Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008 at 4:47 pm  |  43 responses

Links: 7 Links

Could Josh Smith be the greatest shot blocker in NBA history?

by Lang Whitaker

1) Tumblr — Stumbled on this site late last week and spent the weekend playing with it and loved it. It’s basically blogging software that’s easier to use than Word Press or any of the other big blogging sites. And I can easily post stuff via my Sidekick. Only problem is that commenting takes some tricks to get working. I’ve already got the crack internet team here at SLAM working on figuring out how to bring this functionality to The Links. And to me.

2) Remember the story a few months ago about the Knicks and all their beat reports beefing? And the beat goes on…

3) 10,000 BC — I first saw the preview for this movie on Sunday during the NFL Playoff games. The preview I saw began with a dark screen, and then appeared the words “FROM THE DIRECTOR OF INDEPENDENCE DAY AND THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW…” And I was immediately in. I haven’t even seen this yet, but I can already tell you it’s better than “Juno,” and that got nominated for Best Picture. Omar, we need you to break down “Juno” for us.

4) The Ref Chronicles — I was clicking around on NBA.com yesterday when I came across this page. Now, I’ll admit that I spend a ton of time on NBA.com, but I’d never seen that page before. And now I can tell you that even 8 hours before tip-off tonight in Denver, I’m worried about Joe DeRosa reffing the Hawks/Nuggets game. I’d imaging every NBA gambler is feverishl waiting for this link to be updated every morning.

5) “Code Monkeys” — My latest favorite TV show. I love Black Steve. I was going to embed a video clip but I don’t think any of them are family-friendly, like the rest of SLAMonline. (And if you really want family-friendly stuff, don’t watch this.)

6) Because I do things like this from time to time, I started messing with some numbers yesterday. As any editor I’ve worked with will tell you (Ryan Jones, for sure), I’m terrible with math, so I did all these calculations twice. And I think I’m right.

Anyway, over the first four seasons and 262 games of his NBA career, Josh Smith has averaged almost 2.6 blocked shots per game (2.5839 to be exact). His blocks have gone up each season, from 2.0 bpg as a rookie to 2.6 in his second year to 2.9 bpg last season, and this season he’s up to 3.3 bpg. That’s good enough to make him second in the NBA in blocks per game this season. Not bad for a forward.

His blocks per game obviously won’t continue to rise like that forever, but I think it’s safe to say that the more he plays and the more tricks he learns, we can at least expect them to stay steady or increase slightly in the next 5-8 years or so. And then as Josh starts getting older, as the legs start to show the wear and tear, maybe they’ll start to decline.

Now, consider Josh’s youth. He just turned 22 year old a few weeks back, so it’s not inconceivable to think he’s got another decade of NBA playing time ahead, perhaps even more.

The reason I’m talking about all of this? Because Josh Smith has a legitimate chance of retiring as the NBA’s all-time leading shot blocker. Looking through the record books, the leading shot blockers of all-time go like this:
1. Hakeem Olajuwon – 3,830
2. Dikembe Mutombo – 3,230
3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – 3,189
(Because the NBA didn’t keep track of blocks until the ’73-74 season, this obviously leaves out some of the tremendous shot blockers like Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell. Too bad for them.)

So, using Josh’s current 2.6 bpg average, and assuming he continues to average about 75 games per season, it would take Josh about 15.5 more seasons to become the all-time leading shot blocker in NBA history. And 15 more seasons isn’t inconceivable for someone so young, who should command two more big contracts before he’s done. Plus, 15.5 is being conservative with the blocks per game average — if he can keep up this 3.0 bpg clip for a while it could take less time.

Anyway…just thinking aloud. How cool would it be if the NBA’s all-time leading shot blocker wasn’t even a center?

7) I knew it! Been saying it for years, but nobody would listen to me…

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  • Myles Brown Posted: Jan.23 at 4:53 pm
    Stop hating on Juno!

  • Dizzle Posted: Jan.23 at 4:54 pm
    Nice Math Lang

  • white hot eboy Posted: Jan.23 at 4:55 pm
    Juno was horrid.

