Originally Posted by
-jk
An important thing to remember about playing for K: it's a team sport and players must work together (cf, "fist"), and without rigid structure imposed on offense or defense.
A player should know where his four teammates are. And where all five opponents are. And anticipate where the play is headed. And do all this without using a lot of set plays, but rather creating and adapting as each possession develops. It's tricky and subtle and very hard to learn. We struggled with this all year on D, and now and then on O.
Communication and awareness are vital. Calling - and hearing - a switch vs. hedge being the most obvious one on D; miss on that and someone's left really open for an easy shot. Anticipating where a player will be on O without a diagrammed play - Irving was a savant <sigh>. Seeing the entirety of the game flow, being ready to help on D, ... I think Andre often struggled to see the whole game, then would get out of position, miss an assignment, and sit. ...
G seemed to have a hard time adapting to this broader game K requires, ...-jk