Everything 2017 Off-Season

[A.I]

Now this is the kind of system/culture the Raptors need. Without Leonard or Parker, Spurs are up 22 at half time on the Rockets with basically Aldridge + bench players. Offence and defense remain incredibly disciplined.

Well to be fair, no team in the NBA other than the Spurs could win that big without their star player. They have Pop, one of the greatest coaches of all time.

[MixxAOR]

Let's be like Spurs then. Boom. Problem solved.

[Ball]

Well to be fair, no team in the NBA other than the Spurs could win that big without their star player. They have Pop, one of the greatest coaches of all time.

I'd argue he's the GOAT, but that's besides the point. I think the point here is that the Raptor's offense is far too predictable, and there's a lack of discipline defensively at times which makes me question the coaching. Yes, some of that is on the players, but we've also seen this the past 4-5 years in spite of a changing supporting cast. We shouldn't need a GOAT coach, but we should have some sort of motion offense and defensive accountability that players can be confident in.

[slaw]

There was a poster who was saying that the NBA had basically evolved into a 3-pt shooting contest. Uh.... no.

Rockets went 13/40 from three and were ice cold when the game was decided in the first half. It absolutely was a 3-point shouting contest. They missed them all. They were 16/48... repeat, 16/48 in game 5. Well over half their shots were threes. They missed.

[Puffer]

Let's be like Spurs then. Boom. Problem solved.

It really is this simple, and this difficult. The greatest attribute the Spurs have is that they created a system. They then set about finding the type of players that could work within the system. They elevate trust over ego; best shot over better shot; basketball IQ; set plays (or rather multiple options off of set plays) that are designed so that any player that is open will get an opportunity to shoot; and they place players into situations so that they have the chance to optimize their chances for success, so that it doesn't matter whether you are a corner three guy, a pick and pop shooter, a pick and roll driver, a dunker, or whatever, their sets are going to keep the whole team moving until something opens up.

Based on the opponents and players on the floor, they change what they run and the frequency that they run it. Simple, brilliant and apparently impossible to duplicate, as far as the Raptors are concerned.

Masai would do well to hire an assistant coach and have do nothing for the next year but reverse engineer the Spurs offence and defense.

[Scraptor]

Rockets went 13/40 from three and were ice cold when the game was decided in the first half. It absolutely was a 3-point shouting contest. They missed them all. They were 16/48... repeat, 16/48 in game 5. Well over half their shots were threes. They missed.

They could've shot 60% from 3 in game 6 and they still would've lost. To a team that shot 5/22 for 23%.

They shot the same % from 3 as the Spurs in game 5, and made 5 more. And lost.

The three is obviously more important now in the NBA, but it's not a 3-point contest if you make more of them than your opponent and still lose.

[Scraptor]

It really is this simple, and this difficult. The greatest attribute the Spurs have is that they created a system. They then set about finding the type of players that could work within the system. They elevate trust over ego; best shot over better shot; basketball IQ; set plays (or rather multiple options off of set plays) that are designed so that any player that is open will get an opportunity to shoot; and they place players into situations so that they have the chance to optimize their chances for success, so that it doesn't matter whether you are a corner three guy, a pick and pop shooter, a pick and roll driver, a dunker, or whatever, their sets are going to keep the whole team moving until something opens up.

Based on the opponents and players on the floor, they change what they run and the frequency that they run it. Simple, brilliant and apparently impossible to duplicate, as far as the Raptors are concerned.

Masai would do well to hire an assistant coach and have do nothing for the next year but reverse engineer the Spurs offence and defense.

It's really not that simple.


Sept 29, 2015:
Raptors to alter team philosophy ahead of training camp

http://www.tsn.ca/talent/raptors-to-...-camp-1.368917

"We’re changing some things offensively, we’re changing some things defensively," said Casey, speaking during the team's annual media day festivities on Monday. "So making sure that we’re all on the same page of those changes is going to be a big challenge for us as a staff. To make sure we want to be a better ball-moving team.

May 2016

Raptors might need to embrace a pass time
https://www.thestar.com/sports/rapto...me-arthur.html

“It’s harder to defend, that’s the name of the game, unselfishness, ball movement,” says Raptors guard Cory Joseph, who grew up in the San Antonio Spurs system.

It's been obvious for a long time what our offensive weaknesses are. But despite all this lip service about ball movement, it hasn't actually manifested on the court. I didn't even include the annual claims about how we're going to involve JV more.

Basically it's a bunch of bullshit. If Casey/Kyle/DeMar return, nothing is going to change. That 2015 article reads like it could be written today.

A real culture reset means changing the people. Because people don't change.

