In 2018, Zach Lowe cited the stat that John Wall spent 76.57 percent of his floor time standing still, the highest percentage of any rotation player, even beating out a 40 yr old Dirk Nowtizki. One example of this was described as “ this is what it looks like when your controller dies in the middle of a game”.
I can’t decide if that is more selfish or more lazy but there are aspects of both involved.
Last edited by Betterread; 12-03-2020 at 02:27 PM.
Right now, I still have them 9th:
1. Milwaukee
2. Boston
3. Brooklyn
4. Philadelphia
5. Miami
6. Toronto
7. Indiana
8. Atlanta
New York and Cleveland are horrid. They're probably a level or two better than Orlando and Charlotte. Worst case, one or both of Detroit and Chicago stay healthy and develop, pushing them to the playoff hinterlands. Best case, maybe they beat out a sneaky-good Atlanta squad and Indiana squabbles its way down the rabbit hole of adequacy.
BTW, Houston could ranks anywhere from 5th to 12th in my pre-season list. That entire conference is hard to figure. (Go ahead and tell me where Dallas ranks, for example. Or Memphis. Or NOLA. Or Utah.)
The NBA has released another tranche of City edition jerseys and my favorite is the Indiana jersey:
https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...-3/6475628002/
Lazy.
Selfish would be hogging the ball and refusing to pass to open teammates. For his faults, Wall was not that.
And to be clear, "not getting open for his teammates" is kind of a misnomer. The Wiz offense under Brooks, up until Wall's injury, at least, had been a three-out, two-in system, typical for pro ball in the 1990s. This offense is predicated on precise spacing and roles. Wall was not just the primary ball handler but the only offensive initiator for the offense. The Wizards' favorite offensive set, for example, is one where Wall walks the ball up the court, while the DC wings get double picks near the elbows from their two bigs. Wall typically has nowhere to run with the ball in that set. Too, because the secondary play makers (Beal and Porter in the season you mentioned) can then make plays via drive or pass, Wall has to stay put up top for spacing issues.
It's similar with other sets they ran. When not in their base, they also did a lot of screen-the-screener plays up top, which necessitate Wall using tempo (ie, walking or jogging the ball to the left or right of the screen), so that the shooter can peel off the screen for shots. Having two post players (Morris and Gortat, for most of his career) has necessitated Wall being a static piece on offense.
After Wall's injury, Brook's redesigned his offense pushing pick and rolls and "lip" sets in four-out (or occasionally five-out) concepts. Roles became much more fluid (as Brooks himself said in multiple interviews). He pushed Beal to do more with the ball, and to his credit, he did just that. It helped that, by that time, Thomas Bryant-- a willing and capable shooter-- had mostly replaced Gortat and Morris had become a much more willing shooter as well. Last year, Brooks went even further in that direction, with Bertans replacing Porter as the deep sniper and everyone playing outside the three-point line. They also pushed the pace to an extreme level.
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I dig Miami's. (As always.)
Last edited by Bourgeois Zee; 12-03-2020 at 03:56 PM.
Revering4Blue (12-04-2020)
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
Oh, yeah-- that 7th seed in either league is so screwed.
The teams I'm interested in out West right now are the Warriors, the Suns, Rockets, and the Timberwolves.
I want Stephen Curry to go for 40 a night just because he can. With Oubre and Wiggins at the wings, an interested and invested Green at PF, and Wiseman as a rim-running athletic marvel, I want to see Kerr open it wide open and just grip it and rip it. Try to score 150 a night. Go full on Loyola Marymount Hank Gather/ Bo Kimble Era. Let Green and Wiseman gobble up whatever rebounds there might be. Let Curry leak early every trip downcourt. Heck, let him snowbird so much he should move to Florida.
In Phoenix, I'm curious if Chris Paul can negate Sarver's worst tendencies and bring that team out of their funk and into the limelight. It'd be a hell of a career coda, for sure. I'm hoping Booker shows off his halcyon bubble days consistently, with that new-found bubble tenacity and dagger after dagger. I want to see Saric as a play-making PF-- or center-- like he was in the bubble. And I want to see Mikal Bridges take another step forward. Like that team's makeup right now, assuming Ayton's head is on right. If he's not, it's nearly as good a story anyway. Chris Paul might just murder him.
Houston is going to be crazy whether their plan works or it doesn't. It's a train wreck in the most beautiful of ways. That team could legitimately win the championship-- three All-NBA level players? Got it. All three of them bathouse crazy? Yup. They might lead the league in technicals, free throws, and ejections. And three pointers. And elbows. And beards. I can't decide if they're going to be the league bullies/ villains or if they're going to be a modern-day Uncle Drew Crew. James Harden might be the first player ever to win an MVP while being completely miserable and winning the championship.
In Minnesota, I want to see what no defense looks like. When the best defender who'll play meaningful minutes is Juan Hernangomez, you know you're going to have to score 140 to win. Thing is, they just might do that enough to make it a blast to watch. KAT's a problem for everyone. Everyone else will get enough shots to have a shot at 20 per night. Five guys on that team could average 15 pts a night. Malik Beasley might just end up an All-Star level wing, and he's their third- or fourth-best scorer. That's crazy.
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”― Marcus Aurelius
I suspect he'll be the starting SF unless they opt to pair Hachimura and Betrans as starting forwards. I also wouldn't count out Jerome Robinson and Issac Bonga as rotational pieces.
It's going to be interesting to see how the rotations and starting positions play out for both Washington and Houston in the wake of their collective offseason moves.
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Whatever you do, do your best to not allow the struggles of life to interfere with the pleasures of living.
Agreed.
They really need to see what they have in a possible Anthony / Fultz backcourt pairing, as well as Okeke at forward. That's, in essence, an extra first round pick for this season. But, unless they've absolutely blown away with an offer, I highly doubt that Vuc moves this season, regardless of the amount of production from Bamba.
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Whatever you do, do your best to not allow the struggles of life to interfere with the pleasures of living.
The Rockets still have Tucker to defend the ADs, Greens and Porter Jrs of the NBA world, and to help space the floor. I suspect Cousins will start, with Wood spelling either Cousins or Tucker, unless Tucker garners some minutes at SF.
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Whatever you do, do your best to not allow the struggles of life to interfere with the pleasures of living.
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