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TheGlyde wrote:^ While Im not arguing your point, that specific play was on MCW. He only had eyes for Ross and pounded the air out of the ball until he was half open, where if he passed to BJ and cut BJ could have found him, fed in to Bamba, or Bamba could have screened for him (or probably been like wtf I have the ball what do I do!? And turned it over), but anyway, that play was on MCW.
Xatticus wrote:Xatticus wrote:Teams sag off of every player. They never abandon a player unless someone screws up. There was at least a couple occasions last night where Ross was left completely open, yet Fournier didn't make the easy pass to Ross and instead tried to force the ball into the post. If it was Iwundu that had been lost by the defense, I'm sure I'd have read a long-winded post explaining why Iwundu is the reason that our offense sucks.
I dug one up:
This was Fournier running the two-man game with Bamba. It's usually Vucevic, but this works fine as an example. I'd make a video if I knew how, but it's never seemed worth the effort to bother.
A brief synopsis of what is going on: MCW brings the ball into the frontcourt and gives it to Bamba at the top of the key. MCW heads to the far corner and takes Ross' defender with him. Ross slides up to the wing all alone. MCW's defender just gets himself lost in the paint. Bamba hands it off to Fournier and screens again for Fournier before rolling to the basket. Zeller hedges Fournier before trying to recover. The guard that got lost picks up Bamba as he drops to the basket. It should've been the man defending MCW in the corner that rotated, but their guard screwed up and Ross was all alone.
Due to Zeller hedging, Fournier had two defenders on him and so he had to give up the ball. The really easy decision here is for Fournier to pass the ball to Ross. That doesn't happen though. He forces the ball in to Bamba. When Fournier runs the two-man game, he sees nothing else. The pass to Bamba was inaccurate and takes Bamba away from the basket. Clark clears out of the corner when Bamba ends up there. Fournier moves towards Bamba to get the ball back, but Fournier's defender tries to steal the ball from Bamba and he is forced to aggressively try to close out Fournier after Bamba passes it out. Fournier sidesteps the defender and hits a three. Great possession? No. Not really.
Conclusion: Our offense sucks because teams simply don't respect Ross' ability to shoot.
(I'm here all week, tip your waitress). Seriously, very good analysis...Ross is one of the few that can shoot. I'm not ready to go HOU and have your one non-shooter at PG but, the threat of shooters make everything open. Like how establishing the running game opens up the passing game in NFL.
pepe1991 wrote:
On most plays ,this is how teams defend Ross. Glued to him ,especially in such a tragic lineup
Development of same play, Ross is being chased around
Catches the ball with no space to breath
Gets swallowed
shot clock violation because nobody but him can actually do anything on set defense.
p0peye wrote:Xatticus wrote:Xatticus wrote:Teams sag off of every player. They never abandon a player unless someone screws up. There was at least a couple occasions last night where Ross was left completely open, yet Fournier didn't make the easy pass to Ross and instead tried to force the ball into the post. If it was Iwundu that had been lost by the defense, I'm sure I'd have read a long-winded post explaining why Iwundu is the reason that our offense sucks.
I dug one up:
This was Fournier running the two-man game with Bamba. It's usually Vucevic, but this works fine as an example. I'd make a video if I knew how, but it's never seemed worth the effort to bother.
A brief synopsis of what is going on: MCW brings the ball into the frontcourt and gives it to Bamba at the top of the key. MCW heads to the far corner and takes Ross' defender with him. Ross slides up to the wing all alone. MCW's defender just gets himself lost in the paint. Bamba hands it off to Fournier and screens again for Fournier before rolling to the basket. Zeller hedges Fournier before trying to recover. The guard that got lost picks up Bamba as he drops to the basket. It should've been the man defending MCW in the corner that rotated, but their guard screwed up and Ross was all alone.
Due to Zeller hedging, Fournier had two defenders on him and so he had to give up the ball. The really easy decision here is for Fournier to pass the ball to Ross. That doesn't happen though. He forces the ball in to Bamba. When Fournier runs the two-man game, he sees nothing else. The pass to Bamba was inaccurate and takes Bamba away from the basket. Clark clears out of the corner when Bamba ends up there. Fournier moves towards Bamba to get the ball back, but Fournier's defender tries to steal the ball from Bamba and he is forced to aggressively try to close out Fournier after Bamba passes it out. Fournier sidesteps the defender and hits a three. Great possession? No. Not really.
Conclusion: Our offense sucks because teams simply don't respect Ross' ability to shoot.
That is a rare situation as Ross is one of the guys in our team that has least wide open 3PA per game (0.8) - meaning as it rarely happens.
Number of wide open 3PA is not valid either as it simply represent situation where wide open player chooses to shoot. What we have here most frequently is that one of our players (be it Birch, Fultz or someone else) in almost every offensive possession has a wide open shot that he chooses not to take.
You are right, other teams have to work and move the ball, force switches and scrambles to get a player in such favorable position - we are getting that by opponent team defense design because we have players that can't shoot. I have no idea how this is even for debate. You can't use 3PA in this situation because we don't shoot.
Xatticus wrote:Hennigan brought in shooter after shooter (Speights, Wilcox, Watson, Rudez, Meeks, Augustin, etc..) to try to fix the offense, but that was never the fundamental problem. Good offense comes from good player movement, good ball movement, good timing, good execution of basic actions like screening and cutting, and above all else, good decision-making.
LeBron isn't a great offensive player because he is a great shooter. You can put the ball in his hands and trust that he will read how the defense reacts to what he does and make the right decision. This is what makes Doncic special as well. Every player in the NBA looks better in an offense with good circulation. Everyone looks better when they can catch the ball in space and make a decision with a defender running at them.
Xatticus wrote:
It's not really rare. Poor decision-making is a defining characteristic of our offense. We run the same basic actions (and I do mean basic) over and over again. We run such basic **** and we run it so poorly. It's a stark contrast when you compare it to a team that is running multiple actions at the same time and where players have the freedom to abandon the primary option if it gets closed down.
It is exceptionally obvious when we are trying to get the ball into Ross' hands. The vast majority of his shots come from curls off of a back screen or something at the high post. He just elevates and shoots even if the defender is right there. Everyone in the arena can see it coming.
The same thing happens when we try to force the ball in to the post to Vucevic or Gordon. We had a possession in a game recently where we burned the shot clock down to six seconds trying to force the ball into Vucevic. We finally got it in and he immediately kicked it out. That is a doomed possession.
Hennigan brought in shooter after shooter (Speights, Wilcox, Watson, Rudez, Meeks, Augustin, etc..) to try to fix the offense, but that was never the fundamental problem. Good offense comes from good player movement, good ball movement, good timing, good execution of basic actions like screening and cutting, and above all else, good decision-making.
LeBron isn't a great offensive player because he is a great shooter. You can put the ball in his hands and trust that he will read how the defense reacts to what he does and make the right decision. This is what makes Doncic special as well. Every player in the NBA looks better in an offense with good circulation. Everyone looks better when they can catch the ball in space and make a decision with a defender running at them.
Our offense consistently underperforms relative to the quality of it's technical qualities, yet everyone around here wants to blame the deficiency of technical skills. My favorite player would be an all-star if so-and-so could dribble and shoot better!
