Im Still Ballin
01-07-2025, 08:28 AM
Am I wrong for thinking his style of offense is better suited to today's NBA?
High-volume, high-efficiency scorer with an absolutely lethal 20ft-and-in isolation game. Post-up, face-up, set shot, pull-up, dribble-drive, low-post, mid-post, elbow, wing isolation. One of the best triple-threat games ever. Could also attack off the dribble out of the isolation sets in the spots on the court listed above. Touch around the rim and post-up/floater bag like Jokic. Harden/Butler/Embiid/Giannis-level foul drawer.
The crux of my argument is that the passing opportunities today are better for his style of offense. Three-point shooters spacing the floor. Like when Houston started playing four-out around Hakeem, or Dwight in Orlando. Or Shaq in Orlando and LA. Inside-out, drive-and-kick. That approach wasn't as available during the '80s.
I don't think he was as bad a passer as people make him out to be. 4 apg to 30 ppg in his prime. I think he could make the basic passing reads with the modern four-out-one-in set-up better than he could in his era. And that's why his offense hits harder today. What do you think?
Defense isn't worth mentioning because I don't think there'd be much of a difference across eras. It wasn't a stand-out feature then and it wouldn't be now. He could defend well when he tried. There are articles and quotes praising his defense in Detroit. But it's not a huge topic to discuss here.
Here's a great video that covers his offensive skill set for 70sFan. I don't want to see anyone label him as nothing more than an "outdated post-up player." Clearly, his game was extremely dynamic. We don't have tracking numbers yet but I think 70sFan is working on it. I'm not sure he posted up any more than Jokic (6.8 post-up possessions in 2024-25) and Embiid (9.3 post-up possessions in 2020-21). But we'll have to wait until we have numbers to confirm that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2VNWvoSDqc
High-volume, high-efficiency scorer with an absolutely lethal 20ft-and-in isolation game. Post-up, face-up, set shot, pull-up, dribble-drive, low-post, mid-post, elbow, wing isolation. One of the best triple-threat games ever. Could also attack off the dribble out of the isolation sets in the spots on the court listed above. Touch around the rim and post-up/floater bag like Jokic. Harden/Butler/Embiid/Giannis-level foul drawer.
The crux of my argument is that the passing opportunities today are better for his style of offense. Three-point shooters spacing the floor. Like when Houston started playing four-out around Hakeem, or Dwight in Orlando. Or Shaq in Orlando and LA. Inside-out, drive-and-kick. That approach wasn't as available during the '80s.
I don't think he was as bad a passer as people make him out to be. 4 apg to 30 ppg in his prime. I think he could make the basic passing reads with the modern four-out-one-in set-up better than he could in his era. And that's why his offense hits harder today. What do you think?
Defense isn't worth mentioning because I don't think there'd be much of a difference across eras. It wasn't a stand-out feature then and it wouldn't be now. He could defend well when he tried. There are articles and quotes praising his defense in Detroit. But it's not a huge topic to discuss here.
Here's a great video that covers his offensive skill set for 70sFan. I don't want to see anyone label him as nothing more than an "outdated post-up player." Clearly, his game was extremely dynamic. We don't have tracking numbers yet but I think 70sFan is working on it. I'm not sure he posted up any more than Jokic (6.8 post-up possessions in 2024-25) and Embiid (9.3 post-up possessions in 2020-21). But we'll have to wait until we have numbers to confirm that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2VNWvoSDqc