Ok WTF is up with point guards letting the ball roll down court after they inbound it

[Euroleague]

Euroleague, no-one in their right mind will keep the ball rolling or even attempt it if the defender is close or applying full court pressure. It takes under a second for a player to pick up the ball, but a lot more for the defender to go after it.

Yes. So why the hell does the defender stand 40 feet away? Even when they see the clock is running down and they see the point guard positioned to let it roll (it's totally obvious).

[Euroleague]

Considering players only induce the roll-in when a defense has dropped entirely back I must ask, do you believe it's realistic for a defender to sprint nearly half of the floor and steal the ball before the offensive point guard has a chance to notice the defense sprinting at them to pick up the roll? And surely, defenses could always try to full-court pressure opposing teams in hopes of cutting down on roll-ins, but I think everyone recognizes that'd be a ton of extra work for little payoff in a 48-minute NBA basketball game.

All the defense has to do is not drop back 40 feet. I have never once seen anyone that let the ball roll do it without being totally obvious. Everyone on the court knows it is coming BEFORE they do it.

People talk about Paul here doing it - well he is blatant at it. He totally choreographs it. He is always standing back and turning to the side and like side stepping along.

So the reaction should be to move up into the ball handler, not back off by 40 feet.

Anyone that thinks it is not weird how the defenses react to this is not thinking clearly. It's definitely one of the strangest things about the NBA.

[brantonli]

My only complaint about it especially with tonight is that no one on the other team tried to steal it. The ball went halfway down the court and someone could have run up and tried to steal it.

And what if you dive for the ball and miss? The ball handler can pick it up in less than 1 second, you have to cover the whole distance AND pick it up without fouling the other guy. You've just given the opponent a 5 on 4 situation, with quite likely the PG being completely wide open.


^^ Euro, there's a big difference. If you stay on the ball handler (i.e. not dropping back) then you are making yourself more tired every play. Also, it's a very basic instinct to run back up the court after your team has scored, and unless the coach has called a full court or even 3/4 press, you're quite likely to be somewhere at mid court by the time they've inbounded anyway.