How a One-Time Washout Explains the Modern NBA

[Tugg Speedman]

Sounds like Buzz's switchables with three point range.

Think Jimmy Butler

(very long article, highlights below)

How a One-Time Washout Explains the Modern NBA
The Rockets signing P.J. Tucker—yes, P.J. Tucker— was the most revealing move of the league’s crazy summer
By Ben Cohen
July 31, 2017 11:01 a.m. ET

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-a-one-time-washout-explains-the-modern-nba-1501513315?mod=e2tw


Then something funny happened. The strategic revolution in basketball over the last decade made teams reconsider their old prototypes and resulted in what Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens recently called the NBA’s three positions: ball-handler, wing and big. There is a premium on players who can be all three.  Tucker is now one of those players.

It was obvious what Tucker’s niche had to be: playing defense and shooting 3-pointers. As it happens, those skills are coveted in today’s NBA.

Tucker is able to defend every player on the court, point guard through center, because of his peculiar build. The very thing that had been a disadvantage—that he was an oversized guard but undersized forward—had become his advantage. “He’s a bear that’s as quick as a cat,” Buck said.

But he knew he couldn’t play if he couldn’t shoot. NBA teams didn’t need Tucker to score. They needed him to create space for the rest of the offense. He could help a team simply by standing in the corner and taking selfies with fans as long as he dragged a defender with him.

The best teams in the NBA understood that frontcourt versatility was increasingly valuable. And suddenly Tucker found himself in demand. He was no longer a tweener. He was now positionless.

Tucker is dependable enough as a shooter—he made 41% of his open threes and 39% of his corner threes last year—that other teams have to defend him all the way out to the arc. But he only attempted 2.4 threes per game last year. He didn’t take more than six in any game.

In his pitch meeting with the Rockets, the pioneering coach Mike D’Antoni said he expects Tucker to average six per game. The attention on Harden and Paul will make room for the other Rockets, and it will be easier for Tucker to find good looks in Houston than good barbecue. “It’s crazy, just crazy, to hear,” Tucker said. “I’ve never been on a team like that.”

[GGGG]

Yes.  This is why all the talk over who is going to play "the three" or "the four" is completely out-dated.  Buzz was right that "switchables" were the way to go, but he didn't value the ability to shoot the ball enough.

And you really only need your big to protect the rim and grab boards.  Most NBA teams get very little offense from that position unless it is off a rebound.

[Tugg Speedman]

I agree with all of this ...

In the Theo John thread, I suggested that basketball is now three or four switchables standing behind the arc looking to shoot first.  Someone responded that was the NBA game but not the college game.

This is true right now, but the evolution in the NBA game means this will soon be the college game.  If you don't play the NBA style, and play it soon, you will not attract top recruits.

[Tugg Speedman]

re-posting something I put in another thread.

Don't be surprised if this describes a Big East game soon.


A three-ring circus: In the NBA, 3-pointers hotter than ever
May 2, 2017, 4:56 PM ET

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/ring-circus-nba-pointers-hotter-47166015

Houston took an NBA playoff record 50 3-point attempts on Monday, compared with 37 tries from 2-point range. Before this season, no NBA team ever had that sort of discrepancy — at least 13 more 3s than 2s — in a game, regular-season or playoffs.

The four teams with the most 3-pointers in the NBA this season — Houston, Cleveland, Boston and Golden State — are all still in these playoffs. And there were more 3s made in the first round than ever before, 846. Back in 2012, in the exact same number of first-round games as what was played this year, teams made a combined 496 3s.

That's a 71 percent increase, in just five years.

In the first 37 seasons of the NBA having a 3-point shot, there were 31 instances of teams taking more from behind that arc in a game than from 2-point range.

The oddity isn't so odd anymore. It's happened 33 times already this season, and counting.

"We won't hesitate on shooting them," said D'Antoni, whose Rockets smashed the NBA records with 1,181 made 3s and 3,306 attempts during the regular season. "We won't miss five in a row and go, 'You know what, we're going to turn one down to drive it.' No. If they're open, they shoot it. If they're not, we drive it."

Sure enough. On Monday, the Rockets scored 126 points, zero coming on field goals from the space between the lane and the 3-point line. They made 40 baskets — 22 were 3-pointers, 13 were dunks or layups, four were shots inside the lane from 6 feet or closer, and the other was a 14-footer from just inside the foul line.

It's not just Houston that's 3-happy. It's everyone. Boston, in its storied history, had one playoff game where they made 16 or more 3s before this season — and the Celtics went into Tuesday with three already in these playoffs.

[MerrittsMustache]

The modern NBA primarily has two positions: Ball Dominator and Shooter.

- Often the Ball Dominator is a point guard, but not always.

- Shooters come in all sizes and don't necessarily even have to be good shooters from the outside. Like the article said, they just need to be average enough for a defender to keep tabs on them.

Mike D'Antoni is the Don Coryell of the NBA. His offense is fun, exciting and revolutionary but it's unlikely to result in a championship.

[Herman Cain]

This story is why Jamil Wilson got the two way contract with the Clippers he fit the program to a T. Hope he makes the team .