It's a read just like blocking low/high. ND on a bad read can lead to a full combo, blocking on a bad read can lead to a throw. So ND is riskier and you can get a D2 KB out of it. I don't get the questions about it being skillful or not, it's a read, it's a split decision. It is hard to press down on the d-pad? No. Is it hard to press R2? No. Is it hard to press a series of buttons? No. Is ND skillful? No, but neither is pressing buttons. What's skillful is figuring out what your opponent is going to do before he does it and react accordingly, everything else is just a tool you have to use.