Put Away the Fancy Tool Kit

[wiley]

and play simpler basketball.

I'm targeting 3 players with this post. 

#1:  Hayward.  Gordon please finish the drives you start and shoot more.  No more drives with intent to dish, and limit the perimeter upfakes (you look like Scal) in favor of 3 pointers.  Trust yourself to pass at the last moment if you truly have to, but as of now you are planning to pass...and that is equaling passive play.  Go for it...All the way!!!  Don't stop shooting...I don't care how many you miss!  Just trust yourself and your offense and stop possessing the ball for such a long time.  Constant movement and simple plays. 

#2:  Tatum.  Jayson, we don't need anything fancy.  Nothing!  We need threes, drives, dunks and defense. The end.  Don't hold the ball so long.  Pass quicker and move.  And stay aggressive in all facets of the game.  Up your intangibles by ALOT!  And like Gordon, forget about misses.  FORGET THEM!!!!  You are scorer not a whirling dervish!  The side to side dribbling, followed by a spin, followed by a step back 2 point shot = passive play (unless you are Kobe, etc.), and it pacifies your teammates.  Think head of steam, not fallaway.

#3:  Irving:  Kyrie, you get a bit of a pass because you are a wizard.  Fancy is okay, but not if it leads to hugely difficult shots.  Get yourself free for some easier shots and keep moving without the ball as well.   


Jaylen, Horford, Smart and Morris, even when they have the ball a bit longer, do not give the impression that a turnover is coming due to complicated moves.  My three targeted players above all raise my anxiety about imminent turnovers because they sometimes play as if the other team is a dormant chair who can not swipe and swat the ball away with ease. 

So Hayward, Tatum and Irving, please simplify your games....shoot more whether missing or not, play more aggressive, dribble less, pass more and make more cuts. Rebound, steal and cause mayhem.. Your season depends on it. 

Success for Tatum, Hayward and Irving?   Have a bad shooting night but make it hard for Brad to take you out of the game.   

Edit:  a comment for Brad.  Since you favor taking open threes (as well as drives), as I am advocating here, why not play the bigs and start rebounding missed threes for second and third chance shots.  Play Baynes and Williams in game 5 and tell them to rebound like their lives depend on it.  It may work and may not.  Try it.  When shots aren't falling sometimes you need to get shooters more chances....

[Monkhouse]

Tatum last year used 3 types of offensive moves.

Spot up, one dribble or catch and shoot 3s. Driving with the intent of finishing or grabbing fouls. (He did an excellent job of this against slow witted Cleveland bigs.) And driving in transition.

Now he is taking contested or long twos more frequently than the 3.

Irving and Hayward need to either trust teammates, or try to create contact. Hayward, I feel like could do this extremely well. He has this great hesitation dribble that he uses to throw defenders off. But he keeps hesitating and then kick and driving, and it's become downright predictable.