There are guys around the league that are renowned as shot blockers; Dwight Howard, Josh Smith, Marcus Camby. These guys get respect as the “erasers” around the NBA. Trey Kerby at Ball Don’t Lie posted on Friday regarding the growing reputation that LeBron James is garnering as a swatter across the league.
One guy that comes to mind for me as a guy that is a brilliant surprise shot-blocker on the fast break has to be Manu Ginobili. He averages less than half a block per game, so he works on quality rather than quantity, but when Manu blocks he does it dramatically. And he does it to superstars. Take a look at a few erasures on the break that the San Antonio Spur has made in recent history.
Last season Ginobili absolutely destroyed Dwyane Wade on a fast break basket
This season Kevin Durant was disgraced by what has to be the block of the year (as someone pointed out at the time, KD was classy in admitting after the game that it was all ball — then again, video don’t lie). Focus on Ginobili as he times his run up the court.
This block is a bit older (circa 2005/06) as Manu swats Kobe Bryant
Ginobili shocks Tyson Chandler with the blocked alley-oop dunk
And finally, here is Ginobili blocking José Calderon during a pre-World Championships match in 2006 (embedding disabled, so you have to follow the link to youtube).
