Joel Pryzbilla as much as I hate him was actually top 3 in the league in blocks over the 2nd half of the season...if im not mistaken he couldve been #1
Przybilla is the reason that I really have hope in Yao becoming a defensive beast. If a borderline stiff (and that's being generous) like him can suddenly "get it" and start wacking away shots left and right after 4 and 1/2 years, then there is hope that Yao can do the same. In fact if you go by Yao's April and May efforts from last year, he's well on his way to being a shotblocking terror. Combine that with a guy in Swift who's shot blocks per minute have always been good, and we got a tandem that's ready to strike fear in the hearts of men everywhere. Or something like that.
Przybilla's actually a pretty mobile and athletic guy, and has always been a tremendous shot blocker. He blocked nearly 4 a game his sophomore year. He's been a very good shot blocker throughout his NBA career- take a look at his shot blocking numbers his first 3 years in Milwaukee- per minute, they're as good as just about anyone. The improvement for him was more in becoming a more consistent rebounder, and starting to at least score some garbage buckets and hand offs. He was a miserable offensive player, and the fact getting around 6 points a game is a marked improvement for him should tell you just how bad he was.
Hmm. I guess you're right. By the numbers he's always been an excellent shotblocker. I supposed I've always looked at him as a borderline stiff because he's got so little playing time, and I've pretty much never seen him play until last year. So maybe borderline stiff is an exaggeration. But he's not so athletic that we shouldn't expect Yao to be capable of similar (or even better) production.
http://danrosenbaum.blogspot.com/2005/08/defense-on-perimeter-what-do-adjusted.html Top Six Small Forwards (best to worst): 1. Shane Battier 2. Darius Miles 3. Trevor Ariza 4. Shandon Anderson 5. Paul Pierce 6. Bruce Bowen Bottom Six Small Forwards (worst to best): 1. Peja Stojakovic 2. Matt Harpring 3. Lee Nailon 4. Wally Szczerbiak 5. Tim Thomas 6. Carmelo Anthony Top Eight Shooting Guards (best to worst): 1. Tony Allen 2. Andre Iguodala 3. Josh Smith 4. Ben Gordon 5. Aaron McKie 6. Gerald Wallace 7. Manu Ginobili 8. Eddie Jones Bottom Eight Shooting Guards (worst to best): 1. Michael Redd 2. DeShawn Stevenson 3. Jalen Rose 4. Keith Bogans 5. Latrell Sprewell 6. Raja Bell 7. Ricky Davis 8. J.R. Smith Top Five Point Guards (best to worst): 1. Chris Duhon 2. Marcus Banks 3. Earl Watson 4. Jason Kidd 5. Eric Snow Bottom Seven Point Guards (worst to best): 1. Troy Hudson 2. Tyronn Lue 3. Tierre Brown 4. Damon Stoudamire 5. Carlos Arroyo 6. Nick Van Exel 7. Leandro Barbosa
This is what he says about Bell: "Interestingly, Bell who is being signed by the Suns in order to shore up their defense rates as a bad defender. What is remarkable about Bell's results is that he has played for several teams over the past three seasons and yet his defensive ratings have been consistently bad. That strongly suggests that putting him in a new context with the Suns is not going to markedly improve his defense."
Also remember that Karl had him gain a lot of weight when he was a buck. He did look a tad bit slow back then. At that point I thought Jason Collier was actually just as mobile as him and certainly better on offense. At this point though Joel Pryz is sure looks to be in very good shape and very athletic. I liked him a lot as a center last year when we played them. He was always very active and aggresive going for rebounds and blocks.
