Jordan's help. Wow.

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[COLOR="White"]..........................................[/COLOR][SIZE="4"][COLOR="Red"]Hand-checking[/COLOR][/SIZE]



[B]Here's real hand-checking - it's harder to get off jumpers and drive against this kind of defense:[/B]


[IMG]http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/11-13-2015/p8lMrn.gif[/IMG]

[IMG]http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/12-03-2015/Iz_v-D.gif[/IMG]

[IMG]http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/12-03-2015/ePuSyn.gif[/IMG]

[IMG]http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/10-01-2015/V2-pAN.gif[/IMG]

[IMG]http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/12-03-2015/7NXaIu.gif[/IMG]



[COLOR="black"][B]The defense Curry faces is like flag football by comparison - no touch, hands-off, league-mandated space between players on perimeter:[/B][/COLOR]


[IMG]http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/12-03-2015/TgIP3N.gif[/IMG]



[B]Also, hand-checking was MOST prevalent and effective [i][COLOR="Navy"]during the act of driving[/COLOR][/I], like the gifs below (these are fouls in today's game):[/B]


[IMG]https://media.giphy.com/media/TJPk9OncuzZoQ/giphy.gif[/IMG]

[IMG]https://media.giphy.com/media/t99KQtLZZeVS8/giphy.gif[/IMG]

[IMG]http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/8-02-2015/p6jsvL.gif[/IMG]



[B]Compare to Steph Curry driving the lane against Lebron, UNTOUCHED AND UNFETTERED - [COLOR="Red"]I almost feel sorry for Lebron[/COLOR] - he can't lay a finger on Curry - he's helpless:
[/B]

[IMG]https://media.giphy.com/media/jTvD0KKh8KCgo/giphy.gif[/IMG]


[B]NO COMPARISON[/B]
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[COLOR="White"]............................................[/COLOR][COLOR="Red"][SIZE="4"]Defensive 3 Seconds[/SIZE][/COLOR]


Zone defense is not allowed inside today's paint - inside the 16 x 19 foot paint, defenders must stay within "[I]armslength[/I]" (about 3 feet) of an offensive player, or vacate the paint - essentially, defenders can't stay in the lane with no one else around (within armslength).. "[I]Armslength[/I]" is the opposite of a zone and the strictest defense possible other than making defenders stand shoulder-to-shoulder, yet this is the policy governing the most important part of the floor - the paint:

[INDENT][I]"A defensive player is not allowed inside the key area for more than three seconds unless he is guarding the player with the ball or is actively guarding any opponent. To be considered actively guarding, a defender must be within an [B]arms length[/B] of an opponent. If an offensive player moves through the key, the defender must be within an [B]arms length[/B], and also [B][COLOR="DarkRed"]move along with the offensive player[/COLOR][/B]. He can not just stand there and put his arms out to get a new three second count."[/I][/INDENT]


[COLOR="Navy"]In the gif below, notice how Duncan's defender (Pau) is reaching out and touching Duncan[/COLOR] - Pau is making sure he remains within "[I]armslength[/I]", as stipulated by the defensive 3 second rule.. He isn't allowed to wait under the rim, since that's 8 feet away from Duncan, and out of "[I]armslength[/I]".. Since Pau must hug Duncan instead of waiting under the rim, Kawhi gets a wide open, uncontested dunk:


[img]http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/12-01-2015/-GwNKZ.gif[/img]



Here's another example - Maurice Speights must follow Tristan Thompson to the block to stay within "[I]armslength[/I]", which prevents him from contesting Lebron at the rim - you can see how wide the paint is on this angle (16 feet wide).


[IMG]https://media.giphy.com/media/qoijGMUGGV4dO/giphy.gif[/IMG]



But in previous eras, defenders were allowed to stand under the rim while their man was on the block because defenders could paint-camp "with no time limitation" when their man was within 3 feet of the paint:

[INDENT][I][B]2b.[/B] When a defensive player is guarding an offensive player who is adjacent (posted-up) to the 3-second lane, the defensive player may be within the "inside lane" area with [B][COLOR="Red"][SIZE="2"]no time limitations.[/SIZE][/COLOR][/B] An offensive player shall be ruled as "postedup" when he is within 3' of the free throw lane line. A hash mark on the baseline denotes the 3' area.[/I][/indent]


With defenders camping under the rim, Kawhi would NOT have gotten a wide open dunk in previous eras:


[IMG]http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/12-01-2015/Rc9D-4.gif[/IMG]

[IMG]http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/12-01-2015/mPufIB.gif[/IMG]


Btw, look how much defenders are sagging off their man - yet many ignoramuses think defenders in previous eras had to "follow" their man to the 3-point line - it's pure made-up lies from ignoramuses... Plain and simple... That myth is busted [url=http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=390392]here[/url], where the rules of the game are explained.
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Hey 3Ball, how far in the playoffs did the Bulls go in the 94-95 season without Jordan?

