STAT1
Starter
Anybody who watched the playoffs last year knows that our problem wasn't defense - it was the sheer inability to score because we lacked a competent distributor. There was absolutely NO ball movement on the court whatsoever when we played the Heat and when there's no ball movement, it's very easy to defend especially when the other team has an advantage in athleticism.
So true. That series really exposed the importance of having Lin healthy in the rotation. When you have a PG that can penetrate off the dribble & get into the lane, other guys on defense need to rotate to cover, which leaves guys like Novak & JR wide open on the wings to knock down those J's. That didn't happen during the playoff series we played the Heat, Baron Davis wasn't scaring anyone & neither was Mike Bibby. Novak was pretty much invisible during that series the Heat kept him covered at all times, & JR really struggled to get off his shot because he had to resort to all isolation off the dribble stuff that the Heat were able to check with D Wade. This team will be much better next season once Lin gets back healthy & they have a full training camp together to get more familiar with Woodson's system & build some more chemistry. We all saw several stretches of great play during the season that this team can clearly build upon.