Sorry, you’re right. Blocks are the most important thing in this game, numbers support your claim.

As of today:
– We’re 4th in the league in blocks per game.
– If we count blocks instead of points our record is 31W-16L-7T
– This give us home advantage in the first round of the playoffs and a good chance to advance to the Conference Finals.

Alas, shame to Dr. Naismith, his rules are so stupid, why the hell count points?

BTW What I was saying yesterday is that blocks alone are not enough to judge defense and that “not all blocks are created equal” (and I know that not all our defensive shortcomings are on KP, he’s a good rim protector).
But I forgot that nuisances are lost in today’s binary world.
Let us all read boxscores, watching games is so boring…

1. In pregame, Willy and KP were playing 1 on 1 on the right low post. Billy’s moves looked so much sharper than KP. KP still a better shooter, but I was close enough to notice KP,does not have big hands and, more importantly, his release appeared very inconsistent. Sometimes the ball is released in classic fingertip form. Sometimes from his palm.
2. I also noted that KOQ was warming up harder and more effectively than KP, who was just shuffling around, content to launch threes and shots near thge rim.
3. He also looked sluggish in 1st half. Maybe the rumors of him partying too hard have some truth.1. In pregame, Willy and KP were playing 1 on 1 on the right low post. Billy’s moves looked so much sharper than KP. KP still a better shooter, but I was close enough to notice KP,does not have big hands and, more importantly, his release appeared very inconsistent. Sometimes the ball is released in classic fingertip form. Sometimes from his palm.
2. I also noted that KOQ was warming up harder and more effectively than KP, who was just shuffling around, content to launch threes and shots near thge rim.
3. He also looked sluggish in 1st half. Maybe the rumors of him partying too hard have some truth.

Interesting. KOQ does not start, so he might go harder in warmups since he’ll then be sitting for awhile before getting in. However, still, worried about KP’s overall stamina.

We know Willy is a good post scorer and good defensive rebounder. All the rest of his game is suspect, but he needs some burn. If he’s not traded this week, he needs to be in the rotation the rest of the season. If OQ is not traded also, he needs to go to 3rd string….on the bright side for him, he can avoid injury prior to becoming an unrestricted free agent.

Yeah, KP is definitely a good defender. That’s why I can’t get too down on him. He’s shown up defensively big time.

Just looking at the box score, We’re not going to win games where Courtney Lee and Tim Hardaway Jr don’t play well. It’s also not a good idea to give Doug McDermott and Jarret Jack 27 minutes a piece unless you’re doing some last minute trade value pumping. There’s really no reason we should have lost to the Hawks, but I embrace it and don’t hold the performances of anybody against them. Trey Burke had a good game, KP’s 8 board/5 block/4 steal night makes me happy, but I need Frank Ntilikina to get more than 7 minutes if we’re going to lose a home game to Atlanta.

Come April, I’d like to have a better idea of who Dame Dotson, Frank Ntilikina, Trey Burke, Willy Hernangomez (if he’s still in town), Tim Hardaway Jr, and Kristaps Porzingis are. Those guys plus our draft picks in June are the future of the team. Those guys need to lead the team in minutes after the trade deadline. Our season is cooked. Nobody loses a home game to the 2nd worst team in basketball and makes the playoffs.

Blocks have different “weights” (blocks that you recover, blocks that send the ball outside the floor so you could set your defense, blocks that give the ball back to the offense) and it’s common knowledge nowadays that “alter” shots is at least as important (if not more) then block them.

That’s why Gobert is valued as a great defender and Whiteside is considered a stat-only player (add that Gobert is a great defensive rebounder).

Of his 5 blocks, 4 were recovered by the Hawks, so they’re useless.

So… a block is worthless if the offensive team recovers the ball because the shot was guaranteed not to go in, so the defender is really just messing with his teammates rebounding position by altering it. Got it!

(Man, I’ve been away too long…)