Mavs' Comments on Blazers' 4th Quarter Offense

ISO-ball never works in the playoffs.

The Mavericks had no answer for Roy, who shot 8 for 10 from the field in the quarter.

http://www.oregonlive.com/nba/index.ssf/2011/04/mavericks_dont_adjust_to_brean.html

 

We caught them off guard for game 4, they will gameplan for it now and try to make adjustments.

I've never been against using some ISO ball, it's just in the previous two years that was 80% of our offense. If we just have it be 30% of our offense like yesterday it could be a very good change of pace strategy.

 

It obviously works, otherwise it wouldn't be so popular....

How well it actually works though, eh.....Cleveland lived off LeBron isos, and look where it got them.

 

Perennially to the playoffs, plus the NBA Finals once, with a roster that can't win 20 games without him?

 

Arguably the greatest player of his era, and unable to win a title with an offense centered on isolating him.

 

Yeah, but they probably maximized the results based on the talent on the roster. One player can't win a championship by himself, but Cleveland came close (a lot closer than Jordan ever did alone) by feeding James constantly.

 

It's the beauty of having to worry about a dominant Aldridge and an active Wallace. It used to be if you stopped Brandon, you stopped the Blazers. Without Roy, we learned to spread the production out. When he came back to briefly be the Brandon of old, the Mavs couldn't cover us. If they focused on stopping Roy, we would have killed them with Aldridge or Wallace.

 

Yeah I pretty much said the same exact thing on Blazersedge. Dallas will adjust which should make life much easier for our other two horses. Wallace in particular hasn't had a great offensive game I think he is due.

 

Lost in Roy's once-in-a-lifetime 4th quarter was that LMA twice hit big shots in the last 7 minutes off of a Roy ISO pass, and Wesley had a big lay-up off of another Roy ISO pass. Carlisle blew it by not doubling or trapping Roy, but if LMA and others are hitting shots, the doubling doesn't work.

 

Yep. Roy is an underrated passer and with Aldridge's newfound offensive confidence this season, you can't double both.

 

It's a great 4th quarter strategy. Usually the defenders are slower cause of fatigue. Having Roy off the bench will save him for the 4th. Then he can take over a game once again.

 

Exactly. Earlier in the 4th, other Blazers were missing shots. But later in the 4th, once Roy had built up his momentum and was in a zone, if Dallas would have tried to change their defense, the other guys on the floor would have had wide open looks and lanes straight to the rim. Dallas was in trouble either way.

 

The point is, even with the best player, and a specific roster catered to the isolation offense, they were still unable to win a title.

The title teams of the last decade (Lakers, Spurs, Celtics, Detroit) all relied less on isolation offenses, and more on team basketball. That's not to say isolation doesn't work at all, but it seems there are more effective ways of running an offense, especially in the playoffs.

 

It depends on your personnel. If your point is that it's better to have a lot more overall talent and thus have to rely less on isolation, that's undoubtedly true. When you have just one guy capable of taking over, isolation-heavy offense is the best way to leverage that. It's the best way to A. get that guy a lot of chances to win one-on-one battles for easy scores and B. allow that guy to create open looks for his teammates who can't do it for themselves.

Becoming much more talented with a more diverse offense is better, but it's harder to achieve. Hopefully the Blazers can.

 

4th Quarters.... Kobe used a lot of ISO's in the finals in the 4th. I seem to remember a lot of Wade ISO's during their title.

 

I don't disagree, but with Cleveland as an example, they obviously went out and got players that would specifically fit into the isolation offense. It wasn't just maximizing talent, but maximizing LeBron's ability with the basketball.

 

I think they tried to do both, really. They never were successful in acquiring a second star (they supposedly tried to get Amare Stoudemire, but were unable) so they tried to get the most talented complementary players they could. When you're acquiring complementary players to your superstar, you may as well get guys who fit into an isolation offense, because that's what you'll be running with one superstar.

I don't think they decided that isolation-complementary role-players were superior to more stars. I think they simply struck out in trying to get more stars, so they made the best of it.

 

ISO ball clearly works, but only if your main guy is hitting his shots at a high rate. That's the flaw to the system... It breaks down quickly if the one guy is having a cold shooting night. I like the current group's ability to play team ball or ISO ball and adjust as needed.

 

yup. It's always good to have options. I don't like Iso ball as the primary focus of a team's attack as it leads to complacency in the rest of the guys, but it's great to have a player or two who can create for themselves off the dribble.

STOMP