In a half court set when you want to pound in the paint guy C could be interchangeable because he is just moving the ball to the guy who has to operate. Correct me if I am wrong but the most quality shot the Utah Jazz get is Boozer in the paint with a mismatch correct?
Yes, if your just going to make an entry pass into a low post operator and watch him work than Player C is interchangeable. Player C also would NOT get an assist on that pass. But that is not the situation I described, go back and read it carefully.
Is Boozer the best bet for a quality shot in the half court offense? That's a fine question. The answer is Yes and No and I'll explain.
Let's go back to my original statement on my second post of this thread that Ted quoted later on:
Not just shooting, but having the ball work through him some of the time to utilize his offensive creativity.If ALL that you ever do is walk the ball up the court and entry-pass into Boozer and just watch him work. You are an ineffective, 1-dimensional team. Even if Boozer has a mismatch. #1 because Boozer lapses into brain-dead mode sometimes and decides to start doing fade-away crap, #2 because you're essentially counting on the three-point shot if a semi-intelligent defense does what is smart and doubles Boozer. And Utah ain't stock-loaded with just great long range shooters, besides Deron and Okur, you're talking AK, Brewer, Millsap and Harpring--None which scare me from the perimeter and Okur's been struggling with his efficiency.
Some of the time when your forced into a half-court offense, its better to rely on a series of passes and cuts to get a bucket. Jerry Sloan knows this and has built on offense around this philosophy. And here is where the offensive creativity of Kirilenko helps out immensely in actually finding people on the cut. Not all of the burden has to fall on Deron being the sole creator in the set, half-court offense. He has the second best passing, front-line player in the NBA alongside him.
While I agree that a lot of credit goes to the player who has the presence of mind to make a great cut. A lot of credit also has to go to the player that has the presence of mind to make a good pass on that great cut to get the easy bucket. Heck, from personal experience I know that I don't recieve a pass on probably 75-80% of the cuts to the basket I make. You know why. Passing and court vision are subtle skills that many, many basketball players simply don't possess. After all, everyone wants to be like Mike and shoot the ball. But I digress . . .
I have still yet to see why AK needs to have the ball go through him like he's Manu Ginobilli. Do you think hes Manu? Or even close?
I've already explained to you what I meant by having the ball "go through" someone. Manu and AK are as different as Deron and AK. Manu is a primary ball-handler and creator for San Antonio. He dribbles the ball then decides whether to drive and kick, pull up for a shot, go around a screen and pass, go around a screen and drive, etc. AK is not the primary ball-handler or creator, that's Deron Williams. AK is a facilitator of the offense. When Manu drives and kicks to Duncan at 15 feet facing up, then Duncan finds Oberto on a baseline cut for a layup. What Duncan just did there is what Kirilenko does for Utah. He doesn't initiate the offense, he rarely converts the field goal on the play, but he faciliates the offense with creative passes that lead more often than not to easy baskets for his teammates. Sloan has realized this avenue of creativity for Kirilenko and began coaching him as such; and the result is that Utah's offense has looked better than it has since the Malone-Stockton-Hornacek Era.
It is a playoff game in the 4th quarter and the game is neck and neck with San Antonio Spurs.. Do you...
A) Run a play for Carlos Boozer in the paint
B) Set a pick from Deron Williams to get to the rim
C) Give the ball to AK
D) Have Deron drive and kick to an open man
Your choices are too vague and subject to numerous circumstances.
I choose E) Get the Highest Percentage Field Goal.
A) Sounds nice and fundamental but what if Duncan has eaten Boozer's lunch all game long. B) also sounds pretty good especially if Deron has been making good decisions though I consider San Antonio's back line help defense very strong and simply springing Deron for a drive to the rim may not be the best choice. C) sounds alright if Utah's offense is clicking and everyone's on the same page though it would depend on where AK is and also whether he's been turning the ball over trying to make tough passes. D) Depends on the man Deron is kicking too if its Jarron Collins than HELL NO; Mehmet Okur, Sure.