Hollinger takes isolation offenses to task

I think one of the bigger problems is that we worked the offense from 15-18 feet out, and only went inside on a mismatch (Roy drive, Oden deep in the paint, etc.). Someone who's got access to more film than I do can tell me how wrong I am, but it seemed to me that, even when we're "getting our bigs off to a good start" it's LMA popping 15-18 footers. The drive-and-kick was used a lot in the last few years, but it doesn't seem to work against a team that can double the driver and rotate quickly to the shooters--especially when you're not a crisp-passing offense. Aside from the few minutes we've had Oden on the court the last 3 years, our post presences have been Joel Przybilla, Marcus Camby and Juwan Howard. The problem is that when Oden HAS been in, he's been used much like those 3...minus the long jumpers from Howard and Camby. LMA, Howard, Camby, Cunningham all shot the majority of their shots on mid-range jumpers...which I've pointed out ad nauseum is the worst and most inefficient shot in basketball. But it's a hallmark of our offense. And it's not even like we're good at it...LMA shoots 49% (41% on mid-range jumpers). He'd be 20% more efficient just stepping outside and shooting that 31% 3pointer of his much more. Or moving into the paint, where he shoots 57%. Howard shot a respectable 45% from midrange (51% overall), pretty decent for a safety valve, but again not something you build an offense around. Marcus Camby (?!?!) shot half of his shots from the midrange jumper, and averaged the same 45%.