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I really hope the Raps don't re-sign Lou. He's a great individual player, no doubt, but his ability to create ISO offense by himself is counter-productive for team play. It becomes like a crutch for the coaching staff to encourage lack of ball movement and isn't a sustainable style for the playoffs.
One of the most impressive things about Golden State's playoff run was the almost complete lack of ISO. Even in the last minute of the first 2 close games that went to OT (before the small ball adjustments), with the ball in the hands of their best player (Curry) and shot creator, GSW still moved the ball and found the open man in the corners (e.g. Iggy, Barnes,...). Steve Kerr obviously made it a point to that they were going to live and die by ball movement and by running their offense at all times - and every player on the floor was moving, cutting hard, setting picks and ready to catch, shoot and drive. There was no panic, no fear of turnovers and no lack of trust.
There are pros and cons to ISO, but part of what the ISO approach implies is that you're scared to run your normal offense because you want to make sure you get at least a contested shot, by putting the ball into the hands of your best ISO creators (i.e. Lou, Lowry, DD), because you don't trust Ross, 2Pat, JV, Amir to make the open shot, or you think they'll make a turnover. The flip-side argument is that you want to live and die with your best players. ISO is great in moderation, but with Lou, it allowed the Raps to have at least 1 ISO creator on the floor at all times, and ultimately too easy to defend in the playoffs, when the scouting improved.
Combine that with the fact that Lou doesn't help you much on defense, then I think losing him could be addition-by-subtraction, like when Lou was traded from the Hawks and when Gay was traded from the Raps.
One of the most impressive things about Golden State's playoff run was the almost complete lack of ISO. Even in the last minute of the first 2 close games that went to OT (before the small ball adjustments), with the ball in the hands of their best player (Curry) and shot creator, GSW still moved the ball and found the open man in the corners (e.g. Iggy, Barnes,...). Steve Kerr obviously made it a point to that they were going to live and die by ball movement and by running their offense at all times - and every player on the floor was moving, cutting hard, setting picks and ready to catch, shoot and drive. There was no panic, no fear of turnovers and no lack of trust.
There are pros and cons to ISO, but part of what the ISO approach implies is that you're scared to run your normal offense because you want to make sure you get at least a contested shot, by putting the ball into the hands of your best ISO creators (i.e. Lou, Lowry, DD), because you don't trust Ross, 2Pat, JV, Amir to make the open shot, or you think they'll make a turnover. The flip-side argument is that you want to live and die with your best players. ISO is great in moderation, but with Lou, it allowed the Raps to have at least 1 ISO creator on the floor at all times, and ultimately too easy to defend in the playoffs, when the scouting improved.
Combine that with the fact that Lou doesn't help you much on defense, then I think losing him could be addition-by-subtraction, like when Lou was traded from the Hawks and when Gay was traded from the Raps.
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