Official 2016 Free Agency Thread

In 13 of Lou's 36 starts, he failed to reach 10. That's 36%. That's worse than DD. And DD managed to start on a playoff team. Lou couldn't start unless people were hurt. And then there's defense. This data isn't even close to suggesting Lou is near DD's level. JC's? Maybe.

 

And in 2014-15, Lou's finest hour, he failed to reach 10 in 41 of 80 games.

 

Btw. I don't want Barnes. Never have. Probably never will.

 

Okay @tada you wanted to drop the DeRozan vs. Clarkson debate which I think is a good decision. Let's get into fit:

The idea that everyone in the offense needs to be a knockdown three point shooter is a fallacy in the GS offense. Not everyone needs to shoot, but everyone needs to be active. Bogut is not a shooter, Iguodala is not a shooter, Barbosa is just a 35% three point shooter, and Livingston took only 12 threes all season long. Now obviously shooting is going to be important to maintain spacing. That's where Russell, Ingram, and one of either Randle or our new Center comes in to be able to hit a jumper more regularly. But let's dive into the three most popular plays that the GS offense is built around:

1. Motion-Weak. This is the made popular by Popovich and the Spurs (which by the way features Duncan, Aldridge, and Parker in their starting five none of whom can shoot). The ball comes up, starts on the strong side of the floor where the Center posts up (Duncan). The person bringing the ball up can be any of the three wing players. The other wing players set up evenly spaced with someone at the top and the other on the weak side three point line. The Power Forward (Aldridge) sets up on that side. Instead of throwing the ball into the Center, you move the ball to the weak side of the floor by passing to the top and then to the far end. Meanwhile the PF sets a screen for Duncan who spins around now with deep post position. The wing up top sets a down screen for Aldridge who pops up somewhere near the free throw line. The beauty of this play is all the options you have to pass to. You can throw the ball into the deep post and let Duncan operate if he's open. For us that'd be maybe Horford or Biyombo or Noah or whomever. Heck it could be Randle or Nance Jr. if we go small. You can hit Aldridge coming off the down screen or a wide open mid-range jumper. You can even hit the (now weak side) wing who is in the opposite corner and can cut to the basket for an easy layup or dunk. You can also allow the offense to continue moving. I can keep going, but I'll just post this video:


Now the beauty of this offense is that a) it's always in motion, b) you can mix and match positioning on the floor to accommodate strength (say have DeRozan play where Aldridge usually plays so he can get his mid-range shots), and c) it's a read offense which makes it inherently unpredictable and difficult to defend if you have good decision makers. In this offense is it important to have shooters? Yes. Danny Green helps space the floor on the weak side and Kawhi's development as a three point shooter helps give space to the screens inside. Russell and Ingram provide space while someone like DeMar can knock down mid-range jumpers and the others finish where they're most comfortable.

2. Split Cuts. This is the set that is based on the Triangle. I've seen some videos call this "Cross Cut" or "Cross Motion" or something like that, but it's a mixture of the Triangle and the Princeton.


Here you can see the first few shots are keyed off of obviously Klay and Steph's shooting, but as you continue watching it's clear that the shooting is only part of it. It's again about man movement and finding openings on the floor. The play starts with you throwing the ball into the post with your PG and SG up top in a traditional Triangle set. The difference here is that you keep the defense busy on the weak side with another set of screens so the defense can't stay still. The Triangle essentially worked to get you an iso either on the low or high block. This is a distraction in which the shot you really want happens on the perimeter or going to the rim. Again though: most of these plays happen with or without the big shooters on the team. The Warriors dump down and set a screen where a lot of times a difficult three results from it. We don't have those kinds of shooters (nobody does), but you can see where the screen on top of the post also leads to open mid-range shots, cuts backdoor on the weak side, and open post shots. This play is going to be great with DeMar bringing the ball up, dump it to Randle down low with Russell trailing to the three. DeMar passes into Randle and sets a screen for Russell. Russell gets either a wide open three or drives a bit to find space mid-range. DeMar can then fade to the weak side to maintain spacing or he can cut to the rim. Weak side have our other 4/5 set a screen for Ingram who can pop out on the weak side for a wide open three. Again though it's about motion and not necessarily about shooters. You can get away with two knock-down three point shooters on the floor as long as someone else can hit an open jumper and the others can finish around the basket (or get fouled). The most important part of this set is actually having people who can cut to the basket (DeMar) and a good passer out of the post.

3. Running. The most important part of the Warriors' offense is pushing the ball to get a good look early in the shot clock. DeMar is quite capable of running out in transition to finish, get fouled, or find someone else for the open shot.

Those are your main three sources of points. There's plenty of others. Here's a few videos of other plays they run:




@YoungThundercat also posted some great stuff somewhere around here with more breakdowns. Shooters are important and obviously with Golden State that's their strength. That won't be ours though and this offense will be tweaked to better fit our roster. That's the point of a good coach. We don't have Steph and Klay's shooting and chances are we'll never really come close, so why would we try? Steph and Klay can't do some of the things D'Angelo and Julius can do. What I've explained here is the basic bones of the offense, stuff that would have worked with our team last season even without major improvements. Last season our team was all isos all day long and pick and rolls to nowhere. In THAT offense it's important to have shooters because defenders only have to stay in one area. In THIS offense, shooters are still important but it's more important to have active, smart players that can read and react. DeMar will certainly be able to find ways to be effective in this offense. So will Jordan! Someone else brought up versatility and that's what really makes GS so effective. Sure they can shoot you into oblivion with Klay and Steph, but they can also run you into the ground and they've got good decision makers and play makers all over the floor at all times. Movement > Spacing > anything we've ever seen from Byron.

Honestly just get ready for fun because this offense is going to kick our butts with whoever we get this summer (or don't get really). If DeMar makes the decision to stay in Toronto, it's not the end of the world to me. I love Jordan Clarkson and what he can bring and if he's our starting SG then sure it means we struck out, but at least we'll still be better because this offense rocks. I can't stop watching it!

 

No sweat. I love the offense. I think it can be tailored to whomever we have with or without DeMar on the court. Motion-weak especially doesn't call for a team full of shooters, but the others too are more interested in constant screens/movement than necessarily shooters in the corners.

I'm with you that shooters are important. I think what's funny about this is we've been arguing for weeks, but we're not honestly that far off. Just one of us is into DeMar coming here and one isn't. Oh well. It gave me an excuse to delve into this offense which I love. I pray our players buy in and we get this.

 

Not crazy at all! He'd be a great fit with the offense we're proposing now. An amazing fit actually, but the best course for him is to go to San Antonio and replace Duncan so he can run that offense on a more competitive team.

We could also look into taking Marc Gasol as a contract dump maybe. Coming off a big injury and that team is mired in mediocrity. I know Marc and Pau aren't our biggest fans right now, but if we could get a pick or two out of Memphis for taking that 20 million dollar contract, I'd consider it.

 

He said LA and Miami are 100% possible for LeBron if he wins a ring in Cleveland this year because while he feels obligated to his home town, he also hates it.

He didn't say the last part, but I think it's probably true.