Yup, generally speaking if the rock's small you want it to disintegrate high in the atmosphere, where the heat and shockwaves will dissipate over a large area.
If the rock's big enough though? You want it to hit. The more energy sunk into the Earth directly the less energy ends up in the atmosphere as heat and shockwaves.
If the rock's big enough though? You want it to hit. The more energy sunk into the Earth directly the less energy ends up in the atmosphere as heat and shockwaves.