Watching NBA TV right now, had the top 10 plays of the night on, including dunks by Rudy Gay and Richard Jefferson. Both dunk had the dunker receiving he pass with no one within 10 feet of the dunker. Andre Kirilenko and Kevin Garnett were, however, near the basket and in Gay and Jefferson's way. I noticed both AK and KG immediately ran out of where they were instead of challenge the shots. Blatant dunk ducking. The BBall Gods cannot like this sort of things.
i've always thought of KG as a dunk ducker. as for AK, no way. it might have been an isolated play, or he just thought he it was too late but that guy tries to block everything.
It's one of the reasons why I have nothing but respect for guys like 'Zo, Deke, and Hakeem. Throughout their careers, they challenged every shot within their vicinity...even if they ended up on someone else's poster.
Yeah, and Yao also. People like to laugh at 7-feet plus players who get dunked on, without realizing that they get dunked on because they actually were willing to challenge the dunks. Same as the TMac dunking on Shawn Bradley moment 2 year ago that we like to show off every once in a while. Remember, Shawn actually had to fight to get around Yao and move in to try to block TMac. Well as we know TMac made him look silly, but you can't say that Shawn wasn't brave. Most players don't get posterised as often as Yao because they quickly move out of the way whenever a potential dunk is coming. Those are the real cowards and softies.
Maybe Cryelinko is thinking twice about challenging dunks after Baron Davis just destroyed him on that dunk in last year's playoffs. Nothing worse than getting dunked on and pie-faced at the same time.
When I play, particularly back in HS I would always go for the block and try to foul the guy. Always foul. No reason to get dunked on, its a slap in the face. What happened to my beloved NBA? Oakley, Dream, and nearly every other big man would foul or attempt the block. If I was a coach Id wan't my guy going for the hack, its a pride thing.
I think even if you knew you couldn't block it, you should at least try to prevent them from getting a free two points and force a hard foul and a miss. It's better to make them earn two points at the free throw line than with a flashy dunk that'll silence the home crowd when you're away or get the home crowd up and cheering. Plus knocking a player on their ass usually messes with their rhythm offensively and sends a message not to mess with you or your team. The best example I can think of one of the Rockets series against the Jazz. Stockton was torching us until he ran full speed into a Hakeem pick that left him dazed on the floor for a good while. Stockton played scared and not nearly as well for the remainder of the series.
KG stepped out of the way. Kirilenko actually turned his back and ran away. When i saw it i rewinded it like 4 times to watch it. Made me laugh
This is why I never understand the "being dunked on" stigma. The only people who don't get dunked on are those who duck away.
i agree. ak47 is probably one of the best at helping out from the weak-side to get a block. he's pretty much everywhere
You guys are missing the biggest dunk ducker of all time. Shaq, that man blatantly gets out of the way every time. He has even said in interviews that he would not try and block a shot if it meant he could be posterrized. To me that is a sign of a coward. Be a man, protect your basket.
For every two or three: You get one: which one(s) do you remember? whoever has ever made fun of Shawn Bradley shouldn't be allowed to comment here. Myself included.
Very true. But if Yao missed the block, all these AOL keyboard warriors would yell "Yao got posterized AGAIN" and start masturbating on the facial. Some of these fools actually call themselves Rockets fans too.
I could see coach from college or high school losing their marbles, if a player doesn't file or challenge the shot, the coach would rather you make some concerted effort on defense than just move out of the way....some coach like Bobby Knight would probably threaten your life for being a coward and a lazy defender.
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Yea but dunks sell, simple to do too. "Brave and willing to challenge shots"....not so much I'd love to see a good commercial done about challenging shots. Have a narration of some shotblocker, first he can talk about getting dunked on, then he'll say that "for every # of these dunks" insert dunk footages, we get these" insert shot blocking videos Then some cliche and cheesy line about working hard and willing to challenge shots to end it...
