I'm sorry but, even though he didn't succeed in that exchange, he tried to stop the shot. That was his job and he did it well. It's easy for people to sit on the couch and shout "OOOOOOH!" or whatever but what else was he supposed to do? Run out of the way? Foul the guy? Ignore what was going on with the ball? Some other asinine thing that would have made him look worse, at least in the long run?

No, he stood his ground and it just didn't work out in his favor, this time. It's unrealistic to say he did anything majorly wrong. I'm not saying we should praise failure but we absolutely shouldn't shame trying.

I read a book recently that had a really powerful idea about mistakes, the quote was something like, "If I should fall, then I will rise again a better man." That's how everyone should look at things where success isn't the result they've received. "I didn't win but I won't lose again for the same reasons."

Also, every single player in that game has had a similar thing happen to him at some point. It's impossible to play a sport so often, and for so long, that you're a professional at it, without having had some massive plays made over top of your failures. So should those people have their jersey retired, have their name taken out of the Hall of Fame, or be fired from the team? Of course not. They only need to learn from their mistake and do better next time. If they can't or if they aren't willing to go up for the block, then you can say things like "After that, there's no way you can view them in a positive light!".

So, sure, mock the guy for having a play land in the other team's favor. I'm sure it was all his fault and he deserves to be ridiculed for attempting to stop it. /s

You can praise the winner without being derisive and dickish to the loser. That is the heart of sportsmanship, actually.