midnightpulp
08-10-2016, 06:40 PM
elite dribble-drive penetration is a developed as an "afterthought" skill for up-and-coming players in favor of "I wanna be like Wardell!"
It's blindly obvious why the US are struggling with Australia. In the past, the US team could deal with hot shooting nights from the opposition by just taking it to the rack. No country on Earth can deal with the speed, quickness, and athleticism of a Jordan, Lebron, Westbrook, and players of that mold. This is how Cleveland beat the Warriors, as well. The Warriors couldn't stay hot from distance and had nothing to fall back on, so when the game got tight, the Cavs were able to produce higher percentage shots through penetration (mostly from Lebron). Also how the Thunder almost beat them. Couldn't stop Westbrook.
Now everyone wants to be a jumpshooter. There's only two elite penetrators in the league: Lebron and Westbrook. Before the "Wardell Era," every good team had great penetrators. Manu, Tony Parker, Wade, Marbury, 3 peat Kobe, Nash was crafty at getting into the paint. And the league was filled with great penetrators all around, like Marbury, A.I. (he still chucked too much, though), Steve Francis, etc.
Jumpshots are too high variance, especially in pressure situations. Jumpers need to be balanced with great penetration and just not used as the primary game tactic.
And of course post-play is all but dead, but that's another topic.
It's blindly obvious why the US are struggling with Australia. In the past, the US team could deal with hot shooting nights from the opposition by just taking it to the rack. No country on Earth can deal with the speed, quickness, and athleticism of a Jordan, Lebron, Westbrook, and players of that mold. This is how Cleveland beat the Warriors, as well. The Warriors couldn't stay hot from distance and had nothing to fall back on, so when the game got tight, the Cavs were able to produce higher percentage shots through penetration (mostly from Lebron). Also how the Thunder almost beat them. Couldn't stop Westbrook.
Now everyone wants to be a jumpshooter. There's only two elite penetrators in the league: Lebron and Westbrook. Before the "Wardell Era," every good team had great penetrators. Manu, Tony Parker, Wade, Marbury, 3 peat Kobe, Nash was crafty at getting into the paint. And the league was filled with great penetrators all around, like Marbury, A.I. (he still chucked too much, though), Steve Francis, etc.
Jumpshots are too high variance, especially in pressure situations. Jumpers need to be balanced with great penetration and just not used as the primary game tactic.
And of course post-play is all but dead, but that's another topic.