I believe shot blocking is one of the best defensive skills one can have, steals being the other.

A player can stick to his man like glue, however, if he doesn`t possess the timing to block a shot or the anticipation and timing to make a steal he can be scored on at will.

On the other hand block shots usually come from big's, and the defense you are describing comes from guards and SF`s.

I am just biased, I think a couple of blocks gives an offensive player something to think about when he tries another shot similar to the one that came back at him.

ABC ran a great story about Rip and his mask before the game.

If you missed it, you can check it out at www.need4sheed.com

ahb - Why do you consider Prince a soft player? He does not back down from anything. Yes he is quiet but thats not to be confused with his on court play.

Jammer, that video is hilarious. I advise everyone to check it out if you missed the pre-game. I'm not sure who is funnier. Rip Hamilton or Dominick Hasek.

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Lemme qualify this... there's no doubt that shot blocking is a valuable defensive quality... however shot blocking can also be a weakness... case in point Dalembert (to a lesser extent Darko)... he's constantly being pump faked off his feet and getting burned or in foul trouble.
Ben OTOH, has much better timing of when to comit...leaving the offensive player guessing.. efficient blocking goes a long way towards intimidation.
Let's please not mention Rasho with anything remotely resembling a good defensive player... there's a couple reasons he gets pulled often... defense & foul trouble from lack of mobility.

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had to watch the game late on my DVR...2nd funniest moment of the season...Amir's slam from Darko was first!!

What exactly is an African American Euro?

we kicked their @$$ and watching davis cap it off with a 3-pt attempt was awesome.

45 bench points!! even if we don't use mo or delfino in the playoffs, we should be fine. imagine if we had delk last year and had another offensive option and an 8th guy off the bench.

Tony Parker, Boris Diaw.. Pietrus

I think Linwood was just pointing out that the term "African-American" doesn't exactly make sense when applied to people who aren't American.