Watching the first week of the NBA season we've noticed some familiar patterns emerge.
First the NBA playbook of a steady diet of ball screens will never go away. Players who have great ability with the ball in the hands are just too dangerous coming off the ball screen. It puts tremendous pressure on the defense to guard this action and if you combine it with a talented player as the screener it's very difficult to guard.
At the collegiate level it seems that coaches have completely eschewed the motion game or creative specials and strictly use the ball screen game. Last night the URI-Pitt game, Pitt almost exclusively ran side ball screens in the closing minutes of a tight game. You'll notice as you watch the college game even teams that were once traditional motion offense teams, now feature a steady diet of ball screens.
Another more troubling aspect of coaching is the lack of creativity or ideas at the pro level. You can almost tell what's coming every trip down and there are very few wrinkles or options that teams employ to get any variety of looks for their players. Now if you have a dominant lineup and will win by keeping it simple, by all means, but teams that are inferior in their talent shouldn't try to overpower teams with a simple playbook and hope their talent wins out, it won't. We're not going to mention any names here (New Jersey).
We're going to watch film this week and see how Atlanta and their motion based game has been fairing. Their record has been good so far, but we'll report on how their offense has looked early on.
November 9, 2010
Watching players grow
It's fun watching a player develop their game so that they become more useful to their teams. 3 players in particular have shown growth in the NBA.
Joakim Noah, Rajon Rondo, and Derrick Rose are 3 NBA players who have amped up their level of play this early part of the season. Let's take a look at all 3.
Joakim Noah is exactly what you would want in a big. He's a high motor guy who runs the floor hard and give tremendous effort defensively and on the glass. His offensive game coming out of college was suspect to say the least, however, the past 2 seasons he's really worked on developing a jump hook game in the post to either shoulder. He also has, and this is difficult to say, improved his shooting from 15 feet and out. His technique is brutal but he's becoming more and more accurate and he's more willing to shoot it. If we were game planning to play the Bulls we'd let him shoot as many of them as he wants, but he's shown the ability to make them and will start to make teams pay for sagging off him.
Lastly we're really impressed with his ability to be coach-able. As a rookie he had issues with the veteran leadership of his team, going so far as to get suspended. But recently on a nationally televised game against the Celtics, Noah got a rebound and took the bust out dribble by himself, getting back tipped and turning the ball over late in a one or two possession game. Last night against the Nuggets, twice in the last 3 minutes of close game, Noah got rebounds and took the bust out dribble, and then he jump stopped and outletted the ball to a guard. He learned from his mistake and made the proper decision. He's definitely improving.
Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo we can evaluate together. Both are jet quick guards who can go end to end and attack the rim at will. Both are played as slashers or drive first guards who have had their driving angles closed off by sagging on ball and help defenders. Both over this summer have improved their jump shots to the point where teams have to honor it and guard them honestly. The result? Rondo is on a remarkable pace with assists and he blows by his primary defender and dumps the ball off to open teammates when the help comes. And Rose is scoring at a torrid pace. His athletic ability to blow by the first defender and get a floater up in the paint is fun to watch. He also has the power to attack bigger defenders and attack the rim for a dunk or drawing the foul. Both players as they increase their perimeter shooting percentages will become even more effective and entertaining players to watch.
Joakim Noah, Rajon Rondo, and Derrick Rose are 3 NBA players who have amped up their level of play this early part of the season. Let's take a look at all 3.
Joakim Noah is exactly what you would want in a big. He's a high motor guy who runs the floor hard and give tremendous effort defensively and on the glass. His offensive game coming out of college was suspect to say the least, however, the past 2 seasons he's really worked on developing a jump hook game in the post to either shoulder. He also has, and this is difficult to say, improved his shooting from 15 feet and out. His technique is brutal but he's becoming more and more accurate and he's more willing to shoot it. If we were game planning to play the Bulls we'd let him shoot as many of them as he wants, but he's shown the ability to make them and will start to make teams pay for sagging off him.
Lastly we're really impressed with his ability to be coach-able. As a rookie he had issues with the veteran leadership of his team, going so far as to get suspended. But recently on a nationally televised game against the Celtics, Noah got a rebound and took the bust out dribble by himself, getting back tipped and turning the ball over late in a one or two possession game. Last night against the Nuggets, twice in the last 3 minutes of close game, Noah got rebounds and took the bust out dribble, and then he jump stopped and outletted the ball to a guard. He learned from his mistake and made the proper decision. He's definitely improving.
Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo we can evaluate together. Both are jet quick guards who can go end to end and attack the rim at will. Both are played as slashers or drive first guards who have had their driving angles closed off by sagging on ball and help defenders. Both over this summer have improved their jump shots to the point where teams have to honor it and guard them honestly. The result? Rondo is on a remarkable pace with assists and he blows by his primary defender and dumps the ball off to open teammates when the help comes. And Rose is scoring at a torrid pace. His athletic ability to blow by the first defender and get a floater up in the paint is fun to watch. He also has the power to attack bigger defenders and attack the rim for a dunk or drawing the foul. Both players as they increase their perimeter shooting percentages will become even more effective and entertaining players to watch.
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