Forget About The Stats Sheet Its All About Winning!! I have always wondered why so many of us just look at the stats sheet when analysing the performance of NBA players. The NBA is about championships not about individual numbers. In college, you will be told one simple thing and this sticks with you for a long time. " You don't need to have the ball to be a good player." This is what it is all about. The team that sacrifices the most, is the team that wins championships. The team that has the most players doing the so called "one percenters" in basketball is the team that always will finish on top. Take a look at why the Spurs won the championship. Apart from Duncan, all their players put up modest numbers,when compared to the Kings, Mavs, Lakers etc. But why did they win?? Lets analyse part of their game plan. One, when Duncan is in the high post. This leaves the lanes open for the Spurs cutters to get to the hole. You see when Duncan is up high, his defender is with him, which has created space in the keys for the Spurs cutters to get free for the easy score. You don't need the ball to cut to the basket. Two, when Duncan gets the ball, watch for the movement of the Spurs players. They cut to the other side of the court. This is designed to create more room for Duncan to go to work against his immediate defender. Its opens up the court for Duncan to operate.It gives Duncan extra space to work into and to manouver in. You don't need the ball to move without it, in order to create for your teammates. Three, when Duncan gets doubled, the ball is fed back outside for the spot up shooter for the long range bomb. Once the defense collapses onto Duncan, this leaves one Spurs player open.If the defense runs back out to the shooter, the ball is fed back into Duncan for the post up play against the defense which is now scattered and all over the place. So, hopefully I have explained why stats are not that important in the NBA. If they were, teams like the Mavs, Kings, etc would be winning championships. Understand why the Spurs won the championship without the majority of their players putting up numbers. It is the little things in basketball that win championships. You don't need to have the ball to be a good player and to contribute. Cut to the basket, post up, block out, dive for the loose ball, screen, defend the pick and roll, move without the ball, move into space, cut off the passing lanes. These are the aspects of the NBA that generate wins. Unfortunately they do not appear on the stats sheet and the box score!
I agree, very nice point, I see where you're coming from. I think the announcers, and sportscasters should dig into the games more, look at these things and point them out. Majority of them does not though, unfortunetely, they focus on the basic things, the 30+ points, the 15+ rebounds, etc. If they were to dig deeper and analyze the game, and tell the viewer of the team work, then it would be much more exciting, plus we would learn something.
Excellent post, kingofkings. I agree with you 110%. Ever since I tore up my knee in football, my dreams of being "the next Kobe" or "the next Shaq" on the court went down the drain as I lost all of my athleticism. Since then, I've learned to do little things on the court...such as being vocal, setting good picks, making the extra pass, playing good D, making good hard cuts, hitting the open shots...stuff like that. Furthermore, since changing/redefining my game, I've learned to enjoy watching veterans play...or specifically, players that rely on the mental aspect of games...not just the phsyical, athletic part. Players that come to mind are Ron Harper, Luke Walton, Robert Horry, John Stockton, Mark Jackson, Bruce Bowen... Building on what you said, the Spurs role players were excellent this past season. They had 2/3 guys that could penetrate, a defensive stopper, guys that can hit the open 3pointer, a spark off the bench and an extra bigman to give TD/DRob a breather. Its those reasons that were the deciding factor in the Spurs 2003 Championship.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Mel:</div><div class="quote_post">Luke Walton.</div> ? You mean Bill Walton right? Or were you just using Luke as an example of a non-veteran mental player?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Riot_Starter:</div><div class="quote_post">? You mean Bill Walton right? Or were you just using Luke as an example of a non-veteran mental player?</div>Whoops, Luke Walton's not a veteran...but yeah I was thinkin' of him as mental player.
