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One of the things that disappoints me about conversations such as this one on this forum is that people tend to use extreme examples to illustrate their point. I'm not talking about either extreme in this case - a strong block w/ a slight touch on the shooter OR a strong block w/ a HUGE amount of contact.
I wish I had some video clips to illustrate my point. I officiate high school and college ball. The games that I do are usually pretty competitive with pretty good athletes. I will allow a player to block a shot cleanly "up top" and make contact (WITHIN REASON) with his body after blocking the shot. To me, that's a good defensive play. If there is an large amount of contact, then I've got to call a foul. If the defender has to go thru the shooter and sufficient contact occurs BEFORE the block - then I've got a foul.
The blocked shot is one of the more athletic or "beautiful" parts of the game. I prefer not to call a "game interrupter" if I can help it. Sometimes I can't - but I want to give the defender the benefit of the doubt if he has blocked the ball cleanly up top.
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Jeff Pearson
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