With such a shitty team and minus Jordan, they should presumably have had a losing record and missed the playoffs with that talentless roster correct?

Can anybody fact check this for me :confusedshrug:

Oran's teammates made up for his deficiencies on defense and shooting the ball

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[COLOR="White"]...................................................[/COLOR][size="4"][COLOR="Red"]Spacing[/COLOR][/size]


In the picture below, weakside floor-spreaders (spacing) have drawn defenders away from the strongside.. If Noah doesn't leave #20 Mosgov and flood to the strongside, the strongside will only have 2 defenders on it.


[IMG]http://i61.tinypic.com/2z7mnvm.png[/IMG]



Otoh, previous eras didn't have weakside floor-spreaders (spacing) drawing defenders away from the strongside, so the strongside was [I]already flooded[/I] with all 5 defenders - there are already multiple defenders standing where today's defender would flood to:


[IMG]https://media.giphy.com/media/xT0BKishrkuHZV0IDK/giphy.gif[/IMG]


Ultimately, spacing causes today's defenders to make extra rotations.. But without that spacing (previous eras), defenders are already in closer proximity and the rotations aren't necessary.
3-point shooting spaces-out defenders.. Accordingly, the level of spacing in a given era affects the way defense is played - defenders either make extra rotations due to 3-point shooting/spaced-out defenders (today's era), or defenders have less rotations due to no spacing/bunched-up defenders (previous eras).

Ultimately, improvements in spacing over the years have been offset by extra rotations on defense, which is why league-wide offensive rating (the stat measuring how hard it is to score) has been stable for 30 years.. ORtg has ranged between 105 and 108 since 1980, excluding a brief downswing from 1999-2004.

The minor shifts within that 105-108 range are due to style of play differences between the eras that affect inputs to the ORtg calculation, such as offensive rebounding rate and FT rate.. Specifically, the higher proportion of 2-pointers taken in previous eras resulted in higher offensive rebounding rate, which inflated ORtg.. That's how the stat is calculated - [url=http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_stats.html]notice how[/url] as 3-pointers increase over the years, offensive rebounding rate declines, which reduced ORtg.. Nonetheless, the rule changes in 2005 (hand-check ban and defensive 3 seconds) began to inflate ORtg again, and it reached all-time highs from 2008-2011.

But again, regardless of these minor shifts, ORtg has remained within the 105-108 range for 30 years - stable ORtg over the years proves the difficulty of scoring hasn't changed, and the changes in offensive strategy (spacing) and defensive strategy (extra rotations) are offsetting - you either have extra rotations required by spacing and defensive 3 seconds (today's game), or the rotations aren't necessary because there is no spacing or defensive 3 seconds (previous eras)

Ultimately, spacing causes today's defenders to make extra rotations.. But without that spacing (previous eras), defenders are already in closer proximity and the rotations aren't necessary.

Spacing and defensive movement offset each other, which is why league-wide offensive rating (the stat measuring how hard it is to score) has been stable for 30 years.. ORtg has ranged between 105 and 108 since 1980, excluding a brief downswing from 1998-2004.. The minor shifts within that 105-108 range are due to style of play differences between the eras that affect inputs to the ORtg calculation, such as offensive rebounding rate and FT rate.

