Cavaliers Preview Game #2: Cavs at Raptors
October 28, 2009NBA Open Thread: Cavs at Toronto Raptors
October 28, 2009Premature, sure. But it is not like LeBron James just started blocking shots and playing the passing lanes like few others before him. Last night’s blocks on Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen are likely just the tip of the iceberg.
James was second in the league in DPoY voting last season, and will likely get a run for his money once again from the likes of Dwight Howard and Dwyane Wade. But as the Cavs will undoubtedly improve on the defensive end (using what we saw last night as a frame of reference), James should only have more help on D, allowing him to gamble even more.
Red’s Army claimed that James may be the best ever at blocking shots in transition. Brandon Hoffman called it “childs play” at this point and recommends that the opposition just slow down and take a three by the bench. Sporting News preseason predictions listed James as the favorite for winning the actual award.
So break out the “Jump to Conclusions” mat, rewind some of the videos from last night’s blockfest and cast your early votes.
Oh, and here’s to a few more of those tonight as the Cavs take on the Raptors – a team that is defintely not the Boston Celtics. Hey, he is on pace for 328 of them…
9 Comments
He can win it
1. if he WANTS it and
2. if he’s not gassed from playing 45 minutes a game.
He could.
Yes.
I think if my Cleveland Baseball Indians statistical projections were any sign of how accurate stats can be with a limited sampling size, he will indeed get 328 blocks this year.
Tell me I don’t know goal-tending or basket interference, cause I might not.
If the ball is partially over the rim, are you allowed to block it?
It looked to me like the ball was part-way over the rim on the Rondo block.
Goaltending only matters when the player is no longer in possession of the ball. Rondo’s still holding it, so goaltending is irrelevant.
@6
Now I see.
http://www.nba.com/analysis/rules_11.html?nav=ArticleList
I don’t know, Denny, the exception seems only to allow the offensive guy to dunk it and hit the rim. I don’t see an allowance for a defender to initiate contact with a ball in the cylinder. See, Rule 11(b).
RULE NO. 11-BASKETBALL INTERFERENCE-GOALTENDING
Posted Jan 31 2001 12:00AM
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Celebrate the Tradition
Section I-A Player Shall Not:
a. Touch the ball or the basket ring when the ball is using the basket ring as its lower base.
EXCEPTION: If a player near his own basket has his hand legally in contact with the ball, it is not a violation if his contact with the ball continues after the ball enters the cylinder, or if, in such action, he touches the basket.
b. Touch the ball when it is above the basket ring and within the imaginary cylinder.
c. For goaltending to occur, the ball, in the judgment of the official, must have a chance to score.
d. During a field goal attempt, touch a ball after it has touched any part of the backboard above ring level, whether the ball is considered on its upward or downward flight.
e. During a field goal attempt, touch a ball after it has touched the backboard below the ring level and while the ball is on its upward flight.
f. Trap the ball against the face of the backboard. (To be a trapped ball, three elements must exist simultaneously. The hand, the ball and the backboard must all occur at the same time. A batted ball against the backboard is not a trapped ball.)
g. Touch any live ball from within the playing area that is on its downward flight with an opportunity to touch the basket ring. This is considered to be a “field goal attempt” or trying for a goal.
h. Touch the ball at any time with a hand which is through the basket ring.
i. Vibrate the rim or backboard so as to cause the ball to make an unnatural bounce.
PENALTY: If the violation is at the opponent’s basket, the offended team is awarded two points, if the attempt is from the two point zone and three points if it is from the three point zone. The crediting of the score and subsequent procedure is the same as if the awarded score has resulted from the ball having gone through the basket, except that the official shall hand the ball to a player of the team entitled to the throw-in. If the violation is at a team’s own basket, no points can be scored and the ball is awarded to the offended team at the free throw line extended on either sideline. If there is a violation by both teams, play shall be resumed by a jump ball between any two opponents at the center circle.
That’s a lot of reading but I’m sure you put it there for a reason. I like that the NBA likes to Celebrate the Tradition of Sharing stuff on Facebook though.