There's an SBNation
article about the rise of Jordan Poole, and the first video snippet reminded me of something someone said here the other day about the Warriors relying on 'flashy plays that won't work in the playoffs.' On the contrary, I think this one shows a nice example of a clever play / clever set that's executed mainly by good coordination:
https://streamable.com/o/r1lb4tSpecifically, the way three of their guys deliberately head over to bunch up oddly on the right of the paint, drawing their defenders in to a clump of six bodies. Like a broken play that's only wastes time until they get unentangled.
Au contraire, now you have a dynamic situation in which the three offensive guys can react in a variety of different ways to suddenly gain space or run their defenders together. Like an octopus shooting its arms out, let's say. In this case, the defense played the particular variation pretty well, but in the end, still let one man escape baseline for either the finish or a pass to a wide-open 3pt shooter. Just delicious.
To me the 'clumped octopus formation' is such a clever tool to have in your arsenal, one that doesn't rely on pure athleticism or talent, but on teamwork and coordination. By comparison, it's so annoying to watch the Nets try to space themselves slackadaisically, with little to show for it, then to have one of the big two or three make the predictable move anyway. Even when our guys hustle and pass, it seems like it's usually nothing the defense hasn't seen before, and doesn't put much real pressure on the other team.
Why hasn't Nash come up with nifty plays like this to help everyone outside the big three become more versatile and productive? It doesn't rely on shooting skills either, more like situational awareness.