Hey guys, I've been thinking about this and wanted to get your opinion. We seem to have a number of left-handers on the team, and it makes me wonder how Morey values a left-handed player over a right-handed player. My basketball IQ isn't all that great, but being left-handed I can think of some advantages (and disadvantages) that it could bring about on the basketball court. With Harden, D-Mo, and Lin(?), our starting line-up is heavily left-handed. Thoughts on how this affects a game/team chemistry?
It is an advantage for sure, with Dmo and Harden we have 2 very nice left handed players. Dragic was left handed too, but he is now gone. DD
Just wanted to get y'all's opinion on how it affects a game. Like I said, not a high basketball IQ, just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on the value of a southpaw vs. a righty.
Ah, my mistake on Lin, I guess all that talk I heard about him only being able to go left made me think he was left-handed. My bad :/
You misinterpreted that cause everyone says that he CAN'T go left lol anyways one of my friends are left handed and apparently he says being left handed is an advantage when it comes to shooting but im not exactly sure about what in particular though
I give myself 1 star on this thread for lack of research and poor listening/comprehension skills. lol
Left handed is an advantage mainly because so few people aren't left handed and thus defenders forget and don't defend shots properly. A truly dedicated defender who internalizes a scouting report (Battier) will not be at a disadvantage against a lefty, but since so few players have that sort of dedication to defense the result is that, yes, left handed players do have a slight advantage over right handed players when it comes to scoring. I would be surprised if Morey had not taken this into account by the way.
Do left-handed players matchup better against other left-handed players? I wonder if there's a significant difference.
Great thread, OP. Just a couple comments for now. When you think about floor balance offensively, having a couple lefties on the floor working mainly the left side of the court while having righties on the right side of the court makes sense, especially I a pick and roll offense. What does James Hardens and Jeremy Lins shot chart look like in relation to the right and left side of the court.
For a player as skilled as Harden already is, being a lefty on top of it is just icing on the cake, because a lot of basketball is twitch-based muscle memory, and that means being ingrained into certain habits, among those are dealing with the majority of players faced when learning the skills. In other words, gaining an instinctive ability to play defense, but that takes into account that the majority of players are right-handed. Harden takes advantage of this tendency naturally by being left-handed, thus giving him an additional advantage when using his excessive aggressiveness going to the hoop. There is no doubt Morey took this into consideration, and still does when scouting other players too. But make no mistake - yes, it's a *consideration*, but by no means is it a *primary* consideration. Just think of it as a value-added bonus.
Right-handed players feel more comfortable playing on the right side of the court, usually going to the right of their defenders. Having lefty means more dangerous left-side of the court. Also, it's harder to block a lefty, defenders are used to right-handed players. It gives you diversity on running plays in offense. Lefty can shoot after running from the left, coming off the-screen. It differs where you set a screen for lefty and a righty. So basically there are 2 advantages: more diverse offense, defenders are not used to guard lefties.
I'm left-handed. Because I'm also used to dealing with right-handed people that when I have to defend a left-handed I do feel a little odd too. :grin:
