Yeah I don't care about the raw numbers, the game is played at a different speed now. Also Mo/Z/Varejao doesn't compare to Kareem/Worthy/Scott.
The Bulls also had arguably the greatest set of role players. Players who know their role on their team and play them perfectly are much better than a team loaded with budding-talent (a la '04 Lakers)
The triangle, otherwise known as the triple post offense, revolves around a post player. In LA, it was Shaq, in Chicago it was Jordan. The last three seasons, Jordan played almost exclusively in the post. This left the defense the choice of guarding him with a SF or even PF, or with a guard. In the Bulls' final championship against Utah, it was Byron Russell, a forward, who guarded him.
What difference does it make if Byron Russell guarded Jordan? It doesn't show he was a PF, or SF. It shows he was bigger than Jeff Hornacek. When Nicolas Batum covers Tony Parker, does that make him a PG? And then a PF when he covers Dirk? Often times we'll see star players cover the weakest offensive player to "rest" on defense for long stretches of a game. It makes mroe sense to call Kobe a SG than it does to say oh, he's playing PG now, because he's watching Steve Blake. It also doesn't mean that just because Steve Blake would occasionally cover him that he was a PG. Or if Batum covers him, that he is a SF. I just don't agree with trying to label the position a guy plays because of where he might be on the floor during any given play. What of the distinction between Jordan posting up on the elbow(where he posted up way mroe often than on the block) versus the block? Was he changing positions?
The tri-angle offense is based on post positions, as previously mentioned. So, where Jordan 'posted' up doesn't really matter; it's the fact that he was the main 'post' in the offense, especially late in his career, that does matter. Thus, it made more sense to play a larger player on him. Labeling a position 1-5 is nearly irrelevant in that offense. The 'post' and 'corners' are more appropriate.
BUMP! I was wondering, with his numbers most likely going down this season, does that mean his PER goes down as well? Or if he shoots a better FG% and has less T.O.s does it cancel the fact that he'll average a few less points?
I think his PER will drop a bit, because PER does reward more shots and scoring (which is a bit of a weakness). Looking over his numbers...there's really nowhere else for him to improve to cancel a drop in scoring. His turnover rate is really low, his assist rate is really high. I guess he could crash the offensive boards more. He already gets a massive number of defensive rebounds, but his offensive rebounding brings his overall Rebound Rate down. So if Wade and Bosh are syphoning off points from James, he might be able to make it up by owning the offensive boards. Otherwise...there's not much more he can do that he wasn't already doing. Pretty incredible.
Bryon Russell wonders why nobody can ever get his name right. And the reason Bryon Russell was guarding Jordan was because the alternative was Jeff Hornacek.
