Post#987 » by SideshowBob » Tue Nov 6, 2012 8:10 pm
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgBTCZsgRAI[/youtube]
It's remarkable how easily he's getting high percentage buckets within the offense here.
The last two seasons, I condemned this style of play. He was largely working off the ball to pick up easy buckets in the offense, which resulted in him stagnating when facing stronger half-court defenses and showing an inability/unwillingness to be an effective creator. This lead to his actual playmaking taking a dive as well. On the ball, he couldn't capitalize effectively on the defensive attention he was getting to create as high percentage shots for the rest of the team (at least not to the extent that he was able to before). Many of his assists were largely the result of easy fast break buckets, they weren't always a result of his creation, just the result of timely passing. Within the halfcourt, the baskets he WAS creating weren't as optimal as they could be. While Miami routinely maintained a top5 team eFG%, they were 20th and 23rd in TOV% in 2011 and 2012 respectively (13.5% and 14.5%). This season, while they've dropped off colossally on the ORB front, they're TOV% is way down, ranked 7th at 12.7%, and I'd wager that that ranking will continue down further.
Why? Because his on-ball ability has been remarkably rejuvenated (for what reason isn't important at this point; what's clear is that he's dramatically improved). Now, that ability to create easy buckets for himself off-the-ball is an excellent compliment to his on-ball game, because he can now be putting immense pressure on the defense AT ALL TIMES when he's on the floor. It opens up his ability to create by a drastic amount, because unlike the last two seasons, there's never a time in the game where he's not the deadliest threat to score on the planet, and so, his teammates are getting even EASIER buckets than before. They're being put into positions to score immediately, and have to do less work on the ball themselves, which is why we've seen the team's already high eFG% skyrocket and its their TOV% has come down.
So, to the point, I really like what I'm seeing so far. While yes, it doesn't seem like he's going to be the slasher he once was, he's currently good enough on that front that he CAN surpass both 09 and 10 as offensive seasons. Given that he's seen marginal defensive improvements year-in-year-out since then as well, and its definitely a strong bet that we will be seeing his best season this year, and that's a remarkable thought, considering how strong those earlier campaigns were to begin with.
But in his home dwelling...the hi-top faded warrior is revered. *Smack!* The sound of his palm blocking the basketball... the sound of thousands rising, roaring... the sound of "get that sugar honey iced tea outta here!"
