Back to this Love thing... that will be mocked by most of you and the point will be missed by most of you, but screw it.
Like I said, I love Love. Definitely want him on the team.
But how many times have you heard people say "We all just came together, did our jobs, and got the W. Everyone knows their roles, and we get it done"?
The knock on Dirk was always that he doesn't spend near enough time around the rim. And the defense for him was always "He can shoot, though! That boy WET!!!" And had very limited playoff success... UNTIL HE STARTED HANGING AROUND THE RIM MORE. Not all the time; just more. Not exclusively; just more. I'm sure he wasn't told to completely abandon his perimeter game and never shoot 3s; just... LESS.
Bam. Championship (and it kills me that he doesn't have 2, as we all know that '06 deal was an absolute travesty... but I've always said that if he DID attack more, maybe things go the other way, which plays exactly into my point).
Guards... create, and make you pay from the perimeter.
Bigs... protect the rim, and make you pay around the rim.
Simple.
Does that mean if Kobe comes through and throws someone's shot into the 2nd row, that's frowned upon? Of course not. A big, hitting 3s, frowned upon? No. Pay attention... to EVERYTHING, not just your black and white interpretation. (
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I'm not saying Love is horrible because he's a big who shoots 6.72890772467 threes a game.
I'm not saying a PG like Rose or Iverson should never shoot, and they should only pass. But the way they play so far from the traditional role, I definitely don't think it's a coincidence that 'that' type of PG has so few rings. Isiah Thomas? And that wasn't BECAUSE of his style; it was because the Pistons beat the crap out of everyone (imo).
You get a team where everyone FOR THE MOST PART (and I emphasize that for any black and white thinkers who want to quote me and point out things like Dirk hitting 3s on a championship team) plays with in their roles, 'tis a good thing.
Armstrong/Dfish/Parker/Dfish/Chalmers: set up the offense, distrupt passing lanes on defense.
MJ/Kobe/Manu/Kobe/Wade: finish most of the plays w/ buckets, guard the perimeter on defense.
Scottie/Fox/Bowen/Odom/Bosh: help run the offense, help funnel dudes into the rim on defense.
Rodman/Horry/Duncan/Pau/Bron: get big, spread the floor
Luc/Shaq/Robinson/Bynum/Haslem do inside work, offense and defense.
Does Love spread the floor? Obviously, w/ his shooting. Get big? Rebounds like a boss, so yeah. But do I think the team he's on... whether it's a bogus roster like Minny's or a championship roster like the Heat... could benefit from him spending a LITTLE more time around the rim? Just a little? YES. Like I said, it ain't like the difference in Dirk's game pre-championship to Dirk's 2-time Finals style was like he was Eddie House out there before and transformed to Ben Wallace. No. But did he stay around the rim a LITTLE more... just a tad? Yes, and if you can't see that, watch closer, maybe with glasses on or something, because it's so obvious.
Before '06, I wasn't even sure if Dirk COULD dunk (sarcasm alert). I mean, I never saw it! Then all of a sudden, he'd put the ball on the floor, step back for that fadeaway, and go to the rim, and flush. Had me like "Uhhhh... wait, what?" Bam, Finals appearance, and then a championship. And even the difference in his rim presence from the '06 loss to the '10 win... even THEN there was a marked difference in how much more present he was around the rim. I don't need any stats to show me that in the 4th quarter of games in 2006, he had at least one foot around the rim for 3.9 minutes a quarter compared to only 4.1 MPQ in 2010, so what I'm saying is bogus. Bump that; I know what I saw.
Because here's the major problem with someone deviating too far from their role: the 1 kicks out to the 2 for a 3, the 3 is at the FT line to prevent a fast break if the opponent rebounds, and the 4 and 5 are at the rim. Shot misses, offense rebounds, awesome.
The 1 kicks it out to the 3 for a 3, no one's at the FT line, one of the 4/5 steps out a little more, the 2 is on the other side of the floor, open for 3, the other 4/5 is underneath the rim, solo. Shot misses, defense rebounds, and the only people running are the 1 and the 4/5 that was at the FT line, while the other team is off to the races.
I mean, that's just one example.
The closer everyone stays to their roles, the better it is.
*waits for proof of black and white thinking, like "Oh, so Rondo should never get a rebound? Bosh should never shoot a 3? Kobe should never pass? Everyone just stay within their roles, right?"*