30 years of stable ORtg proves the difficulty of scoring hasn't changed, and the changes in offensive strategy (spacing) and defensive strategy (extra rotations) are offsetting - [I]you either have extra rotations required by spacing and defensive 3 seconds (today's game), or the rotations aren't necessary because there is no spacing or defensive 3 seconds (previous eras)[/I].
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The Bulls were only two games better with Oran

[QUOTE=sd3035]

Oran's teammates made up for his deficiencies on defense and shooting the ball

[/QUOTE]
[B]Here's Magic Johnson responding to Bob Costas on national television during halftime of a 1993 Finals game - the question was whether Magic's Lakers could've beaten Jordan's Bulls:[/B]

[INDENT][I][COLOR="DarkRed"]"We had more weapons.... Get me in foul trouble, and get Michael in foul trouble, and take us both out, and you'd see what would happen - we would dominate them."[/COLOR][/I]

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6og_pOVi2w&t=0m16s[/url][/INDENT]



[B]Then Costas asked Isiah about Magic's assertion that the Bulls were beatable due to weaker supporting cast:[/B]

[INDENT][I][COLOR="Navy"]"When you're talking about this Bulls team, you're only talking about Michael Jordan.... You can't really say that our team would've beaten him or the Lakeers would've beat him, because no one has figured out how to stop this guy.. Sure, if you take Michael away, and you take Magic away, and you take me away, yeah, then our teams are better, but the fact is, he's still there (he hasn't been taken away)."[/COLOR][/I][/INDENT]



[B]Later in the interview, Costas [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6og_pOVi2w&t=5m00s]asked[/url] Magic if he thought MJ was the best ever[/B]:

[INDENT][COLOR="DarkRed"]"[I]I think so. I think he's not only the best basketball player, but probably the greatest athlete that has played any sport.. We can only dream of doing the things he can do, that being me and Isiah.[/I]"[/COLOR][/INDENT]



^^^ This was all during the 1993 Finals.. MJ was considered the best ever before he even won 3 championships - [U]that's how dominant he was[/U].. Young kids have a hard time accepting this 20 years after the fact.. But the dominance of today's player doesn't compare, and this is reflected in the stats (for those who never saw him play).

[QUOTE=sd3035]

The Bulls were only a run-of-the-mill 2nd Round team without Jordan, after being a 3-peat dynasty with him - that's the goat drop-off

[/QUOTE]
fixed

the 94 Bulls team has become the most overrated team in history.

50+ win overachieving teams happen EVERY year. it doesnt mean they're title contenders and 99% of the time they get exposed in the playoffs. hell, look at last years Hawks. they won over 60. why isnt anyone riding their nuts.

[QUOTE=f0und]the 94 Bulls team has become the most overrated team in history.

50+ win overachieving teams happen EVERY year. it doesnt mean they're title contenders and 99% of the time they get exposed in the playoffs. hell, look at last years Hawks. they won over 60. why isnt anyone riding their nuts.[/QUOTE]
The thing is though...the Hawks were swept by the Eastern power last year.

The Bulls had a very real chance of winning.

Jordan is good for an extra two wins over an 82 game season :applause:

[QUOTE=ShawkFactory]The thing is though...the Hawks were swept by the Eastern power last year.

The Bulls had a very real chance of winning.[/QUOTE]

they lost in the second round and they were lucky to make it as far as they did. did anyone really think they were title contenders at the time?

[QUOTE=3ball][B]They were eliminated in 2nd Round without Jordan, which is an utterly massive drop-off from being a 3-peat dynasty.
[/B]
Of course, you probably think the Bulls could've won 55 games in ANY season without MJ, not just 1994, right?... For example, the Bulls could've won 55 games without MJ in 1991 right?

Obviously not, which means the journey was [I]an accumulative one[/I] - the acquisition of 3-peat-caliber execution, strategy, and teamwork enabled the Bulls to make the 2nd Round without MJ in 1994.. MJ had to lead the Bulls to a 3-peat first, before they could make the 2nd Round without him - those are the historical facts.

Every championship Bulls team required MJ to lead the league in scoring and be the greatest scorer the game's ever seen.. So when the Bulls made the 2nd Round in 1994, it wasn't because they had a bunch of talented scorers, it was because of the 3-peat caliber of execution, strategy, and mental ability accumulated from 3-peating with MJ.[/QUOTE]


Wow, how did they make it to the second round if all of Jordan's teammates were terrible? Was it a weak era? What's the deal here?

[QUOTE=oarabbus]Wow, how did they make it to the second round if all of Jordan's teammates were terrible? Was it a weak era? What's the deal here?[/QUOTE]

:roll: :roll: :roll: :cheers:

[QUOTE=oarabbus]Wow, how did they make it to the second round if all of Jordan's teammates were terrible? Was it a weak era? What's the deal here?[/QUOTE]
3-peat, GOAT chemistry

you guys are incompetant