Everyone Loves a Block Party

As long as I'm here, I might as well mention last night's Timberwolves/Trailblazers game. Hopefully, most people had something better to do on a Friday night, but anyone that caught this game saw some of the most entertaining action of the NBA season. Kevin Garnett set a team record by going 12 for 13 from the field (tho he didn't take any shots in the last, decisive five minutes of the game) and Zach Randolph made some clutch shots to win it. But what made this game so remarkable was the play of the post defenders. A very unfortunate trend in the NBA over the last few years has been the propensity of defenders to react to any drive by stepping in to take a charge. Call it the Vlade effect. Also unfortunate is that unless it's an obvious block, the referees will invariably call the charge. So now anytime someone like Andre Miller drives to the hole, you can expect a defender like Jason Collins to step in front and flop to the floor.

But last night, Theo Ratliff, KG, and Eddie Griffin went old skool. Whenever somebody went to the hole, those guys went for the swat. By the end of the game, fans courtside were able to hear the phrase, "Get that shit out of here" 19 times! Now that's how you f*cking play defense. Moses Malone, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and Bill Russell, who never took a charge in their lives, would have been proud.