Why pace and space is good, hero ball is bad

Very good article on Grantland.

grantland.com/the-triangle/the-nbas-next-shooting-revolution-has-already-been-televised

Sorry, for some reason the link feature didn't want to work, but it's worth the copy and paste.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-nbas-next-shooting-revolution-has-already-been-televised/


bob


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Just finished the article. Excellent.

HOWEVER, there are times when having someone who can create their own shot is a decided advantage. Pierce could, Larry could, Isaiah can and when you NEED a bucket those players come in handy.

The problem is when you get players like MJ and Kobe, players who are mass volume shooters. They live (and die) with their "on-my-own midrange field goal" (OMFG) shots (btw, I love that acronym and I'm going to use it from now on. Credit to Kirk Goldsberry every time I do), they just don't know when to turn them off.

Overall, though, he's preaching to the choir here. The Boston Celtics have never had a league top scorer, we've always been team oriented.

What's nice is that I don't think there is any doubt that Brad is on the same page.


bob


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This was a good article.
The isolation game is going away.
Reading this article makes me even happier that the Lakers drafted Russell who is both a scorer and a playmaker.
Atlanta was a bit of a fraud last year. They had a great regular season but couldn't compete with more talented players in the playoffs. GS had a great year, but I am not convinced they would have won if Irving and Love were playing.
The team with the better individual players will probably still win most of the championships.

Hero ball works in the playoffs because the NBA seems to promote heroes with star fouls.

How many star fouls did Jordan draw on his way to 6 championships under David Stern?

The real reason you need a superstar is because superstar fouls corrupt the game, but are excellent for business.

Playoff basketball has always slowed down and more emphasis is put on defense which means you need better scorers/players in order to win.

good point.

Bob, thanks for creating the clickable link. I tried creating it, just like I have a thousand times before, and it ended up as dead text on the page. Reminded me of dating in high school -- I kept trying, but nothing.

Regarding the actual article, of course it helps to have someone who can create his own "hero-ball" shot when the offense breaks down near the end of the clock, and Goldsberry makes that point in the article. But having that type of player unfortunately comes with its evil twin -- the guy who goes iso with half the shot clock left while the other four players clear out and just stand there, watching and waiting, while the star sets up a midrange jumper.

To me, the contrast between pace-and-space and hero ball was last season's finals in a nutshell. If LeBron had won that series, not only would I have had my soul crushed down to my Warrior DNA, I would have had my faith in the game crushed, because no way should a talented, unselfish, cohesive team lose to that type of basketball.

tjmakz wrote:GS had a great year, but I am not convinced they would have won if Irving and Love were playing.

This type of narrative is unfortunately being promoted all over the place, as if the Warriors' 67-win regular season, 10.1 scoring differential, and 11-game margin in the brutal Western conference were flukes.

Rivers and Bogut weren't in the same room when they said these quotes, but I wish they would've been.

Doc Rivers: "You need luck in the West. Look at Golden State. They didn't have to play us or the Spurs."

Andrew Bogut: "I got my ring fitted for my middle finger."

Outside wrote:Bob, thanks for creating the clickable link. I tried creating it, just like I have a thousand times before, and it ended up as dead text on the page. Reminded me of dating in high school -- I kept trying, but nothing.

Regarding the actual article, of course it helps to have someone who can create his own "hero-ball" shot when the offense breaks down near the end of the clock, and Goldsberry makes that point in the article. But having that type of player unfortunately comes with its evil twin -- the guy who goes iso with half the shot clock left while the other four players clear out and just stand there, watching and waiting, while the star sets up a midrange jumper.

To me, the contrast between pace-and-space and hero ball was last season's finals in a nutshell. If LeBron had won that series, not only would I have had my soul crushed down to my Warrior DNA, I would have had my faith in the game crushed, because no way should a talented, unselfish, cohesive team lose to that type of basketball.

tjmakz wrote:GS had a great year, but I am not convinced they would have won if Irving and Love were playing.

This type of narrative is unfortunately being promoted all over the place, as if the Warriors' 67-win regular season, 10.1 scoring differential, and 11-game margin in the brutal Western conference were flukes.

Rivers and Bogut weren't in the same room when they said these quotes, but I wish they would've been.

Doc Rivers: "You need luck in the West. Look at Golden State. They didn't have to play us or the Spurs."

Andrew Bogut: "I got my ring fitted for my middle finger."

outside,

Love the quotes. Perfecto!

The Celtics have a player like that, Isaiah Thomas. The nice thing about IT is that he isn't a Kobe or MJ, who can demand to be on the floor and the coach will have problems not putting them on it.

In GSW's case they have Curry AND Thompson. If one's cold, give it to the other one.


bob


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