  • H to the izzo Posted: Jan.23 at 4:55 pm
    Day After Tomorrow=Worst movie ever

  • Myles Brown Posted: Jan.23 at 5:01 pm
    Actually, Cloverfield was the worst movie ever.

  • Bryan Posted: Jan.23 at 5:03 pm
    I like that Josh Smith stat. I love that he is a perimeter forward and sometimes called a swingman and could still block shots like that. What ever happened to Tmac the shot blocker? And Lang..does slamonline look ok on your sidekick because mine doesn’t work? If it does on yours can you tell me how to fix it?

  • Jer Boi Posted: Jan.23 at 5:12 pm
    day after tommorrow was awesome…

  • TADOne Posted: Jan.23 at 5:12 pm
    That Code Monkey clip was hilarious. Now I’m going to have to delete something off my DVR to record this.

  • Lang Whitaker Posted: Jan.23 at 5:21 pm
    @Bryan: Doesn’t work on my Sidekick either.
    @TADOne: Also check out Ninja Warrior on G4. Both great shows…

  • Ryan Jones Posted: Jan.23 at 5:21 pm
    I’m pretty sure Lang is terrible at math, but then, so am I.

  • Russ Bengtson Posted: Jan.23 at 5:23 pm
    You know Dikembe’s gonna play for another decade, right? And since they didn’t start keeping track until ’73-74, that means they didn’t count any of the blocks he had his first five years in the L.

  • Ryan Jones Posted: Jan.23 at 5:24 pm
    Juno wasn’t bad. Flawed, but not bad. However, I’m going to see No Country tonight, and frustrating ending or not, I expect it to be tremendous.

  • Russ Bengtson Posted: Jan.23 at 5:27 pm
    And even though his numbers have slipped a little of late, don’t sleep on AK47.

  • d.Y. Posted: Jan.23 at 5:39 pm
    10,000 BC looks great! I love how everyone has dreadlocks, and they’re in the desert, yet and still everybody is white.

  • jbn74sb Posted: Jan.23 at 5:39 pm
    Seems to me that someone like Dwight or Bynum has a better chance of setting the record, as they play much closer to the hoop.

  • Ben Osborne Posted: Jan.23 at 5:45 pm
    I’m afraid I’m too old for G4 and Code Monkeys.

  • Tarzan Cooper Posted: Jan.23 at 5:45 pm
    ive been on to ninja warrior for some time now. the worst was when dude made it to the final, then immediately dislocated his shoulder at the start of the tower, that sucked.

  • Sam Rubenstein Posted: Jan.23 at 5:45 pm
    no country was best movie for a while until THERE WILL BE BLOOD.

  • Sam Rubenstein Posted: Jan.23 at 5:49 pm
    10,000 B.C. does look promising.

  • Holly MacKenzie Posted: Jan.23 at 5:50 pm
    I’d love to hear Omar break down Juno.

  • floe Posted: Jan.23 at 5:57 pm
    no country wasn’t frustrating in the end it was just anti-climatic in an awesome kind of way. also, stop hatin on juno.

  • Reggie Evans Posted: Jan.23 at 5:59 pm
    What’s the over under on the last 59 seconds of the Miami-Atlanta rematch?

  • Russ Bengtson Posted: Jan.23 at 6:02 pm
    I wonder how many blocks Bill Russell actually had? 4,000? 5,000?

  • CoCo Posted: Jan.23 at 6:05 pm
    Well if the Heat win the rematch then that will mean they didn’t actually lose a million games in a row.

  • what Posted: Jan.23 at 6:07 pm
    no country was the illest movie of the year hands down

  • Bryan Posted: Jan.23 at 6:08 pm
    I bet Russel averaged 6-7 blocks a game.

  • Esco Posted: Jan.23 at 6:17 pm
    Omar liked Juno.

