Has the new era been figured out yet?

[StrongLurk]

Talking about the NBA these last few years. Seems like every team is playing a very similar way from a broad perspective.

The playoff races are very close this year and we know the NBA has now entered a HYPER offensive format. The fact that the Kings team is so good this year is interesting to me despite not having a top ten player.

We know the Rockets/Warriors jumpstarted this current format in the mid-2010's...but even their three point shooting volume seems pedestrian compared to now.

To sum up, I don't think a premium strategy has been found yet for this new hyper offense era.

[BarberSchool]

Big lineups and high efficiency post play from dominant post scorers that can consistently kill you with smart passes out of doubles (to both cutters and spot up shooters) is coming back big time.

Also, I have a feeling that somewhere in Europe of the collegiate system, there are new zone defenses being perfected that deal with the 3-point line more than the paint. All the switch everything stuff will come to an end.

[Im Still Ballin]

Teams just caught up to the GSW meta-strategy. They're better able to defend against three-point, DHO, off-screen, PnR offense. When GSW exploded in '14-'15, it felt like teams didn't know how to play them. Should they slow it down and beat them with size? Or try to outgun them?

It feels like it took around 3-4 years for teams to catch up. Not only are they more equipped to handle modern offenses, they also run them themselves.

[Im Still Ballin]

Big lineups and high efficiency post play from dominant post scorers that can pass out of doubles is coming back big time.

I think it's more about the defense. Having two rim protectors is the way to go. It allows you to combat the dragging out of the shot-blocker by rotating another from the weak side.

- Rob Williams + Al Horford
- Jarrett Allen + Evan Mobley
- Anthony Davis + Javale McGee/Dwight Howard (2020)
- Jaren Jackson Jr + Steven Adams
- Giannis + Brook

Post-up play is also having a small renaissance. It's more about punishing mismatches caused by all the switching on defense. However, I do agree with you: there's an opportunity for a dominant post-up player - Embiid and Jokic have shown promise. A guy like McHale, Shaq, Hakeem, or Kareem in today's spaced-out paint? Damn. Add an extra 5% on their shooting percentage.

[BarberSchool]

I think it's more about the defense. Having two rim protectors is the way to go. It allows you to combat the dragging out of the shot-blocker by rotating another from the weak side.

- Rob Williams + Al Horford
- Jarrett Allen + Evan Mobley
- Anthony Davis + Javale McGee/Dwight Howard (2020)
- Jaren Jackson Jr + Steven Adams
- Giannis + Brook

Post-up play is also having a small renaissance. It's more about punishing mismatches caused by all the switching on defense. However, I do agree with you: there's an opportunity for a dominant post-up player - Embiid and Jokic have shown promise. A guy like McHale, Shaq, Hakeem, or Kareem in today's spaced-out paint? Damn. Add an extra 5% on their shooting percentage.
Word.
Post up renaissance is also being done by bigger backcourt players frequently. Post-ups in general, are such a low-turnover, high efficiency, foul-trouble-causing strategy, and like you said, with the spaced out paint, shooting percentages in the paint go UP.

Also fully agree on the dual rim protection examples.
Brook and Jaren … neither get anywhere near enough credit for how great their combos of defensive presence and offensive space creation is.

[NBAGOAT]

All the double big lineups have issues offensively so that might limit their popularity. Also yes teams have caught up to gs on both ends of the ball even if they don’t have curry. Saw a stat that steph+draymond isn’t nearly as dominant from 21-23 as they were during their first 3 titles. Ik draymond got worse and the team around them did too but other teams also got better strategically on offense and know how to defend gs better

[Phoenix]

Teams just caught up to the GSW meta-strategy. They're better able to defend against three-point, DHO, off-screen, PnR offense. When GSW exploded in '14-'15, it felt like teams didn't know how to play them. Should they slow it down and beat them with size? Or try to outgun them?

It feels like it took around 3-4 years for teams to catch up. Not only are they more equipped to handle modern offenses, they also run them themselves.

They didn't( starting with not knowing how to defend someone like Steph with his combination of handles and range). If you dropped that 2016 Warriors into 2023 they aren't winning 73 games, obviously they'd still be among the elite but as you said, the league caught up to their style.

[highwhey]

Sounds very gimmicky…


You know what isn’t gimmicky? The efficiency of an elite midrange game…such as the likes of book and K-fvcking-D.

[Full Court]

I think it's more about the defense. Having two rim protectors is the way to go. It allows you to combat the dragging out of the shot-blocker by rotating another from the weak side.

- Rob Williams + Al Horford
- Jarrett Allen + Evan Mobley
- Anthony Davis + Javale McGee/Dwight Howard (2020)
- Jaren Jackson Jr + Steven Adams
- Giannis + Brook

Post-up play is also having a small renaissance. It's more about punishing mismatches caused by all the switching on defense. However, I do agree with you: there's an opportunity for a dominant post-up player - Embiid and Jokic have shown promise. A guy like McHale, Shaq, Hakeem, or Kareem in today's spaced-out paint? Damn. Add an extra 5% on their shooting percentage.

^This is good analysis. :applause: