Post by DERRENMATTS on Jun 14, 2006 1:30:18 GMT -5
Last year, we ranked 10th in the league in assists. Not bad, but we have a lot more room to improve. We are primarily a halfcourt team, and we hardly detered from that. We made an effort early in the year, but we just don't have the right personel to be a team constantly pushing the ball. We rely a lot on ball movement, using even our big man to contribute. Thus, our high amount of turnovers. When the ball isn't moving, our offensive game stagnates and turns ugly. Guys start standing around, and ultimately, we have to resort to Pierce isolating on one side, or having guys like Scalabrine taking running three pointers.
Getting a playmaking PG could make us a deadly offense. We have big scorers in Wally and Pierce, and learning on the wings are Big Al and Gerald Green. We have role players who are more effective when they are put in the right situation where they don't have to create for themselves (Delonte, Raef, Perkins, Gomes. Allen). A guy who can penetrate into the lane and make nifty passes will help us get higher percentage shots inside and some easy points. A guy who can execute the pick and rolls with craftiness and pull defenders to him can help our perimeter players get open looks on their shots. A guy who can lead the breaks and set up the plays perfectly will encourage guys to run hard and run more often.
An option for us to go after a guy like this is through the draft. Marcus Williams, Sergio Rodrigues (from what I hear of him), and Rajon Rondo are the front runners for playmaking PG's. These guys have court vision better than anyone we currently have on the team. They are guys who can dribble their way thru traffic and deliver difficult passes with precision. These are guys who enjoy passing and setting up the offense. These are guys who like to play at a quicker tempo than we are used to seeing. These are guys who will lead the breaks with confidence and precision. These are guys who can potentially quarterback our offense and average 9 ~ 10 apg since we have a good amount of scorers on the team.
Another guy is Randy Foye. Not as highly regarded for his PG skills as the other 3 mentioned, but from what scouting reports are saying about him now, he is more of a PG than many thought he was from watching him play at Villanova. He is an aggressive player who likes to attack on offense. His penetrating ability is widely recognized, as is his dribbling ability. Having a guy who can penetrate will open up plays for us inside the paint.
But ultimately, having a PG whose forte is setting up players for easier shots may be the ticket for us to be a dominant offense. We already have a solid offensive game, as evident by our FG% (5th in the leauge) and our team points per game average (good for 12th in the league, top 5 in 2005). But we did this without a true playmaking PG, and we had Pierce doing a lot of the ball handling to create offense for us when we struggled to get into a rhythm. Delonte slowed down the tempo a lot as the season wore on, and it was evident that he's an exceptional player, but not a PG who can create a lot of offense for us. We were missing a PG who could handle the pressure late in the game and put us in a position to get a high percentage shot.
A real playmaking PG who can create offense for us with his court vision, deft passing, penetration into the lane, and saavy ball handling may be what it takes to make us an elite offensive team. If he can make life easier for Pierce, Wally, Gerald, Jefferson, Delonte, Gomes, Allen, Perkins, and Raef, opposing teams will have to bring their "A" game defensively every night.
Getting a playmaking PG could make us a deadly offense. We have big scorers in Wally and Pierce, and learning on the wings are Big Al and Gerald Green. We have role players who are more effective when they are put in the right situation where they don't have to create for themselves (Delonte, Raef, Perkins, Gomes. Allen). A guy who can penetrate into the lane and make nifty passes will help us get higher percentage shots inside and some easy points. A guy who can execute the pick and rolls with craftiness and pull defenders to him can help our perimeter players get open looks on their shots. A guy who can lead the breaks and set up the plays perfectly will encourage guys to run hard and run more often.
An option for us to go after a guy like this is through the draft. Marcus Williams, Sergio Rodrigues (from what I hear of him), and Rajon Rondo are the front runners for playmaking PG's. These guys have court vision better than anyone we currently have on the team. They are guys who can dribble their way thru traffic and deliver difficult passes with precision. These are guys who enjoy passing and setting up the offense. These are guys who like to play at a quicker tempo than we are used to seeing. These are guys who will lead the breaks with confidence and precision. These are guys who can potentially quarterback our offense and average 9 ~ 10 apg since we have a good amount of scorers on the team.
Another guy is Randy Foye. Not as highly regarded for his PG skills as the other 3 mentioned, but from what scouting reports are saying about him now, he is more of a PG than many thought he was from watching him play at Villanova. He is an aggressive player who likes to attack on offense. His penetrating ability is widely recognized, as is his dribbling ability. Having a guy who can penetrate will open up plays for us inside the paint.
But ultimately, having a PG whose forte is setting up players for easier shots may be the ticket for us to be a dominant offense. We already have a solid offensive game, as evident by our FG% (5th in the leauge) and our team points per game average (good for 12th in the league, top 5 in 2005). But we did this without a true playmaking PG, and we had Pierce doing a lot of the ball handling to create offense for us when we struggled to get into a rhythm. Delonte slowed down the tempo a lot as the season wore on, and it was evident that he's an exceptional player, but not a PG who can create a lot of offense for us. We were missing a PG who could handle the pressure late in the game and put us in a position to get a high percentage shot.
A real playmaking PG who can create offense for us with his court vision, deft passing, penetration into the lane, and saavy ball handling may be what it takes to make us an elite offensive team. If he can make life easier for Pierce, Wally, Gerald, Jefferson, Delonte, Gomes, Allen, Perkins, and Raef, opposing teams will have to bring their "A" game defensively every night.