Posted by nixluva:
LB's system is NOTHING like Isiah's. Now almost all BB schemes attempt to do the same thing, which is make it easy to score, so there are going to be similarities. However in LB's system YOU MUST have a good ball distributing PG. The role of Billups at the top of the key is vital to how that entire scheme works. He's the brain of the offense. Everything runs thru him.
By contrast Isiah's system doesn't require the PG to make the decision on passing alone. Almost everyone shares in that role. The motion creates the passing lanes and it becomes easier for players to make the decision of whether to pass the ball or not. It's this simplified decision making that allows this team to function well even without a great PG at the head of the offense. We have several players who can push the ball up court and once there the motion sets up easy passes and they take it from there. Also the offense is highly focused on attacking the basket. That is different from LB's offense in which a guy like Billups spends so much time far away from the basket as well as other players who are taking midrange jumpers more often than drives to the basket.
Well we're talking about degrees of difference. I think you exaggerate the differences, especially now before we even see isiah's offense fully implemented. He says he's using the same system he used in Indy, where he utilized Tinsley as a fairly pure playmaker. But then he didn't have quite as many PGs to placate as here, so maybe he'll adjust.
Brown too was not opposed to letting Prince or Hamilton initiate breaks and, in fact, in 04-05 Hamilton only registered 1 less APG than Billips. And one did not see Billips pick-N-rolling and penetrating and dishing all game long, he was largely a steady initiator and facilitator from the perimeter. He'd pass to the interior and they'd pass back out, and around the horn. He was a man who manned a point on the floor, and he was their "head" out there, but they were not dependent on his skillset. When he sat his replacements were quite clear on how to similarly man the position: defend, see the floor from the arc, keep the ball moving, find the open man. It didn't take unique skills.
And this so far for us has been little more than meaningless pre-season, but I'd bet that as the games start to count, and a "most reliable" decision maker emerges, we too will see the ball in his hands more and more. Right now we're still in "lets see what you can do and lets have fun doing it" mode. When the system is implemented and the games start to count lets assess the system.
