Hoopalotta wrote:I was as pleased with Nick's performance as anyone, but the idea of 'had we gone to Nick earlier in the season, he would've responded' is really, really far from how I see it.
It seemed to me that Nick got hot after we ran a scripted football style offense were we plugged in the first X number of plays to get him as a structured component of the offense. Almost as if by rote. That seemed to work pretty well with Nick starting, and I give the whole coaching staff credit for working him in like that.
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We won and he was definitely part of the solution, so start Nick again and go from there. Eventually the early game Reggie Miller impression could be a legitimate part of Nick's game and in getting minutes his feel will improve to the point where he can consistently do more than just score.
I'm fighting real hard not to start a paragraph with 'but' and reference earlier play again.
I'll start that 'but'. Agreed with your points, 'but', or rather 'and':
The thing about scripted plays is that opponents can gameplan for them after scouts take a look at them. To make it work long term, Nick (or Flip rather) will need to add a bit of 'paper' and 'scissors' to the rochambeau. Otherwise if Nick only has the capacity to remember 'Rock, Rock, Rock' well then opponents will start to paper over that option. That is, they'll snuff the first few attempts and Nick will get disheartened. Or else, as with the best teams, the rest of the squad will have to execute perfectly with the screens and passes to allow him to get off regardless.
All of that may come with time, chemistry, continuity, etc. --and-- if he can have some success starting, then with experience.
'And' or 'But' we were lucky inasmuch as we had 2 home games in a 12 day stretch. Plenty of time to drill Nick into a groove in practice. Still a positive sign though that Flip is learning his squad on the fly and making adjustments.
The most hopeful sign though had nothing to do with scripted plays. He held Iggy to 2-for-10 on defense, and was rarely out of place. Okay he may not entirely understand the defensive principles of the Zone (when/where to collapse/bounce out) but oddly, paradoxically, our weakest defensive thinker may prove to be the keystone player that Flip likes to use to spearhead some of his defensive sets: stick to the opponents' toughest scorer like bikini wax, make their life uncomfortable. Sicc'em and stick 'em.
He only needs to get over the idea that his offense has anything to do with his D. Stop getting glum if he misses a shot, and simply turn up the heat at the other end.
Not sure what I think about his 'dusting shoulders' move. Nick, like Gil, plays best when he's having fun. He shouldn't have to rely on fun to get off, but I can't see that you'll ever forge him into a toughminded fierce pitbull even if you ex-out all the antics. Even though I understand why it irritates a purist like Flip.
