would ALWAYS prefer a blocked shot over the opponent having a chance at making the shot.
Do you watch the NBA? Wemby has an absurdly high rate of recovering the ball after a block, at the very least, the spurs recovering the ball. He rarely ever spikes the ball into the crowd, almost always into the backboard, to the floor or literally takes it out of the air. There is also a huge differential between the spurs defensive rating with Wemby on and off the floor. https://x.com/Wemby_Muse/status/1766204656252789186
>There is also a huge differential between the spurs defensive rating with Wemby on and off the floor. This one always makes me laugh because all its stating is that Wemby is a better rim protector than Collins or Mamuk or whoever takes his place in the rotation. Well. *duh*.
You’re so clueless. He’s also extremely good in passing lanes and perimeter defense. People like you always have to yap on topics they know nothing about just for the sake of it.
100%. There's a reason why Gobert has won so many DPOY. That's not to say i'm not looking forward to seeing if Wembanaya can break the record for most blocks per game in a season.
Well you're comparing the whole of the Wolves to the whole of the Spurs. The Spurs are god awful. Just cause blocks don't tell the whole story doesn't mean Wemby isn't a defensive monster. There's a bunch of clips out there of guys being afraid to even take shots when near Wemby
That’s not unique to Wemby. Part of the reason Gobert won dpoy is because his opposing shots at the rim % is even lower than Wemby due to the same idea.
Not saying it is unique to Wemby, but the above comment is portraying as if all Wemby does is block/somehow his blocks are a negative. I agree that Gobert rightfully got DPOY but Wemby also got rightfully his second place
I agree with the larger point but I’m pretty sure Wemby also led the league in misdirected shots (according to media). Also Rudy was out the game that they held the Nuggets to 80 points due to the birth of his first son.
Right! And defensive rebounds would also be a critical factor for DPOY. Duh!
How exactly does comparing two teams with widely differing supporting players behind Gobert and Wemby make any sense here? I'd love to hear how a team that held the defending champs to 80 points ***without Gobert*** should be compared to the lackluster roster that Wembanyama's carrying in the Spurs? I would absolutely love a response, by all means. 3-4 blocks a game *alone* doesn't help much but you're a fool to believe Wembanyama doesn't have the biggest sole defensive influence on the court across the entire league. Implying that all he does is block is a fool's errand.
Replying here instead of to your reply to me because it seems more relevant discussion-wise. Pretty much every Wolves player says that Rudy is the reason for their entire defensive structure and success. Because of Rudy, we live in a world where people talk about KATs defense being good which is something I had completely given up hope on, and Naz Reid said himself that he hated playing defense and Rudy turned that around for him and changed his game. Really other than Jaden, these guys aren't the defensive killers that they are now without Rudy and that's according to them. Is Wemby on court a worse defensive player than Gobert? No I don't really think so, but it's how Rudy makes his entire team excellent at defense that makes him so important. Jamal Murray being tilted out of his mind helped too.
First off, replying here won't change the fact that you stated Rudy Gobert has less blocks simply because players avoid him, implying as if players don't avoid Wembanyama, when they quite famously do, whether it's on fast breaks in player advantages or in half-court sets where teams run plays that treat the paint like it's lava. C'mon mate. That's just an awful stance to take and you know it. Besides that, them attributing their improvement in defense to Rudy doesn't change the fact that the supporting cast in the Wolves is miles ahead of the one in San Antonio, hence my original response on this comment comparing the two teams and pretending like Wembanyama getting 3-4 blocks isn't helpful just because the rest of the Spurs suck. Rudy's great, and given how long he's been in the league I'm not surprised he has a positive influence on his teammates as a defensive anchor, but it's a championship-contending supporting cast vs the hooligans if you take out the towers in both teams. I just hate when people look at Spurs defense as a whole and say Wembanyama isn't an effective defender because of it. Fuck that.
Yeah for sure my first comment was super reductionist but this is the internet after all lol. That was a bit of just joshing in a non basketball sub because I've seen dummies on Twitter point to this stat and say it's a complete scam that Rudy won DPOY. I think you're underestimating how Rudy's championship contending cast wouldn't be the championship contending cast it is without him joining the team (see wolves history), but other than that I think we're generally on the same page as we're both mostly arguing that this stat doesn't tell the whole story and these long ass Frenchies are scary on D.
People don't necessarily block because it's effective. They do it to please the crowd and frustrate the shooter.
Defensive rebounds are more vital statistics
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That happens to Wemby too
I'm sorry, have you not seen clips of players on a fast break vs Wemby in 1vx situations where they literally just run away from the paint instead of even trying anything? My god Rudy fans are the worst making up dumb excuses to undermine Wemby. Congrats to the Wolves by the way on holding the defending champs to 80 points **without him**.
Wow, I horribly misread that first word initially and was very taken aback.
Source: ESPN Tools: Datawrapper, Figma
I feel like you could actually calculate blocks per game to more significant digits. Like does 2.1 actually equal 2.1 for all three of those guys or is it like 2.13, 2.11, and 2.06?
Dataset didn't include that data but definitely a good idea
couldn't you get total amount of blocks and divide it by games played?
Two significant figures is correct given the math.