The "System" argument: can somebody explain it?

[Knighthonor]

I hear this a lot from the topics about Shabazz and Barnes.

But seem people say that sometimes players with hype or good skill do bad, because of some kind of system they are in. I was wondering if somebody here can explain this part of scouting to me for a deeper understanding of how that can effect player skill so drastically.

and what exactly are the different systems? and how do they work in general?

[ManualRam]

it basically boils down to the level structure on a team. some coaches have more control over their offense with more body/ball movement, more screens, more drawn up plays or specialized roles, etc while others allow more freedom for the players to take advantage of their natural, individual shotmaking/playmaking/open court ability.

i don't buy the excuse for either bazz or barnes. roy williams' has very little structure to his offense and howland granted a ton of freedom this past yr, much more than he usually does. they both had the freedom to display their natural ability, they just had major holes in their games, like both having weak ball-handling ability.

[ManualRam]

in bazz' case i actually thought howland did a good job highlighting some of the things that bazz does well, while compensating for his weaknesses. involving him in more curls and baseline action allowed him to take advantage of his slashing ability without him having to generate his own forward momentum off the dribble. it also put him in a better position to finish dump offs, o-boards and mid-post opps.

[Gilles]

Well, Barnes can put some blame on poor spacing in UNC. Now he's in spacing heaven. He still doesn't look that great offensively, but for #7 pick he's doing pretty good as a rookie.

[ImHeisenberg]

You need to be explained how a system can help a player achieve his potential?

I'll just politely point you towards the San Antonio Spurs....