Kyle Hines’s blocked shot over Youssoupha Fall, in the EuroLeague first round, made a lot of noise because the difference between the two players in terms of size. Fall is 2.21 mt. tall, Hines is a 1.98 mt undersized center.We are talking about a 23-centimeter difference. But over the course of his career, Hines has always found a way to shrink the gap and reserve the same treatment to players of different size and especially in different game situations. Fall’s block was the typical Helpside Defender block. Hines came from the weak side to meet Fall, betrayed maybe by a false sense of security. So, Hines put his hand very high, using a classic skill of all the great shot-blockers, the jumping quickness. Jumping high, jumping quick and jumping at the right time are the traits of all the big shot-blockers. But Edy Tavares, from real Madrid, can block any shot using his arms lenght and his size, because he is 2.20 mt tall himself. The only credible comparison is with Bryant Dunston from Efes, the all-time leading shot-blocker. He is 2.03 mt tall. He uses the same weapons.
What Hines is able to do with consistency is to make moves in different situations: he can meet the opponent at the rim, coming from the weak side to block a dunk attempt, erecting a wall o as a chase down blocker when the opponent is in front and the defender is coming from behind, almost invisible. It is the block that LeBron James made famous in the NBA.
The block made over Toko Shengelia, during the last championship series in the Italian league, is similar to the one made over Fall. Shengelia was attacking the rim. Hines left his man, Jaiteh, and came to the rescue to protect the rim. In soccer terms it was a last man saved. In American football, it is a perfect goal-line defense. Hines is huge at doing this. During the last season, he made two thunderous blocks, meeting his opponents at the rim, jumping as high. Shaquielle McKissic from Olympiacos and Nigel Hayes, then at Barcelona, have comparable heights and they go at the rim using quickness and strenght. But he was right there. And he is physically stronger. When you meet Hines at the rim you hit a wall and bounces back.
There is a reason why Kyle Hines is a perennial defensive player of the year candidate. It is about his talent in achoring a defense, his skills as a rim protector. The block made two years ago over Joel Bolomboy, from CSKA Moscow, is one for the ages. Bolomboy, who now plays for Olympiacos,went up, and up, and up, using all his athletic power, and didn’t expect to find Hines right there, coming from nowhere, strong enough to push his dunk attempt back. The Iconic Shots Blocked by Hines, even in Milan only, is unparalled.
Obviously, the most relevant block was the one over Wade Baldwin, the at Bayern Munich, at the end of Game 5 in the 2021 EuroLeague playoffs.It wasn’t a spectacular block. And it was a rare case of a block over a smaller player. Then, it was not your typical block, when the ball is swatted away and maybe recovered by the defense. Hines generated a jump ball, putting his hands on the ball. But Baldwin is a strong guard who can get to the rim against any defense. Hines erected a wall between Baldwin and the basket and getting the hands on the ball, preventing him from doing anything, a shot, a pass, anything.
