RRyder823 wrote:DingleJerry wrote:jimmybones wrote:
Hell yeah. Imagine the opportunity cost gains by taking all those low efficiency jumpers and distributing those shots to other players as well as the energy saved from not trying to superman his way to score that can be used defensively.
We're going to find out if Giannis wants to win more than he wants to score. I don't think he's selfish. I do think it's been pretty strongly programmed into his mind that he needs to be a dominant scorer for us to win.
Yea the style of prime Shaq types is gone due to style of play now. I don't know if I'd call it Amare necessarily but what you describe is pretty spot on for what the focus should be. Add in that he's the best open court player to get 6-10 ppg that way too along with when Dame is resting/hurt then bring back his norm and you still have at least 25 ppg if not 30 in todays pace. I also agree it's not that he's selfish and cares about 'getting his' or anything like that, its more that this is the only way he knows how to play and obviously he's been pretty pretty pretty good at it. To unlock the full potential of the team and for him not to beat himself up as he ages and gassing himself in playoff games when he needs 40 mins a tweak like this could go a long way. And note, I/we are pretty much only talking about when Dame is on the floor. When he's not, normal Giannis is still likely their best route, by far.
Also, this isn't one game. There's been multiple 4ths this year
when Dame was allowed to be Dame and its just obviously the O is better that way. The 4th when Giannis was kicked out and Dame won it pretty much by himself as prime example. I mean, the guy is the 2nd best shooter ever, it makes sense.
Here's the thing. That's when Dame simply stopped playing too passive. All those opportunities still exist alongside current Giannis as long as Dame isn't just playing to fit in. That's more of Dame comfort issue then anything else.
Tweaks to each other's games are needed. Fundamentally changing of games by either (which has been suggested multiple times in this thread) misses the point of the pairing
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I mean the reality is that Lillard is a better offensive player than Giannis even at Giannis' best, and he does it on lower usage. We have also seen repeatedly, that Giannis-centered offense falters in the playoffs. It's obvious to the eye test that Giannis centric offense is ugly and has some big flaws that a Dame centered offense based around spread PnR actions does not have, and running things through Dame looks better, and his entire career is more effective than even Giannis' best years on that end. Giannis also adds insane defensive value. Basically, if we choose not to switch Giannis' role to playing off Dame it's akin to sticking our head in the sand and conceding we are intentionally doing something the inferior way. There's no reason to do that except for Giannis literally might refuse to be willing to change his game or is not smart enough to do it (jury is out, but it looks like one of those is the case). What we are doing not only minimizes Dame's effectiveness, but it hampers the team's offensive efficacy on top of that. This isn't about Dame alone, it's about us running things through Giannis when it is OBJECTIVELY the wrong decision for the betterment of the team. We have the stats. It's backed up obviously by the eye test.
No one is saying that Giannis has to become Deandre Jordan. But a HUGE amount of Giannis possessions and usage ARE OBJECTIVELY BAD PLAYS AND BAD DECISIONS. It's not a recipe for winning vs good teams in the post season. The best teams are going to straight up out math us with better shot quality, and better offensive possessions consistently when it matters. It's not just his jump shots. His scoring in ISO situations is legitimately poor. He's so ridiculously good in transition and finishing at the rim on close catches that it masks how poor he is in other aspects. His usage is out of control and he has some habits that legitimately completely screw up half court offense for everyone else on the team. The constant calling for the ball, walking towards the ball whenever anyone else tries to run a PnR or drive, never screening, never cutting hard to force the defense to react to his pressure to open space on the floor for a teammate. These things on the margins matter so much especially as Middleton and Brook fade in their effectiveness as players.
What you are talking about these opportunities that still exist alongside Giannis...they don't consistently and that's the problem. Giannis should absolutely not be bringing the ball up court except if he's pushing the break. All the possessions he brings it up to get into a halfcourt set are straight up poor. He's not decisiveness enough and is way too selfish to do that when we have literally a top 5 offensive player (who sometimes is top 2-3) being relegated to an off ball spotting up role when that happens. It's just inexcusable basketball and it's insisting on giving the worse offensive player far more opportunity than the better one.
