Holmes Sets Season Record for Blocked Shots

BG Sophomore Richaun Holmes set the program record for most blocked shots in a season on Saturday when he blocked his second shot--#60--and then went on to block 2 more.

It is pretty impressive, for a couple of reasons.  First, the existing record was set by Cornelius Cash, a Falcon of my youth.  He blocked 59 in 1974, which means Holmes is breaking a record that stood for 39 seasons.

If you notice a contemporary bent to the stats, I don't think that blocked shots were kept from the beginning of basketball.  The NCAA did make them an official stat until the mid 1980s.

Anyway, you can see a bunch of shot blockers and Holmes has passed them all and has time left to get more.

The other thing that makes this impressive is that Holmes doesn't play that much.  He is averaging only 19 minutes a game, probably less than any of the guys on that list you see above me.  According to statsheet.com, he blocks 14.3% of the shots taken while he is in the game (this is a statistical estimate), which is #5 in D1 this year and #1 in the MAC.

Here is his block% by game.

As you can see, there have been some games with no blocks recently.  It seems--and this is only an observation--that teams are giving him a shot fake more, but that might be my imagination.  Certainly, when you block shots like this, teams are going to adjust and he just has to adjust back.

College Basketball

He's also the 5th most efficient scorer in the MAC, which means he might not score a ton but he does it without using a ton possessions as well.  He had a big game Saturday in Akron and I have high hopes for his ability to contribute in this conference, especially if he gets a little bigger and stronger on the inside.