This type of offense works for the majority of a game, but when it comes down to the last few possesions of a tight game, you usually have to put the ball in the hands of your best player and let him go to work. I cant really explain why it is that way. I think fatigue combined with the stress of the game being on the line and defenses focusing in just makes it difficult to run a motion offense. Thats when you need the Tmacs and Artests to get the ball and create something. Aaron Brooks filled this role against the Celtics the other night, but he hasnt proven that he can do it consistantly yet. We're not going very far unless we have our big three playing at a high level.
does this sound like a shot at t mac from rafer out of the chron “To be honest, it’s simpler to play this way, without worrying about stars and who needs what,” Alston said. “That’s what basketball is all about, collectively going out there and sharing the burden instead of doing it one-on-one.
You need both. You need balance. You will not even get through a game competitive wise if you have one guy dominating the basketball constantly in pick and rolls holding the ball for 4 quarters. You need balance and contribution from other guys and that is what rick has been preaching from day one. People on this board always talk about well where is this offense and the reason why know one has seen the offense is because tracy still up until this day has not bought into the the system. Tracy is fighting the system because his mind is stuck on one way to play the game. Throughout the history of the game 90 % of the time when teams are successfull you have equal distribution of guys sharing the load to make the TEAM succeed. You look at wilt chamberlin.Wilt didn't start winning until he started to get other guys involved. Alex Hannum who became the head coach of the 76ers in the 1966-1967 season encouraged wilt to change his style of play and told him to concentrate more on defense and learn to get other guys involved by sharing the wealth on offense. This change of style resulted in the 76ers winning the title that season and giving wilt his first championship. While they changed the style of play wilt was still the go to guy when you needed a sure score. It's about balance and T-mac as well as ron artest have to know when to demand the ball and use their iso one one one talents, when the team needs them in the clutch but at the same time they have to realize during a 48 minute game that other guys will help them along the way. Balance and knowing when to take over is the key.
Are you kidding me? How many times have we seen role players turn into the hero's because the stars trusted them. What if we had not trusted Von Wafer at the end of the Boston game and forced it into Yao's hands? I don't know but it was Von's 3pt shot that one the game. Does you remember the kiss of death and who made that shot? How about the rookie game winning shots Sam Cassell made to beat the Knicks in the finals? How about all of the big shots that Robert Horry made for the Rockets, Lakers and Spurs? Have you ever heard of John Paxon or Steve Kerr? What if it is exactly like you said and only the stars can take the big shot? History might be very different. You say we are not going very far if the big 3 are not playing at a high level and I say we are not going very far if our TEAM is not playing at a high level.
It's the truth. Those guys are out there everday they know that t-mac and ron are caught up in a certain style of play that is good when you need a closer but for 48 minutes in order to become an elite team and compete on a high level you need everyone to be threats. T-mac mentally is stuck on the t-mac that won 2 scoring titles versus the T-mac who in order to win has to share some of the burden.T-mac has to adjust the way he approaches the game and it's probably hard for him to do. He has always had to prove himself and sometimes he had to suck all the energy around him to do that. Taking 20 + shots a game with the whole team revolved around him is the way that things were done. Tracy has to change his ego a little bit. Ego wise tracy is use to winning a game by himself and doing everything by himself. This may work one game here and there but in the long haul you are not going to win a championship doing everything by yourself. Balance is the key because when he fails everey year to get out of the first round he complains about having talent around him. Now he he get's the talent he was crying about,He gets a coach who has experience in dealing with a talented team and now he's crying about shots and going one on one. Tracy needs balance he needs to figure out what he wants, does he want to be a solo-ist or band. It's all on tracy and ron.
I agree that you can't get the job done without a team effort. I'm just saying that your stars have to produce at a high level for you to even be in games at the end. If Olajuwon doesnt play at a high level, there wold be no opportunity for elie's shot or cassels shot. Paxon and Kerr played off of the greatness of Jordan who comanded double teams everytime he touched the ball in crunch time. Your stars have to be the guys who take you where you need to go. They may not always be the guys taking and making the shots, but they will be the ones making the plays for you.
Rafer is good as long as it isn't a close game. It's too bad, because I like what he has to say, and I like his work ethic and discipline. Too bad he hurts to watch when it counts.
Its true. Rafer has been absolutely horrible in the playoffs. I appreciate him for what he is, but he has proven that you can't count on him being anything above average in the playoffs. Landry, Scola, Hayes, Battier....Those guys show up in the playoffs, Rafer hasn't yet.
I agree with you about Airballston. However, Hayes and Battier haven't really played well in the last two playoffs and Scrubola put out a lot of effort but kept blowing layups last post-season.
There's no doubt that the offense flows better without T-mac on the floor. Where they miss him most is those end of game situations where you need to be able to put the ball in a stars hands and make him create a play. I have no problem with Yao being the guy to make the play (shoot or draw a double team and pass), but he needs his team mates to get him the ball in the right position. With T-mac you can throw it into him at 1/2 court and he can get himself into scoring position with the ball, which is what you need when the clock is running out.
