FanHouse

There's more than one way to play defense. Everyone celebrates the ones most commonly found on highlight reels -- the vicious block that sends the ball five rows into the stands, the sneaky steal at mid-court that results in an easy fast-break dunk -- but people tend to ignore another fundamental tactic: holding your ground and drawing a charge.

As Alex from BrewHoop pointed out this weekend, Andrew Bogut is one of only a handful of players who excel at both the highlight-reel block and drawing charges:

While the Bucks finished dead last in the NBA in defensive efficiency, Andrew Bogut completed the 2007-08 season with exactly 100 more blocks than he had the previous season, good enough for 1.7 per game. The third-year center also broke through with career highs in points (14.4), rebounds (9.8), and steals (0.8).

There's more: Bogut finished second in the NBA in offensive fouls drawn, with 53. He's placed in the top three overall each of his first three years in the NBA. Drawing charges is arguably more beneficial than blocking shots, which can result in the opposing team still holding possession.

This is another reason why I think the NBA needs improved metrics for discussing player performance. No one ever talks about the leaders in drawing charges, but as Alex points out, they're even more valuable than blocks.

(Of course, players who exaggerate contact to convince the ref to blow the whistle a la Manu Ginobili isn't a good thing, at least for the fans. But that's where a "Deceitfulness Rule" could help out.)

Can you guess who else ranks among the leaders in offensive fouls drawn this year? I would have assumed Ginobili and Anderson Varejao would be among the leaders, but they're actually 37th and 21st, respectively. Instead, Derek Fisher, Bogut, Mikki Moore, Kyle Lowry and Joel Przybilla round out the top five. Not exactly the most glamorous list of players, but I guess the guys who have to hustle the most rarely see their name in lights.