Get that bullshit outta my house!!!!!

[Fewrookies-From2kW/Love]

The block shot! Sometimes, these cats such as Bron, AK47 etc...they get up so high that they could easily tap the ball to their teammates or just grab the ball in mid-air and bring it down to secure the ball instead of hammering it to the crowd and giving the other team the ball back. Why don't they do that? grabbing your oppornet's shot in mid-air feels just as good i bet and can still land you in Sportscenter at the end of the day.

[J@3]

It's a psychological thing. No one likes seeing their shot swatted into the stands. I mean most of them (apart from Kirilenko) only average around 1 bpg so it's not like they're costing them a heap of posessions. Bill Russell blocked ALOT of shots, but he would just tap the ball and catch it which makes sense since he blocked so many of them. Otherwise he'd be a human turnover machine.

[Andrew]

Alonzo Mourning, though he's swatted plenty of shots into the stands, has also displayed that mentality throughout his career, attempting to block the shot towards a teammte whenever possible. Sometimes it's just a matter of making the defensive play though, it's not necessarily showboating.

[Its_asdf]

Sometimes you'll have to much momentum in your run/jump you can't really grab the ball. I've seen those kinds of blocks done by Kenyon Martin before though. I personally think they are more impressive than swatting it into the stands.

[Andrew]

[Axel]

Alonzo Mourning, though he's swatted plenty of shots into the stands, has also displayed that mentality throughout his career, attempting to block the shot towards a teammte whenever possible.

Gotta agree with that. He's perhaps the best at it, outside of Bill Russell.

[hipn]

Its called a block, not a catch.

Also... its a natural thing when playing basketball. Players tend to jsut get their arm/s up to change the direction of the ball because it's easier and it's a natural thing.

[Andrew]

Its called a block, not a catch.

Not a single person has referred to a block being called a "catch" in this thread. Furthermore, when you catch the ball on a block attempt, I would say that it's fair enough to refer to the action as having caught the ball since that is exactly what you are doing.

Also... its a natural thing when playing basketball. Players tend to jsut get their arm/s up to change the direction of the ball because it's easier and it's a natural thing.

I believe catching is also a "natural thing" and probably the easier action of the two as far as exerting force is concerned. Players are certainly conditioned to swat shots though.

[Colin]

^It's easier to swat as you're usually going up with one hand. And you go up with one hand because you get a little more height. And I think he said it's called a block not a catch because people were talking about why people don't catch it instead, ie. "they don't catch it because it's called a block not a catch."

[Andrew]

Swatting offers certain advantages but the action of catching is generally easier than throwing or swatting/batting.

And I think he said it's called a block not a catch because people were talking about why people don't catch it instead, ie. "they don't catch it because it's called a block not a catch."

Fair enough, I may have mis-read that, but it's still implying a blocked shot can only refer to one action, when a shot is stopped by swatting it away and that there are no merits in stopping a shot with a catch in any situation.

[The_Flying_Tomato]

I like when they come down from the top(usually from behind) and then knock it out of their hands behind them. Kinda like that Kobe block on T-Mac from a few years ago.

[Matt]

sometimes the ball is too high to grab, so the only option is to swat it.

If your gonna tap it back to your teammates you gotta at least know where they are, otherwise it's like tapping the ball off a missed rebound, could go anywhere.

[Ruff Ryder]

Wow, nobody's brought up the intimidation factor? Jae briefly skimmed it, but it's much more intimidating to swat a shot into the stands than to get a piece of it and tap it to yourself. Not only do you get the block, but you get the crowd into it and your teammates into it.

Also, swatting shots sometimes is accidental. Sometimes I'm not even expecting to swat a shot, but it just happens.

Anyway, remember about 2 years ago or so when just grabbing the shots out of the air was huge? It doesn't happen near as much, but KG, K-mart, etc had a ton of balls that they just jumped up and picked out of the air. I think I'd rather do that than swat it.

[Carmo]

Its called a block, not a catch.

Also... its a natural thing when playing basketball. Players tend to jsut get their arm/s up to change the direction of the ball because it's easier and it's a natural thing.

Catching also blocks the ball from going to where it was directed so I would say that a catch is a block.

[hipn]

My point was it is harder to catch a ball than blocking/swatting it when it is going in the direction of the hoop and your are facing the shooter.

Try catching the all with 2 hands when someone is releasing the ball on a hot, and you'll see how much harder it is.

[Andrew]

Wow, nobody's brought up the intimidation factor? Jae briefly skimmed it, but it's much more intimidating to swat a shot into the stands than to get a piece of it and tap it to yourself. Not only do you get the block, but you get the crowd into it and your teammates into it.

That's true and don't get me wrong, I like swats as much as the next fan but sometimes it places you at a disadvantage if you try to swat it into the crowd. The real trap is simply swatting wildly, since that's an easy way to pick up shooting fouls.

My point was it is harder to catch a ball than blocking/swatting it when it is going in the direction of the hoop and your are facing the shooter.

Try catching the all with 2 hands when someone is releasing the ball on a hot, and you'll see how much harder it is.

Absolutely, it's not ideal in every situation. But it's kind of like jumping to intercept a lob when playing the passing lanes, it can be done and in the exact situation you described. That said, it's made a lot easier for the defender if they have a significant height advantage on the offensive player.

[Laxation]

Blocking a shot seems to me to be a lot easier to do on pure reflexes than catching a shot

[Andrew]

As I said, certain advantages do make it easier. Someone with quick reflexes is obviously going to be able to take advantage of those opportunities more often than others. And again, swatting's fine but the smart defender knows when and how to guide the block to a teammate or block it softly enough to catch.

[artestfighttrainer]

I reckon if a player can stop himself from swatting it into the stands then he should do it.