After tonight's game B-Roy has hit 40% on the year from beyond the arc. Definitely one of his biggest improvements this year. Atta Boy!
In February, he's shooting .504 from the field, .565 from downtown. 23.7ppg, 5.3reb, 5.3ast. Player of the month?
The three point shot has made Roy unguardable. Defenders can't play off him and dare him to shoot, because he will and put three on the board. They have to play him tight, which means he can go right past them. And if he gets past them, they can't just have a big man rotate to the hoop to challenge the shot, because he can pull up for the open mid-range shot and drain that too. They have to keep sending help, so that he's never wide open. Ultimately, he's a three-stage player (long ball, mid-range and at the rim) which means that he can end up occupying a defender at each level. That's hell on a defense and if they don't do that, it's a high percentage shot for Roy. Throw in his passing skills and he's turning into one of the toughest match-ups in the game. It's quite remarkable.
hmmm... being a scorer from deep, midrange, and at the rim plus being a good assist man, maybe Nate should run some iso's with him at the top of the key in the 4th quarter??? STOMP
I certainly have no problem with a "give the ball to your best scorer and get out of the way" offense to close games. When you have as good a scorer as Roy. But I think for most of the game, the offense needs to be more varied. That's really my only issue with McMillan...his offenses are a bit too stagnant and jump-shot dependent. If the jumpers are falling, great. But when they aren't, the team really struggles.
Also look at the crazy numbers Durant or D-will has been putting up in the month of February. Durant 33.4 points, 3.8 assists, 6.4 rebounds while shooting .528 and .567 from downtown. Deron 28.0 points, 10 assists, 3.5 rebounds while shooting .518 not so well from downtown.
As good as Roy is, that kind of offense is not going to work against good defensive teams in the playoffs. Like Minstrel said, it's fine in spurts. But when Nate runs it for the last 8 minutes of every game, it not only tires out Brandon, but also makes us VERY predictable.
spreading the court with jump-shooters leaves the lane open to Roy's drives and Joel or Greg one on one to fetch offensive boards. Even when 40% 3 point shooters aren't hitting on a particular night the D still has to honor them. In time Greg should develop into a consistent low post threat and allow Nate a more varied attack, but right about now I think he's making good use of his personnel. STOMP
