Originally Posted by
Greg_Newton
Well, I'd say whenever we shoot 13-23 from 3, go +11 on the boards and come away with 13 steals, we're going to be tough to beat.
I thought our offense looked a lot better tonight. I still cringe a bit at some of the threes, but the threes we took tonight seemed much more open, in rhythm, from the top of the key or corner, and as a result of penetration and ball movement rather than settling. However, there were still some possessions where we'd just have all 5 guys standing on the three point line, waiting for someone to drive, which baffles me - hopefully that's just K saving his sets for the tournament. With the team we have, there's no reason we shouldn't be using multiple ball screens and cutters on every possession; we should be getting our athletes moving and angling toward the rim.
Finally, you can tell what a handicap it is to have to adjust to a different game - different ball, different rules, different court, different dribbling/traveling violations, different contact allowed - which is kind of annoying, frankly. I still don't understand why none of the "standards" reflect those of the country that invented basketball, developed it for a century before anyone else really caught on, and has maintained the preeminent professional league throughout the history of the sport. Our players have to completely rethink their footwork with the ball; even something as simple as the way contact is called on drives really affects the game, as flailing Euros seem to get the benefit of the doubt (30 FTs) while the best slashers of the world don't seem to get rewarded for drawing contact (15 FTs).
Pet peeve of mine when watching international games.