Uptown wrote:Adding a defensive assistant may aquire MDA to alter his offensive philosphy a bit. Quick, long 3's are an enemy of the defensive because it causes too many long rebounds going back the other way and leaves your team out of sorts scarmbling to get back in transition D.
This offense is the friend of your defense if you run it properly. Taking and missing a ton of 3's isn't the primary focus of this offense. The PnR and other motion towards the basket is the primary focus, but we haven't had PG's that can master it. One of the main reasons this team ends up taking so many 3's has been due to not having a PG that penetrates regularly!!! If you go back to Duhon and all the way up to Billups and TD, we have not seen any of those guys regularly get in the paint and attack the basket looking to setup teammates or score. It may seem like a small thing, but in this system its a HUGE part of the game that is missing. Just remember what Nash does on most every possession. He gets into the teeth of the defense and forces them to react to him and then he hits his teammates, the most successful of which was Amar'e for the finish.
We still haven't found a PG that is quick enough and still has the court vision to get the ball to the open man on a regular basis. The PnR and normal penetration is such a big part of playing high efficiency offense. Also Mike has tried to get his wings to drive more. He did that with Gallo and it worked wonders whenever he drove. He got Chandler to look for the drive more and he also was more effective when he did. He's tried to get TD, Walker, Fields etc to drive when it's there. It's a big part of the offense to keep attacking the basket. In fact if you look at his plays you'd notice that MOST of the plays are aimed at getting the ball going to the basket!!!
Did you know that the main reason for the spread floor is so that you can't stop the main attack which is PnR? Still for that to be effective you must have a PG that is willing and able to drive effectively and clearly a team is going to look to force you to take the 3 rather than give up the PnR. Also that's another reason that you want to use SSOL fastbreak offense, but you have to have a PG that is willing to push the ball even off makes. In those breaks you spread wide and force the unsettled defense to cover the entire floor which they can't do and your PG is headed up the middle against a defense that isn't set and can't protect the basket at the same time as stop the 3. Not having a PG that can push the ball and also attack the basket effectively is a problem in this offense. If your PG can't finish at the basket that is also a problem. If your PG can't drive and kick that's a problem. All you end up with is forced 3's.
In this offense the PG must be a threat with the ball or else STAT and Melo won't see single coverage. It also helps when the SG is also a threat to drive or shoot. We haven't had a truly gifted SG that can drive in a while. With so much attention paid to STAT and Melo it's a must that the SG be able to score effectively inside and out.
