A friend recently introduced me to HoopData.com. It’s a glorious addition to the already phenomenal suite of basketball metric sites out there, and best of all, it’s in a format I can much easier rip to excel for my own nefarious purposes. The easy interface with sorting stats is one thing, but the number and variety of metrics available is incredible. Want to know ho leads the league in FG of players playing over 30 minutes a game shooting from 10-15 feet? Got it. Want to know what kind of shots your team’s assists are leading to? Got it.
But for me the best thing about this data is that I get to finally track the stat that has been collected for two seasons but not tracked season long. A completely useless stat to everyone but me. Shot attempts blocked. As in, how many times you get rejected in the face.
Now, ask any hoophead and they’ll tell you that getting blocked is not any worse than your average field goal miss. In fact, since most blocks are made around the basket, and a shot around the basket is a high percentage shot, they might even tell you it’s a good attempt. All this is true.
But there’s still something profoundly negative about a guy getting blocked. Having another being physically deny you your attempt at doing what you do for a living is just a disheartening thing. It gives the sads. And that’s what I’m all about. Mocking those with the sads.
Yahoo’s been tracking attempts blocked for two seasons, but wouldn’t track them with their season stats. Most stat guys I’ve talked to say “well, yeah, I could track those, but why?” HoopData is. And so, every week, I’ll be bringing you the top ten players in total times blocked, and total % blocked, courtesy of HoopData.
TOP TEN PLAYERS IN TOTAL ATTEMPTS BLOCKED, AS OF 11.2.09
| Player | Times blocked | Games Played |
| Gerald Wallace | 10 | 4 |
| Al Thornton | 7 | 5 |
| Chris Bosh | 7 | 3 |
| Aaron Brooks | 6 | 4 |
| Baron Davis | 6 | 5 |
| Carl Landry | 6 | 4 |
| Carlos Boozer | 6 | 3 |
| Carmelo Anthony | 6 | 3 |
| Gilbert Arenas | 6 | 3 |
| Rudy Gay | 6 | 4 |
So as you can see we have some absolutely horrible players here, what with Melo who’s been MVP in the first three games and Arenas, and Bosh and two Rockets who are beating good teams. But still. Come on, now, fellas! You’re better than that! Gerald Wallace is apparently the king of getting blocked. He’s been top five in each of the past three years in multiple splits.
TOP TEN PLAYERS IN PERCENT OF ATTEMPTS BLOCKED PER 40 MINUTES, AS OF 11.2.09
| Player | Percent Blocked |
| Gerald Wallace | 18.5 |
| Ben Wallace | 16.7 |
| Anderson Varejao | 14.8 |
| Carlos Boozer | 14.3 |
| Dwight Howard | 14.3 |
| Michael Beasley | 14.3 |
| Udonis Haslem | 12.9 |
| Spencer Hawes | 12.5 |
| Michael Redd | 12.0 |
| Rodney Stuckey | 11.4 |
I’ve got a feeling this might be Boozer’s time. It’ll all come down to whether injury slows down Crash’s persistence and numbers, or if Boozer gets lazy. But with a contract year in sight, I can see Boozer making a push for being the most often blocked guy in the league.
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So glad you created this. I have been wondering about his for years… I just think that if Kevin Love had been healthy he would be close to the top of the list too.
I’m rooting for Varejao to take out the crown. I want to see his gawky, ugly, 15-footer blocked as often as possible.
The two Rockets have had to face the Blazers twice–note who the leagues leading shotblocker is….
I have big, big faith in Boozer. If he starts playing like his normal self anytime soon, he will win this hands down.
No surprise about Wallace really. He’s a good player on a pretty bad team, but he’s not really an offensive virtuoso, so he’s not used to taking so many shots.
[...] course, he was blocked four times, skyrocketing him up the BlockClocked ranking to #2 currently. I’ve been ragging on this for two years. When is Boozer going to [...]
[...] For the introduction to BlockClocked, click here. [...]
[...] For the introduction to BlockClocked, click here. [...]
[...] For the introduction to BlockClocked, click here. [...]