I miss Jeff Withey.
I don't miss his offense, or lack there of. I miss his post defense. Withey represents the ultimate lesson for how to block shots.
Withey murdered the concept that blocking shots was about jumping. Big leapers don't make the best shot blockers. Tall guys with long arms and good timing seem to have more going for them. The key is to not leave your feet early. Offensive players quickly realize when they can get a defender to leave his feet early. They test the waters early in games with head and shoulder fakes, ball fakes, and anything else they can use to telegraph their shot. Getting a defender to take off too soon is the surest way to draw a foul on the defender. The whistle will not be protested by anyone, including the guilty player.
So how does a post defender block a high number of shots if he hesitates to leave his feet early? By applying axis basketball to shot blocking, that's how. Shooters are always at a disadvantage because the shot process requires some kind of form in order to be successful at dropping the ball in the hole, and form takes time to accomplish, valuable milliseconds that create an advantage to the defense. Shooters are always at a disadvantage because they have to leave their feet and commit before the shot. Once they've left the ground, they can't return to it with the ball still in hand. So the shot blocker actually has several advantages going into the entire process of defending the rim.
By applying Z-axis principles, a shot blocker must realize there are only a couple of potential paths for the ball to take to make a basket once the shooting player leaves his feet; he can take the path directly to the rim, or he can use the backboard. By knowing the two possible paths to the goal, a good shot blocker will position himself so he can make a block swipe that passes through both paths.
So if most shot blockers know the paths the shooter is going to take, how can the shooter ever win and score? Good scorers can score on most defenders by controlling timing. By knowing how to draw the blocker in the air too soon, or by getting out so far ahead of the blocker that the blocker will trail the ball going by on the path. This method of scoring has become harder and harder to accomplish because the coaching of shot blockers continues to improve and that helps reduce the success of this method.
There is one other method shooters use to score over or around blockers. Shooters have come to realize they can create shooting space where the blocker can't reach now or sometimes ever to swat the ball. For example, shooters often use their body to shield the ball, and shooters know they have the whistle on their side and when body contact occurs, they have an opportunity to get fouled and still make the shot. There is a gray area involved with this strategy, and this is where shooters make mistakes and give opportunities for good shot blockers (like Withey) to counter their move by getting to the path space on time. Few shooters work on achieving a fail safe shot that pretty much can't be blocked. An effective hook shot is the most obvious method of a fail safe shot (if performed properly). Most shooters won't take the time to master a hook shot.
I don't think many people realize just how good Withey became at blocking shots. Withey was not a leaper. I believe his pro workout exposed his vertical to be something like 20-something inches. To most people who don't understand axis basketball, that would make him a dud shot blocker. Withey benefited by not being able to jump! Yes, you heard me right! Since he couldn't make up for other weaknesses by the jump, Withey had to rely solely on his skills to block shots. Those skills were based around first knowing the shot paths he was defending. Then he knew he had to have at least one hand in immediate proximity of those paths. That mostly required him to move his feet and keep his arms up where he only needed a quick response to extend into the path. The biggest skill Withey had related to timing. This part was all brain work. His brain analyzed shooters moves to the point where he could accurately estimate when and where they would leave their feet to attempt the shot. Once he mastered that, he only had to make sure he put a hand in close proximity of the possible paths. He became so good at it that he set blocking records without being a major leaper or even having good quick feet! Replay him on offense to see how he wasn't a gazelle with his feet. And the best part was that Withey never had to leave his feet early... so he avoided foul trouble!
Withey's skills were so complete; he mastered the final part of blocking a shot and keeping the ball in bounds. His efforts were rarely for nought, because when he made a block it typically resolved into a possession win for our team.
Jojo is a unique big man. He has gifted feet, and it is those nimble feet that have NBA scouts gushing to sign him. What he has other big men can not easily acquire. For as hard as Jeff worked on shot blocking, he can't obtain feet like that with the same amount of work, or he would have done it. Jojo's footwork gives him potential to do everything Withey did and much more, especially making him lethal on offense, an area Jeff always had trouble in.
I don't know what JoJo's vertical is, but I venture to say it must far exceed what Jeff could do. If he can grasp what it takes to become a successful shot blocker, his vertical can help him, but if he uses his jumping as a crutch to avoid learning the science behind shot blocking, he'll never become the shot blocker Jeff was. And as I mentioned earlier, leaping is not at the heart of shot blocking anyways. What gives JoJo a clear advantage is his ability to use his feet to close the distance to the pathways without fouling. He should quickly become better than Jeff at this.
Will JoJo ever develop to become a great shot blocker? I hope so, but I don't know so. I'm sure he will eventually master the mechanics of shot blocking, which should at least make him a respectable blocker, but will he ever surpass Jeff? He'll have to master the intangible process of knowing when and where the paths are that shooters take, and that gets into the area of intuition and how the mind works... and Jeff may be the best to ever play the game in that area, because he sure didn't earn all those shot blocking records with his footwork and leaping ability!
Fortunate for JoJo... he has access to a video library stuffed with Withey stuffs!
