Ok so over on the GB, poster Deivork posted this video about a different style of play that Heat are exploiting, attacking space, as a way of taking advantage of their team strength as a collective rather than being taken advantage of by defenses who expect a more traditional style of play but without a big star:
This may not be as effective for the Luka or Jokic teams but even in times when teams are missing their top tier stars (or even with them ie/SGA and Thunder) this is good to have in the toolbox.
It does rely on everyone buying in, and does require players with BBIQ, quick decision making, and handles who can drive.
This brings us to our roster limitations. Not only so we have players who miss Wemby on alley oop asses or who take their sweet ass time passing it to him on the block, we also have players who waste time over dribbling on the perimeter, waste time passing horizontally without making it work to our advantage in moving D enough to create driving lanes or we **** drive into multiple defenders.
It's one thing to ISO which this predominantly used by Heat space hunting scheme essentially is. It's another to have too slow to make decisions and waste clock players who shoe horn ISO or shoe horn passing like a **** basketball play execution version of paint by numbers.
Here's Mitch addressing it:
Devin is much better driving quickly - just not into three defenders with open teammates out on the wings. Otherwise he channels DeMar over dribbling in that time wasting on the perimeter without the results.
Sochan has very limited handles and picks up his dribble waiting for teammates to come get a pass, or the back to the basket post up which has its own time frame. He is a good off ball mover and cutter. Half way there.
Champie can't make layups or teardrops consistently. Again, good off ball mover and cutter.
Luke is severely underutilized.
Wemby gets clogged up when quickly doubled and we spend too much time standing around watching him. He's terrific bringing up the ball and going downhill or spinning off defenders towards the rim. Quick decisions, downhill movement.
Lindy was signed to make 3s yet he rides pine even when we struggle from the arc.
I like using DJG who is a quick downhill clutch player. Carter as a dynamic downhill transition player is something we could use more of.
Accountability. I use this example now and again, but deep in development mode, Pop called a timeout and walked onto the floor yelling at Vassell, index fingers at his temples yelling, "Think!" as Devin did not execute the ATO play properly.
And of course players have to adjust on the fly to defenses and plays get broken down and reset or changed.
But that's not what DV does with those perimeter overdribbles or dribbling up the ball with teammates already ahead and open rather than passing to them.
And again, in what universe is he or JC taking more shots than Fox, who we traded for as acknowledgement that Vassell isn't the Robin we thought he would be, when Fox has a far more efficient night than either?
Unless we are featuring DV for a trade I don't see why 1. This is allowed to continue and 2. No adjustments are made.
Agree with gump here that this is a coaching issue. Maybe Vassell's confidence is tied to a specific piece of pie and if his role is cut he takes a hit but like **** rewarding bad inefficient tunnel vision habits isn't helping anyone. Teams *want* the inefficient players to take more shots!
I like our bolstered coaching staff and think they need time together as well. Pop in 2023 or 2014 or 1999 isn't the same coach, even if the Pound the Rock philosophy threads all our teams.
Better timeouts during opponent runs we see more of but cutting out **** O habits has to get some attention.
Teams figured us out after five games and all it took was doubling Wemby to get bogged down. Other guys have to step up around him and we're not doing that in favour at times of dumb O habits.
And when our supernova is not playing, we need to have five guys capable and willing to keep it moving. Guys have specific skills but I don't understand how dribbling is an issue for some of them. Or over dribbling as a mental comfort zone to have to enter before making a late clock play. We're losing daylight, baby, make a decision and act on it already.
Last game was a pissed off fan turning point in which not only did we break hundreds of games' worth of consecutive 20 assists reached, but we had more TOs than assists. Mitch attributed that to forcing a shot or a pass rather than responding organically to what a given situation calls for and well that's BBIQ.
As for team D, we rank 5th in overall FG% against and tied for 7th in defensive rating at 111.8 but rank a woeful 29th in 3s percentage allowed. Not sure how we manage such a dichotomy other than Wemby manning the paint, and Luke being a great addition with Kelly an upgrade as well. But we got a defensive guru from the Mavs and absolutely **** BLOW in covering/contesting the most modern of shots now taken so often that even lowly teams that catch fire from the arc can beat a contender with.
We're 22nd in TOs per game at 16.1 and tied for 12th in assists per game with 26.8. Being at or near the top of both has long been a staple of our identity. Sure we have a lot of new players and it takes time to gel, but geez ball protection and movement and ball sharing were part of The Beautiful Game long before current iterations have been praised.
Wemby-out basketball can have variations. Deviating from it with guys who insist on doubling down on inefficient clock eating shot selection needs curbing from coaches. Don't pass details to the open man, watch others do it. Throw the **** ball away by dribbling into multiple defenders and bad passes, watch others do better.
I'm at a loss about the poor arc defense and five Spurs in the paint instances when Wemby is there and multiple opponents are camped at the arc but ok. Again, opponents are making 39.2% from 3 against us. As expected, we are 2nd in FG% against within 0-9ft. Something has to give beyond this realm. Either defensive concepts or lineups or roster changes.
