2013 WNBA Blocks Against Leaders

There is a statistic that appears in the WNBA box scores but you won't find it at the WNBA.com site or even at any of the media sites run by the NBA.  On the box scores, just to the left of points, you'll find "BA" - "Blocks Against".

For if a player blocks a shot, it stands to reason that some player got her shot blocked. The Blocks Against column counts this litany of woe, every time a player's shot ended up somewhere on the court, or out of bounds, or in the popcorn stand near Row Z.  Undoubtedly, the WNBA doesn't tally this statistic either on its website or in the 2013 WNBA Media Guide under the principle of anonymity.

At Swish Appeal, however, we're not about anonymity.  (Well, mostly.)  What follows is the list of leaders in Blocks Against - during the 2013 regular season, these are the players most likely to get their shots blocked.

Tulsa's Glory Johnson is far and away the WNBA's Blocks Against leader for 2013.  Forty-three of her shot attempts this season were blocked.  Furthermore, she has the most Blocks Against in a game this season with six.  This was on June 20, 2013 in a game where the Chicago Sky were visiting Tulsa.  There were only seven total blocks by the Sky during that game, and five were from Sylvia Fowles, so you can draw your own conclusions.


Oh, by the way - the Shock won that game, 83 to 74, winning every quarter.  Not all blocks are alike - there's a big difference between the standard blocked shot that is simply an interruption of the offense's possession and the "Bill Russell" blocked shot which is done with a light touch and is designed to keep the ball in play, or even better is sent to the hands of a teammate to set up a fast break on the other end.

However, all Blocks Against are (mostly) alike.  A player tries a shot, and fails.  To which Glory Johnson might reply, "Yeah, Big Syl had to make the effort to block my shots.  At least I'm getting near the basket, which means I'm doing something right."