Crazy⑧s
Evacuee
Am I the only one that has as many qualms with our offence as our defence?
Last season, pre and post Melo trade, I denounced D'Antoni's offence for its predictability and lack of creativity. Though there were often flashes of real continuity with both (pre/post trade) teams, we always lulled back in to the same monotonous isolation and spacing sets, never seeming to reach the pinnacle of our ability with any form of consistency.
For those who don't recall:
-Shawne Williams' motionless waiting in the corner for a motion assist to shoot the 3. As the PF nonetheless.
-Melo's post game - I think Melo is a top 5 post player - receding constantly once MD got a grip on his role.
-STAT & Melo's 2 man game being basically non existent. In our demolition of the Jazz after the Melo trade, there were 3 instances in which the 2 P&R'ed and had a perimeter hand off - STAT to Melo - it wasn't reenforced or built upon afterward.
-Field's having little to no plays called for him to cut from the arc - something I believe could have been a real threat when incorporated with Melo's post game - after the trade, either via a hand off or screen. It was an occasional go to pre trade.
-STAT'S POST GAME! - I don't expect a Tim Duncan like approach to it, but just a motion play to catch 2009-2010's (w/ PHO) most prolific paint scorer in the paint to 'elevate and detonate' on opponents. Too much to ask? No! it ****ing isn't! *waits for the recycled BS line of 'but Amar'e's not a post player' ~ **** off.
-TD's 'just shoot and don't penetrate' role.
-The disappearance of the P&R after the Melo trade.
To name but a few.
And, just for the sake of elaboration, last year, Amar'e successfully caught, and finished, - according to my calculations - less than 20 alley-oop dunks - I counted 14 - yes, I was counting. And the vast majority of those were in transition; a facet of our offence handicapped by our sh!t defence. What does that say to you? One of the most athletically blessed bigs in league history with hardly an inkling of interior offensive presence bar what he creates from the 45?. Is he really that much less capable than players such as D12, ZBo, Aldridge, Dirk and so on that he can't emulate some of their deep catch scoring?
re alley-oops, that is a personal observation that I made - could be wrong, but only by a very small margin.
Believe me, I could go on.
"ISOooooooooooo!!!!"
WHAT I WANT TO SEE FROM OUR OFFENCE THIS YEAR:
- A post presence for our stars. Would open a whole new offence for us. Space, ISO and chuck, is old news. Think of the potential.
- Back screens for Amar'e. Amar'e under the rim is any opponent's nightmare. Get him off the 45 more often and make it easy/force him to get inside and create scoring, put back, 3 point and foul shooting opportunities. He is too explosive and quick off his feet to prolong this offensive ignorance any longer.
- Decoy offence. Creating opportunities for Williams, Shumpert, Douglas and Fields by enticing defences toward our primary scorers. Much like the Kansas 02 offence that requires the 3 and 4 to remain on the left side of the key.
You can see the drawn up play below in diagram C.
Although I could continue, I'll leave it there, and allow others to elaborate.
To D'antoni, we can't continue to elude to the fact that we don't have 'your brand of player'. This is no longer about what you don't have offensively. This is about what you can do, with what's in front of you. Next season. Drop the equations and make plays happen that exploit the talents of your players.
*Please refrain from highlighting the fact that the picture at the top of the thread is rather penile. Thank you.