Lebron isolations in Game 4 - only faces 1 defender on strongside

[3ball]

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Strongsides have less defenders today, due to weakside spacing - 1-defender strongsides that provide secluded 1-on-1 are standard, as seen over dozen times in Game 4:


http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/5-27-2015/htKYYr.gif

http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/5-27-2015/8Td59Q.gif




Same drill in Game 3 - only 1 defender on strongside:


http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/5-25-2015/LJjm2B.gif

http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/5-25-2015/LN8UHS.gif

http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/5-25-2015/QpWaKl.gif

http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/5-25-2015/7mUjI9.gif




Same drill in Game 2 - only 1 defender on strongside:


http://gifsforum.com/images_new/gif/other/grand/60edafbed8d187680e60fbc7ad5e81de.gif

http://gifsforum.com/images_new/gif/other/grand/5f6d4329b3bcca4b79bf694fe56dfe1e.gif



Game 1... As usual, only 1 defender on strongside:


http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/5-22-2015/WAhpK1.gif

http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/5-22-2015/4KTtgX.gif


Weakside spacing leaves the strongside with fewer defenders, which necessitates the flooding of defenders BACK TO the strongside - this is how strongside floods originated - weakside spacing necessitates strongside flooding.

Otoh, as the first GIF showed, weakside spacing didn't exist in previous eras, so defenders didn't need to leave the strongside.. With defenders remaining on the strongside, the strongside was already flooded and today's "strongside flood" strategy was not necessary.. 5-defender strongsides (http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showpost.php?p=11128077&postcount=21) were standard.

These fully-flooded strongsides were a product of no-spacing and represented the "advanced" version of the game that included hand-checking, higher physicality, and legal paint-camping, and therefore requiring more sophisticated 2-point shooting ability.

This is a stark contrast to today's weakside spacing and resulting 1-defender strongsides (http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=377570), which is basically the "beginner" version of the game that includes less strongside defenders, no hand-checking, no paint-camping, no physicality.. The highest levels of offensive sophistication (http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showpost.php?p=11534471&postcount=108) simply aren't needed for the beginner version of the game.

Btw, the stats show that Lebron isolated more than anything else he did in the regular season and playoffs.. This means his 33% isolation FG% was the biggest factor driving down his overall efficiency and we can assume MJ's far superior isolation ability would've resulted in a far better efficiency.

Since Lebron is such a poor 1-on-1 and isolation player, Golden State let Lebron isolate all alone on the strongside for the entire Finals - it's always the best defensive strategy to let a player shoot at 33% over and over.. The Warriors exploited the Cavs by letting Lebron isolate at 33% a pop over and over (similar to how teams do hack-a-Deandre):

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=378398



Btw, given MJ's vastly higher isolation ability and efficiency, what would stop a coach from isolating MJ against a 1-defender strongside on EVERY play?.. http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=377958[/I]

More discussion of today's lower number of strongside defenders: http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=377945
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[Prometheus]

Hi 3ball. Good morning.

[ISHGoat]

jeff make me a mod and ill make your board better

[3ball]

Hi 3ball. Good morning.



I reviewed highlights and holy crap - this shit is ridic (and standard):


http://www.gifsforum.com/images_new/gif/other/grand/db9b609bd9dff6910ea5770b5fe4a2ec.gif


My god - previous era wings can only dream and fantasize about these kinds of things (spacing).
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[Velocirap31]

The spacing is there now because everyone on the floor can shoot these days. If you crowd the paint or a player like Lebron, open 3's all day for his teammates. Previous era's had worse shooters overall.

[Springsteen]

Is this part of god's plan for you? To do this every single day?

Repent.

[Keno]

do you have a life?

[3ball]

http://gifsforum.com/images_new/gif/other/grand/6f2bdd4d49761fa8f80d0db756aa9770.gif


If you crowd the paint vs. Lebron, it's open 3's all day for his teammates.


If Lebron went back to 1985, the paint would be packed like you said, but Lebron WOULDN'T be able to kick it out to 3-point shooters, because teams only attempted two 3-pointers per game back then.. None of his teammates would be 3-point shooters, so Lebron wouldn't be able to circumvent the spacing via drive-and-kick any better than anyone else.

Otoh, today's 3-point shooting prowess makes offense easier for all players.. For example, one of the primary objectives of today's 3-point shooting and spacing strategy is to reduce the number of strongside defenders by using weakside floor-spreaders to draw defenders away - consequently, today's player not only faces fewer defenders on the strongside, but frequently faces only 1 defender on strongside, as shown repeatedly in the OP.

Otoh, previous eras didn't have today's 3-point shooting or spacing strategy, so they didn't use weakside floor-spreaders to draw defenders away from the strongside - consequently, they usually faced a strongside that was already flooded with all 5 defenders, as shown in the example GIF above.

[FKAri]

Whatever you need to convince yourself that 2015 isn't when the highest level of basketball is being played bro.

[Lebron23]

http://areyoujustwatching.com/files/2014/01/deja-vu.jpg

http://www.gstatic.com/tv/thumb/dvdboxart/14569/p14569_d_v7_aa.jpg

http://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/source_code_movie.jpg

[3ball]

Whatever you need to convince yourself that 2015 isn't when the highest level of basketball is being played bro.
This thread isn't about that - you completely missed the point of the thread: one of the main effects of today's spacing is that players face less defenders on the strongside due to weakside floor-spreaders that lure defenders away - that's the point.

This thread has nothing to do with the topic you mentioned: whether today's game represents a better brand of basketball or not.

But nonetheless, you should be careful assuming the brand of basketball is always improving.. In the early-mid 2000's, the NBA couldn't even beat Euroleague - literally - despite having Lebron, Wade, Melo, CP3, Bosh, Dwight, and many more, the NBA lost 7 times on the most important stage when the stakes were highest (representing the USA in Olympics and World Games).

The brand of basketball was SO bad at the time, that it more than offset our GOAT talent advantage on the rest of the world.. Naturally, we got our ass kicked (http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=373182).. :confusedshrug:
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