Glen Davis and the art of the charge

[kozlodoev]

The CHG stat looks more like offensive rather than defensive charges (yes, I know that it's on the "defense and rebounding" page). Either that, or the numbers are way off, as someone already pointed out.

  Haha. Ignore 2 pages of posts on the subject if this is true.

I have no clue whether this is true (it's a wild guess), but Chris Paul and JJ Barea seem to have 5 charges for the season, and I don't think any of those two is the type to put his mug in front of heavy traffic.

[Jon]

Drawing charges is definitely more valuable than a block IMO, but a steal is debatable.  Most blockers in today's NBA (Dwight Howard, etc) just block the ball out of bounds, which isn't particularly useful.  A steal on the other hand often times leads to a fast break.

Of course, a block out of bounds is useful.  It may not be as useful as tapping the ball to a team mate, but it puts your opponents in a situation where they have to in-bound the ball with less than a full shot clock.  And, of course, a block means there no chance of the ball going in the hoop, so it's better than not blocking the shot.

Also, an attempt at taking a charge often yields a defensive foul.  While that can happen on a block too, it tends to happen more in attempting to take a charger. 

Furthermore, a shot blocker's defensive presence if often much more disruptive than someone looking to take a charge.  A great shot blocker can make a player miss even when he doesn't block the shot.  I'm not sure someone taking a charge can influence an opponent like that. 

[GreenEnvy]

Drawing charges is definitely more valuable than a block IMO, but a steal is debatable.  Most blockers in today's NBA (Dwight Howard, etc) just block the ball out of bounds, which isn't particularly useful.  A steal on the other hand often times leads to a fast break.

Of course, a block out of bounds is useful.  It may not be as useful as tapping the ball to a team mate, but it puts your opponents in a situation where they have to in-bound the ball with less than a full shot clock.  And, of course, a block means there no chance of the ball going in the hoop, so it's better than not blocking the shot.

Also, an attempt at taking a charge often yields a defensive foul.  While that can happen on a block too, it tends to happen more in attempting to take a charger. 

Furthermore, a shot blocker's defensive presence if often much more disruptive than someone looking to take a charge.  A great shot blocker can make a player miss even when he doesn't block the shot.  I'm not sure someone taking a charge can influence an opponent like that. 

Well, if a guy is a notoriously good charge-taker, opponents will think twice about going into him and may opt for a jumper/floater instead of a higher-percentage layup.

And just because you are a good shot blocker doesn't necessarily mean you aren't susceptible to guards attacking you. They could be looking for a blocking call or contact in the air. Once a player leaves his feet he is dead meat. The NBA should look into guys jumping sideways into defenders solely looking for contact, but that's another story.

[CelticG1]

They just put the drawn offensive foul stat up during this Mavs game (don't know what their source is). They have Davis at 13 drawn charges with 3 players tied for second with 7. Pretty impressive stuff..