NBA Finals Highlight the Power of Ball Movement

[joesha1698]

Shout-out to the OKC and Pacers. They are two of the most well coached teams in the NBA and they are two teams that move the ball. I have been saying for the years that the Harden/Luka/Brunson style of play isnt the most idea style. I'm not saying you can't win with that style of play but teams that move the ball (without one man dominating it) tend to win more. I thought the Knicks and Minnestoa (this year) should have both fired their coaches and brought in someone that can facilitate an offense. I think the triangle offense could help Minny and I think anything that takes the ball out of Brunson hands and get Kat involved in the mid-range would help the Knicks but I digress...

Overall point of thread -- basketball is a team game and the more ball movement - the better your team overall.At some point the Luka and Brunson's of the world --- need to learn how to score and facilitate within the flow of the game.

[chilluminati]

Yep. iso-centric offense is not getting you rings, especially in this era of ball.

[Wigginstime]

Yep. iso-centric offense is not getting you rings, especially in this era of ball.

SGA was #2 in the NBA only behind James Harden in isolations.

Top 8 ISO players
Harden
SGA
Tatum
Edwards
Durant
Brunson
Irving
James

The only elite teams that are exceptions to this rule are Denver and Indy because Haliburton and Jokic rely on isolations extremely rarely.

[tsherkin]

Yep. iso-centric offense is not getting you rings, especially in this era of ball.

SGA was #2 in the NBA only behind James Harden in isolations.

Top 8 ISO players
Harden
SGA
Tatum
Edwards
Durant
Brunson
Irving
James

The only elite teams that are exceptions to this rule are Denver and Indy because Haliburton and Jokic rely on isolations extremely rarely.

True, but even then, Jokic runs a lot of post isolations (which are not categorized as isos), and Siakam does a fair bit of conventional and post isolation.

[scrabbarista]

The ball has energy.

[ROballer]

Yep. iso-centric offense is not getting you rings, especially in this era of ball.

If OKC offense isn't iso centric, nothing is. SGA hogs the ball like no other, that's one of the reasons they got rid of Giddey. He was useless out there.

That's one of the other reasons they will never trade for Giannis. I'm laughing my ass off at the proposals, it will never happen. This guy is not giving up the ball to another high usage guy who expects #1 option touches.

It's asinine to mention Harden/Luka/Brunson and act like SGA is different, when he's exactly the same on O if not more.

And yet this style will probably still win it because of the absurd defense. That's really the answer and the difference here.

[Bergmaniac]

I thought OKC's ball movement was quite poor in Game 1, an awful lot of possessions with 0 or 1 pass made once they get the ball past halfcourt. An awful lot of SGA ISOs and plenty of rushed shots from JDub and Chet. Their ball movement hasn't been all that great all season, their main focuses are defence and keeping turnovers down so they take a lot of shots without passing much or at all.

[Raps in 4]

I still see people calling Hali a fraud because he doesn't score more. It's why players like CP3, Nash, Lowry, Billups, etc. were so underrated by fans and media. Steph has convinced people that the only way a PG can add value is if they're scoring 30 PPG. You'd frequently see reports over the past decade that "traditional PGs are dead".

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

I still see people calling Hali a fraud because he doesn't score more. It's why players like CP3, Nash, Lowry, Billups, etc. were so underrated by fans and media. Steph has convinced people that the only way a PG can add value is if they're scoring 30 PPG. You'll frequently see reports over the last decade that "traditional PGs are dead".

Billups is one of the most underrated players of all time for me…and I’m a Pacers fan. Respected the hell out of his game though.

[Mavrelous]

OKC plays the Luka/Harden/Brunson style, not sure what you're watching, they are just much better defense and get a lot of fastbreak points.
Indiana is special, becaue Tyrese is special, there are no players like him in the league.

[GoBobs]

The Cavs and Thunder won this year by forcing a lot of other teams into bad offensive possessions.

Pacers are showing that great offense beats great defense.

[Optms]

Crazy take considering that Shai is the best iso scorer in the game outside of Kyrie. Wut.