I know Derrick White isn’t some superstar, but he’s 100% plug and play. No worries about fitting him in, the kind of guy that seems to give the game what it needs. We’re definitely better, and I think that’s good enough to make some noise this year. I think we’ll get to the top half of the standings.
Can be the Heat from the bubble? I’m ready, let’s go.
The competition is stiff, but I'm with you.
The vision came clearly into view in the second half of the Denver game. They outscored the Nougats 57-42 behind physical team defense and some brilliant ball movement. We saw how the Smart/White tandem could work: five guys passing to the open man, four guys creating shots off the dribble - without a ball-dominant point guard (I think that that's what people have meant recently when they called for Brad to get a "real" point guard; but this team might just show that you don't need that type of player in today's game).
Looks like they'll have better luck pushing the tempo and better flow in the half-court offense.
Next up is the payback game against Atlanta; and Embiid is looming on the horizon. The climbing gets steeper this week, and we'll have more, shall we say data going into the All-Star break.
It makes you wonder whether Brad is actually even smarter than most people think. A lot of teams have put all their eggs into a "Big-3" basket, notably BKN and LAL. When you do that, you compromise the quality of the rest of the roster AND you count on those 3 guys working very well together. Instead, Brad seems to going for good all-around basketball players at every position and on the depth chart. Beyond the star players, you still need players who can defend, pass, switch and shoot. Brad's work isn't finished but you can see where this might be heading.
Is the Era of the Big-3 dead?
What a great question.
My feeling is, it's a good thing that there's no easy answer - and I do not have an answer. I do have a preference, though, and that is for teams that share the ball and are tied together on a string on defense.
If you look at 'Big Three' teams that were champions, the three were good complementary fits, and nearly always one of them had to sacrifice touches and other parts of their games (Chris Bosh springs to mind as a typical example of the "third wheel"; his post-ups (and his usage) dwindled dramatically, while his spot-ups increased when he signed with Miami).
So the question is, how big of a role does the "complementary" part play, as opposed to the "talent" part of the equation. It does seem clear that in NBA playoff basketball, now as then, you've got to have players who can get you a good shot off the dribble. Can you have a championship team that has lots of that, even if it has only, to pick a random example, just two ace scorers? Or what if your third player is a defensive ace?
Topic: I feel like we’re going to make a run at this (Read 9019 times)