[Rudy Bargnani]

So if Rudy Gay and Andrea Bargnani were combined into one player... would that player be the worst player in NBA history? A volume shooter who can't shoot, rebound, pass, and is absolutely atrocious on defense. Topped off with a shitty, lazy attitude. Extraordinarily low basketball IQ... and loves pasta.

I'm just analyzing your name btw lol.

Lol, worst player or a Colangelo wet dream?

[MixxAOR]

Changing role players is like changing assistant coaches. You can't expect culture to change.

[Nilanka]

It's really not that simple.


Sept 29, 2015:
Raptors to alter team philosophy ahead of training camp

http://www.tsn.ca/talent/raptors-to-...-camp-1.368917


May 2016

Raptors might need to embrace a pass time
https://www.thestar.com/sports/rapto...me-arthur.html


It's been obvious for a long time what our offensive weaknesses are. But despite all this lip service about ball movement, it hasn't actually manifested on the court. I didn't even include the annual claims about how we're going to involve JV more.

Basically it's a bunch of bullshit. If Casey/Kyle/DeMar return, nothing is going to change. That 2015 article reads like it could be written today.

A real culture reset means changing the people. Because people don't change.

Wow, that 2015 article reads like an Onion article today.

Absolutely nothing can be gleaned from Masai's presser. It's nothing but words we've all heard before.

[golden]

Rockets went 13/40 from three and were ice cold when the game was decided in the first half. It absolutely was a 3-point shouting contest. They missed them all. They were 16/48... repeat, 16/48 in game 5. Well over half their shots were threes. They missed.

In game 6, the Spurs made 5 3's on 22.7% shooting and Rockets made 13 3's on 42.5%. Rockets "won" the 3-point shooting contest more than decisively, both on makes and percentage. Yet they got blown TF out. The poster's theory was that the team that wins the 3-pt battle wins the game. This was clearly not the case last night.

[Zing79]

It really is this simple, and this difficult. The greatest attribute the Spurs have is that they created a system. They then set about finding the type of players that could work within the system. They elevate trust over ego; best shot over better shot; basketball IQ; set plays (or rather multiple options off of set plays) that are designed so that any player that is open will get an opportunity to shoot; and they place players into situations so that they have the chance to optimize their chances for success, so that it doesn't matter whether you are a corner three guy, a pick and pop shooter, a pick and roll driver, a dunker, or whatever, their sets are going to keep the whole team moving until something opens up.

Based on the opponents and players on the floor, they change what they run and the frequency that they run it. Simple, brilliant and apparently impossible to duplicate, as far as the Raptors are concerned.

Masai would do well to hire an assistant coach and have do nothing for the next year but reverse engineer the Spurs offence and defense.

From your lips to his ears.

Don't just spend a training camp either to fine tune it to perfection. Take a step back to 42-45 wins and treat the regular season like an extended training camp.

So when playoffs come around you're on auto-pilot with the offence.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[S.R.]

I'd be interested in knowing how many of Houston's 3's were contested, even though that stat can be a bit off. Pop has focused not just on trying to take more threes, like most teams are, he's really put in work (+ has talked about) how to defend against teams taking a lot of 3's. That's what the Raptors need to focus on, WTF happened to their top 5 (post-trades) defence that looked so absolutely useless against the Cavs. Just jacking more 3's would not have swung that series.

[ball4life]

I'd be interested in knowing how many of Houston's 3's were contested, even though that stat can be a bit off. Pop has focused not just on trying to take more threes, like most teams are, he's really put in work (+ has talked about) how to defend against teams taking a lot of 3's. That's what the Raptors need to focus on, WTF happened to their top 5 (post-trades) defence that looked so absolutely useless against the Cavs. Just jacking more 3's would not have swung that series.

Here is a Zach Lowe piece on how they defended the 3 point barrage from Houston. It goes to show how important strategic coaching decisions are in the Playoffs. It doesn't matter how many tools you have in your roster if you dont know how to use them.

It's interesting how a slow footed, 7 footer was a key piece in swinging the series the otherway.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/1...on-rockets-nba

[S.R.]

Here is a Zach Lowe piece on how they defended the 3 point barrage from Houston. It goes to show how important strategic coaching decisions are in the Playoffs. It doesn't matter how many tools you have in your roster if you dont know how to use them.

It's interesting how a slow footed, 7 footer was a key piece in swinging the series the otherway.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/1...on-rockets-nba

One of the amazing things about Pop is how he can turn almost any player into a positive contributor, especially limited bigs, by finding (or even creating) a role from them that utilizes their strengths. That + the endless stream of strategic tweaks and adjustments. Incredible.

No other coach in the NBA would turn to 36 year old Pau Gasol as a defensive solution against a D'Antoni 3 point barrage - especially with LMA already on the floor. On most teams Pau wouldn't even get minutes in that series.