New Shot Block Category for Olajuwon, Chamberlain, Russell and the Admiral

We found that 19 all-time shot blockers from among our 1,825 players in the Value Add Basketball Game blocked so many shots that we had to create a new category on their cards even better than the 21-26, 32 all blocked shot range.

Due to further research, the four greatest shot blockers of all time - Houston 1983 - Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston 1983), Kansas 1957 - Wilt Chamberlain (Kansas 1957), David Robinson (Navy 1986) and Bill Russell (San Francisco 1956) feature a new blocked shot range of 21-26, 32, 65-66 meaning the block any opposing players shot on the court on a 32, 65 or 66. However, one caveat is that if it turns out the opposing player would have attempted a 3-pointer then a 32 does block the shot but a 65 or 66 do not - they only block  2-point shots.

The calculation we found set these four players at the top and another 15 just below them were players how had stamina to stay on the court against high level teams and blocked about one in seven opposing 2-point shots by the other team (14% on www.kenpom.com), blocked at least 125 shots in a college season or averaged more than 2.75 blocks per game in an NBA game, or before blocked shots were tabulated averaged well over 20 rebounds per game year after year. 

The blocked shots on 65 and 66 are the new features, though not that in the game that a home team can flip the results of a 36 or 66 result, so they can turn a 66 blocked shot into an unfair foul call.

In the four years since inventing the Value Add Basketball Game, only 66 of 1,825 player cards received the highest possible block rating. Typically, when a 1-5 is rolled and the ball goes to the position the shot blocker is guarding (normally a “5” for the center) the shot blocker had a 20% chance of blocking the shot, with any roll of 21-26 or 32 – the numbers in the best block range.

When one of the other four opposing players got the ball on a 1-5 roll, the shot blocker still had a 3% chance of blocking the shot because the “32” allowed him to block a shot by any player.

And finally, when the ball went to one of the go-to players on a 6-8 on the 8-sided die, a chart in the game shows that the 21-26, 32 perfect blocking rating blocks the shot 8% of the time, with a 21-23 blocked shot.

it those players are guarding the player who gets the ball, they block they have a one in five chance to blocking the shot with any roll of 21-26 or 32. Because the “32” is a “block all” number, they also had a 3% chance of blocking one of the other four offensive players on the court.

The four best ever – Blocked Shots 21-26 & all on 32, 65-66

Houston 1983 - Hakeem Olajuwon

Kansas 1957 - Wilt Chamberlain

Navy 1986 - David Robinson

San Francisco 1956 - Bill Russell

We believe these four are far and away the greatest shot blockers in NBA history. In the years before blocked shots were a stat in the NBA or college, we assume the average 1 blocked shot for every 8 rebounds. An average of 2.75 blocked shots shots per NBA game generally leads the league, and if hte 8 to 1 ratio was accurate then Wilt Chamberlain topped that mark 9 of his first 10 years in the NBA and averaged slightly more than Bill Russell, who would have topped 2.75 his first seven years.

Since they've kept the stat, Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson have clearly been the greatest. They are the only two players to block 200 shots in a college season, and are both tied for the record with 207. In the pros, Olajuwon just topped Robinson with the third best average ever at 4.59 to Robinson's 4.49. The only three to top those two in an NBA season (nark Eaton, Manute Bol and Elmore Smith) had a total of 27 D1 college blocked shots between them to 454 for Olajuwon.

 The Next 15 Greatest of All-Time

 The other 15 all-time elite in the game (of 1800 players in our game) with Blocked Shots 21-26 & all on 32 and 66

Connecticut 2004 - Emeka Okafor - 156 blocks the season before this great team.

Georgetown 1984 - Patrick Ewing - 135 blocked shots in college the year after this team.

Jacksonville 1970 - Artis Gilmore - they weren't keeping the stat yet when he was in college, but put up 3.08 per game to lead the NBA.

Kentucky 2012 - Anthony Davis - averaged blocking 14% of all opponents shots, for 186 total for the season, and then led the NBA with 2.94.

LSU 1992 - Shaquille O'Neal - blocked 157 shots that LSU season.

Louisville 2013 - Gorgui Dieng - blocked 128 shots the year after this championship team.

 

 Marquette 1994 - Jim McIlvaine - blocked 142 shots for this team.

St. Peter's 2021 - KC Ndefo - averaged blocking 14% of all opponents shots this year of the most surprising NCAA run in history.

Seton Hall 2020 - Ike Obiagu - averaged blocking 16% of all opponents shots.

Stanford 2008 - Brook Lopez - still incredible 15 years after this college season ended by leading the NBA with 2.83 blocked shots per game.

Syracuse 1987 - Derrick Coleman - blocked 127 shots after this season.

UCLA 1967 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - still were not keeping the stat in college, but eight years later in the NBA was still dominating with an incredible 4.12 blocked shots per game.

 

 

UCLA 1972 - Bill Walton- like Kareem five years early, still did not have the benefit of blocked shots being recorded in college but led the NBA with 3.25 per game a couple of years after Kareem led the league.

Virginia 1981 - Ralph Sampson - an incredible 157 blocked shots in college before teaming up with Hakeem for the most dominant defensive twin towers in history for a short career.

Wake Forest 1996 - Tim Duncan - blocked 135 shots the season before this one.

We track the results of our games between the 183 great teams in the game in this google sheet.