Sengun/FVV-centric offense won't survive long term

This. One of the remarkable revelations in the past two games was the explosions in scoring in the second half. Though most of the points were made by Sengun in that stretch, the ball movement has become better. The young players have started to find open spots, and Sengun was learning to make quick, crisp passes to his open teammates. Everyone is still learning how to play off of each other, including FVV, but they are starting to develop chemistry among themselves.

Even Jalen's give-and-go plays with Sengun are starting to develop, and frankly, they are a thing of beauty. The initial offense between FVV and Sengun is in many ways similar to the triangle offense, where there are many options, but it takes familiarity and experience in reading and reacting to what the defense is doing.

It is really a thing of beauty once the players get more acquainted with the system and opportunities presented to them. I would still want a reliable three-point shooter that will open up the lane more. I think the offense will be much more effective with the current Ime offensive system in the long term once the players learn how to take advantage of the opponents' focus on Sengun and his incredible passing skill. I am more worried about their defense and rebounding than the offense in the long term.

 

Jalen and some other guys would be helped by strong outlet passing and even FVV looking ahead to catch guys on lob threats to the rim. But the key to a modern break is getting a shooter to the 3-point line. This is where Cam Whitmore can be an elite threat. If Jalen is on a lob run to the rim, Jabari is filling the lane, Amen or FVV are bringing it up, and Cam is on the wing -- you should score. And if the defense recovers, give it to Sengun at the FT line.

It's not quite the Paul Westhead/Loyola Marymount break but think back with me: substitute Sengun in that Hank-Gathers-catch-at-the-top-of-the-key role, have the PG drive the basket, add a solid scorer on the wing (Bo Kimble played by Cam Whitmore), everyone else fills in.

 

Here is a slightly deeper look at the stat comparison between the two that goes beyond "17 points on 14 shots".



Aside from all the counting stats, I recommend looking at the circled areas. Biggest thing that stood out to me was, one has a +10 net rating, the other one has a -9 net rating. Pretty massive difference, especially considering that they share a lot of minutes together.

Very simplified analysis why?

• One passes the ball a lot to the team's franchise player Alperen Sengun (who then produces high quality offense), the other one doesn't do that nearly as much.
• One is much better at defense than the other

 

This

I'm very happy with where the offense is right now.

Could it be better? Yes, are there growing pains yes. I'm just happy to have a young competitive team. This team is an all star go to when you need a bucket type player away from being a very good team

Can will really help a lot by adding a scorer to the second unit.

 

Also, FVV averages 37 minutes per game to Jalen's 30. Jalen has often found himself benched for long stretches and to close out games.

 

LMU ran the best NCAA break ever. Google "Loyola Marymount fast break" and you can see lots of arrows and drawings of how LMU filled the lanes. Super simple and highly effective. They also gambled with an insane amount of double-teaming full-court pressure (which I'm not advocating). They did score 149 on Michigan in a 40-minute game.

If Hank Gathers hadn't died on the court that year, they might have won it all.

 

It's true that this happened, but that has no impact on the per 36 and the net rating and BPM and WS stats.

 

FVV's attempts inside the arc is in line with everyone else's in the starting lineup. FVV - 6.4, Brooks - 5.9, Jabari - 5.7, Green - 8.0, Sengun 13.3. The only spot on the floor anyone on the team outshoots FVV is around the rim. He's a poor finisher, yes, but he attempts fewer layups and floaters than anyone else too.

If you want to generate more shots at the rim for Jalen, Jabari, Cam, Brooks whoever then I'm all for it. But an offense doesn't get to pick and choose their spots that way. Firstly, that's Sengun's territory because he's a better finisher than anyone else and can't space the floor himself. Secondly, outside of transition or catching the defense napping on a cut (those opportunities are limited) the only way to the rim is to get there yourself. Sengun and Jeff Green can do this. The others cannot.

 

The argument isn’t that Fvv is better than Jamal Murray. It’s that Denver runs a similar offense as Houston which literally is the future of the league which is wildly successful. Sure we aren’t Denver yet and sure FVV isn’t quite Murray but this offense can work.

but go ahead and deflect by cherry picking one stat and calling me stupid. It’s what you do.

 

I don't think it has anything to do with him "holding back" young guards because it could cost him money. IF he's holding them back at all (which is debatable), it's likely more a matter of a veteran player trying to win games who wants the ball in the hands of the players he trusts most. Including himself. It's Ime's job, along with Stone's, to determine whether we should trust our young guys implicitly even when they fail so that they can get up to speed quicker. If the task is to win as many games this year as possible, then not trusting the kids 100% makes perfect sense.

 

Why do you think it's sh*t?

By the way, I actually agree with you on one thing, sometimes FVV could improve his shot selection particularly on long twos early in the shot clock. When they go in, it's ok, but sometimes I'm like...dude...why.

 

Our offense is a lot better when we aren’t weighed down by a streaky inefficient shooting guard with questionable decision making. When Jalen is confident and shooting 50% from 3 our offense is great…when he isn’t it’s subpar. Cam isn’t ready for prime time yet but he is tracking to be much better than Jalen in every aspect. He isn’t a true SG but who cares.

I’d love if they could get Caruso to replace Holiday as well.

Anyhow, placing blame on FVV, Sengun, and Udoka is strange when the problem is painfully clear.