Interesting point. Back when only the man-to-man defense was allowed in the NBA, I wonder what would have happened if a team tried that approach. Would the defensive team have been charged with playing a zone if they had kept all their players around the basket instead of going out to defend their men? That's actually a pretty good answer. I'll give you points for that.
Understood. However, even if a guy beats his man off the dribble, he still may miss the shot, or have his shot blocked, or get the ball stolen from behind, etc. There are any number of things that can happen after a guy beats his man off the dribble, so I don't see why it's necessarily a disaster for the defense when it happens. On the other hand, I've seen alot of guys nail 3-point shots like there's no tomorrow. It's almost a lay-up for some guys these days. However, you make some good points, and this has definitely helped me get a better understanding of why the 3-point shot is "given up" by so many teams. Thanks for the discussion.
I love you Mistrel...you always say what I want to, but I'm too lazy to actually write it out. Consistently. If there's one guy I'm having a drink with from here it's Minstrel. Love. ....is that gay? I am slightly drunk! Woohoo!
I am glad an NBA coach agrees with me. It's a pretty simple and common philosophy though. It's one of the reasons why I scream about Blake and Travis playing so much. Neither Blake or Travis can keep their defender in front of them. Travis is great at making up the space, but often times that's too late. Blake simply can't do it. Greg Oden this year couldn't do it either. I think that will obviously change though as he gets healthier and in better shape. Bayless does a great job of moving his feet and keeping his man in front of him off the first dribble, but doesn't have the experience to do it after the first move. Batum is really good at it, as was Viktor Khryapa. If you watch a recorded game you can see that Roy, Aldridge, Batum, Joel and Bayless are all really good at it. Followed by Rudy and Webster (looking at the year before).
