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Kentucky Wildcats Morning Quickies: Marv Albert Edition

News and commentary from around the Big Blue Internet. Dominque Hawkins returns from successful trip to China with Sports Reach. Rachel Lawson talks about the WCWS. A.J. Reed wins Collegiate Baseball's NPOY award. More.

Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

It looks like Marv Albert will be calling more college basketball broadcasts. I like Albert, but don't we get enough of him with the NBA?

Tweet of the morning

Okay, that's pretty funny.

Your Quickies:

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  • iSportsWeb talks about Kentucky's "three headed center." I think this is actually wrong on several levels. Consider:

    The blocked shot is wildly overrated. Yes, it is an excellent defensive play when it results in a change of possession or stops the ball from going through the hoop. However, when Cauley-Stein or other prolific shot blockers swat a shot, the ball often sails out of bounds or back to the other team.

    This is a person who doesn't understand basketball very well. If a shot block were "overrated," it wouldn't make much sense to go for them. The reality is, a shot-block is very similar to a turnover in value to the blocking team. Yes, there are two possible outcomes that don't generate a turnover and only one that does, but there are other factors. Consider that most blocked shots recovered by the defense result in a transition opportunity, which carries a higher percentage of success than a regular offensive possession. Blocked shots also often happen late in the shot clock, forcing a team to take shots from inbounds plays that are worse than the shot that got blocked.

    Not only that, but good shot blockers (think Antony Davis) go to extra pains to ensure the block goes to a teammate, or are recovered by the person blocking the shot. Also, there is the intimidation factor, which is tougher to quantify. Clearly, though, a good shot-blocking team forces the offense to shoot from further away, and be conscious of the arc they put on their shots. There's no doubt that affects shooting percentage.

    Overall, contra the author, I would suggest shot-blocking is underrated, which is perhaps why Calipari is so careful to make sure Kentucky has shot-blockers.

  • Dominique Hawkins returns from China trip. He played well, but he really has to work on his perimeter game. He shot only 27% from the arc.

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