  • DubsGonDoIt Posted: Jan.23 at 7:20 pm
    Omar on Juno from his blog as Si –
    “I have to be honest. I find it funny that they can write a movie about a young white teen living in the burbs that gets pregnant and make it into an educational comedy. Not only that, but also make it into a critically acclaimed film. Even i loved it. I can’t front. Ellen Page is that shorty right now. The reason i find it funny is cause wasn’t no one in the barrios laughing when they saw Quinceanera. The story of a 15 year old latina who accidently gets pregnant (It really was a accident… kinda) who lives with her uncle and gay chicano cousin.
    Now even though it wasn’t as funny as Juno, it was definitely up there as far as content and educational value goes. Anyway, back to Juno. So this young lady has sex with a herb of a man and ends up with a bun in the oven. But instead of getting an abortion (She freaks out when she realizes that even only a few weeks after conception a baby has finger nails), Juno decides to put up the baby for adoption and chooses to give up the baby to a weird couple that is played by Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner. That’s when things get weird. For some reason Juno and Jason Bateman begin to have a affair of sorts except without the kissing or sex. It was like she was getting ready to get back into Hard Candy mode. Now that was a movie that showed how malicious she can act. What i liked about this movie was her gift of gab. The way she spews sarcasm is something to admire. I haven’t seen a mouth that smart since Barbara Walters interviewed Monica Lewinsky. And she was in that mindset throughout the whole movie. So trust that i was highly entertained. Every character served a purpose in the movie and not a moment was wasted on garbage time. Her herb man is the geek that you love to like and her supportive father two cents here and there were priceless comedy. Gotta love, Juno. “

  • dma Posted: Jan.23 at 7:41 pm
    the thing about blocks as a forward and blocks as a big is a center is 7 feet tall with freakish arms doesnt have to do anything to get a block on a 6 foot pg. josh smith is what 6’9 6’8? he’s already losing 3-4 inches and then another 3-4 inches in arm length.

  • peteb80 Posted: Jan.23 at 8:28 pm
    Juno>funny

  • peteb80 Posted: Jan.23 at 8:29 pm
    10,000BC

  • peteb80 Posted: Jan.23 at 8:31 pm
    ^looks crappy

  • RV Posted: Jan.23 at 10:27 pm
    but what about the wesr and tear on his knees? The guy has freakish hops, they won’t last forever, at least not like now, later on he might not get up as easily.

  • Lang Whitaker Posted: Jan.24 at 1:13 am
    Omar has bad taste.

  • Co Co Posted: Jan.24 at 1:29 am
    Will this comment post?

  • Allenp Posted: Jan.24 at 12:08 pm
    Josh’s shot blocking is based solely on his hops, and those won’t be around for 15 seasons. Centers get blocks just cause they are tall, Josh doesn’t have that advantage.

  • Gumdrop Posted: Jan.24 at 2:00 pm
    Josh Smith needs a more exotic name to be a top shot-blocker, I say he should convert to Islam and change his name to Amir M’ahmadou Mohammed. Then he may block.

  • Paniscus Posted: Jan.24 at 3:15 pm
    No Country For Old Men drinks There Will Be Blood’s milkshake.

  • crazylee12 Posted: Jan.24 at 4:09 pm
    10,000 BC is a blatant ripoff of “300″. Sure, it’s a different story, but it’s the same basic premise.
    I’m not saying that the movie has no chance of being good, it’s just that there’s no way it can generate enough hype or replicate the stylized violence of “300″, which is clearly what the filmmakers are going for.
    -”He is not a god”? Sounds familiar…
    - a young hero face-to-face with a large, predatorial cat? Eerily similar

  • crazylee12 Posted: Jan.24 at 4:12 pm
    Also, I hope that Josh Smith atleast comes close to becoming the all-time leading shot blocker, maybe then he’ll get some of the recognition he deserves for being an all around BEAST!

  • Andy Posted: Jan.25 at 9:30 am
    Lang, if you think Ninja Warrior is good in the States, then you need to check YouTube UK and look out for the ones that are VO’d by Stuart Hall. He’s a somewhat eccentric English television personality, who speaks in flowery language and can’t help but laugh for most of the show. It’s as brilliantly insane as it sounds.

  • WeS Posted: Jan.27 at 6:08 am
    changed my link to it

  • SLAM ONLINE | » The Post Up: AI Wins it in OT Posted: Feb.5 at 9:38 am
    [...] Josh Smith was CRAZY last night. Of course, we all knew about Smith since Lang wrote about this awhile ago but, what a line. 19 points, 9 blocks, 9 assists, 6 rebounds and 4 steals. [...]

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