Want to take a guess who is the best shot blocker in the NBA. Serge Ibaka. He averages 2.4 bpg in only 27 minutes. That's leading the league in blocks per 48 minutes. Tonight, he already has 5 blocks in 23 minutes. He needs only 6 more blocks this season to reach 200. A feat that I don't think too many players have accomplished. I have to do some reseach to back that up though. Anyway bottom line is he is a favorite player of mine, I love to watch him play. His offense is not too shabby either. He has a nice reliable mid range jump shot and his footwork is improving vastly. In a couple of years he will be a beast (he already is defensively).
Very cool. I knew he was up there, but I didn't think he'd lead the league in blocks. This kid needs to be on the all-NBA defensive team, for sure.
He's growing up fast. His comfort level and confidence since becoming a starter and playing PF full-time have exploded. Perkins joining OKC actually caused 2 positions to be solidified. Ibaka won't be a 20/10 guy on the Thunder any time soon, but that's his upside on the offensive end. It's hard to believe he's played basketball in the U.S. for less than 2 years. If Ibaka gains 15-20 pounds over the next 4-5 seasons, he might move to C full-time. Right now, he's a roaming PF and should continue to ring up a lot of blocked shots.
That Thunder defensive frontcourt will be a force in the NBA. The interior presence has already given the Heat a lot of trouble. You have an immovable 6-10 brick at center, and a 6-10 athletic shotblocker at PF. The starting lineup for the Thunder is complete, now they just need to add a few pieces off the bench. I don't think they should glue Robinson on the bench, he brings toughness to the team and is a capable spark plug.
I don't even think Thabo is even top 10 considering how many good defenders have emerged over the course of this season.West Matthews, Tony Allen, courtney Lee is def better, maybe even Fields,plus alot of the veterans still have the edge.
JaVale Mcgee is a scary good shot blocker with his height, athleticism, and length. His cuff block of wesley matthews was
1. JaVale McGee-WAS 6.6 2. Serge Ibaka-OKC 6.4 3. Darko Milicic-MIN 6.3 4. Andrew Bogut-MIL 5.8 5. DeAndre Jordan-LAC 5.4 6. Andrew Bynum-LAL 5.3 7. Dwight Howard-ORL 4.9 8. Tim Duncan-SAS 4.8 9. Emeka Okafor-NOH 4.7 10. Roy Hibbert-IND 4.6 Block percentage
Interesting how the benchmark for blocks has come down over the years. Players like Olajuwon, Mutombo, Abdul Jabbar, Eaton, and even Bol and Bradley would laugh at 2.4 bpg.
Well he's not actually leading the league in blocks. Bogut is the league leader. Ibaka is 4th. The OP is saying that Ibaka is number one in blocks per 48. I'm not exactly sure that's right though - since JaVale McGee is actually the league leader in blocks per 48! Perhaps what the OP is trying to say is that he thinks Ibaka is the best shotblocker in the league (stats aside). I suppose one could make a case for that - he's certainly in the top 5 whichever way you look at it!
Agreed. Eric Maynor has been pretty solid all year, but I would have him at least split minutes with Nate.
Why would you do that, especially since Nate Robinson is terrible. Why do you think the Celts let him go without getting a PG in return? If you play Maynor 8 mins/game instead of 15, you ruin both him and the Thunder team chemistry. If a team has two good PGs at the helm, that is enough. Why throw your backup PG off track when he does a good job? Maynor and Harden also have a very special chemistry and play well off each other. In addition to being terrible, Nate just can't do what Maynor does.
I agree with the above post. Nate Robinson is not as good as Maynor in the current Thunder system. Besides, the Thunder already have an established 10 man rotation. They play Maynor and Harden in the back court off the bench and then Cook is the 10th. Cook actually play backup small forward for them. That does not leave a spot for Nate Robinson. I think they should package Nate and maybe Byron Mullens and trade them for a solid backup SF for next year. Someone like Corey Brewer or Aaron Afflalo. But back to Ibaka. Look: http://www.nba.com/statistics/player/Blocks.jsp?league=00&season=22010&conf=OVERALL&position=0&splitType=9&qualified=Y&yearsExp=-1&sortOrder=3&splitDD=All Teams He does lead the league in blocks per 48 minutes. He needs 5 more blocks in tomorrow's game to get 200 for the season.
