Traditional Big Man is Dead but should it be?

Luka Doncic made his return for the Dallas Mavericks last night and had a great outing finishing with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists in the Mavericks 102 to 98 victory over the San Antonino Spurs. An interesting topic came up in the postgame press conference when Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle when he spoke about the demand for his star forward Kristaps Porzingis to post up more. Carlisle was asked about the posting up of players and said that the post up is not a good play anymore. He mentioned that analytically it does not work for them to post up any players. Carlisle was defending Porzingis but even when you look when Dirk Nowitzki was playing with the Mavericks, they did not post him up much in games. The Mavericks have the best offensive efficiency in the NBA but they are only the 5^th seed in the West at 20 and 10. The statement Carlisle made of the post up being existent to me why many casual fans do not watch the NBA. You have a bunch of players who are 7 footers shooting threes; this would not be an issue if they were shooting at a high percentage. There are only 11 players in the NBA who attempt at least 6 3 pointers a game who make at least 40% of which only 2 players are 6’10 and taller in Karl Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Jaren Jackson Jr of the Memphis Grizzlies. I believe Carlisle's statement is accurate but also the reason why many players struggle to be the best they can because they limit themselves to just being a jump-shooting big which helps the opposing team due to the lack of energy they must exert on the defensive end.  If you post up players who have small guys on them then you wear them down and they become tired towards the fourth quarter and it can get them in foul trouble as well. This helps your team to win. There has to be a balance in the NBA between just following analytics which say 3’s and layups are the way to win and the traditional way basketball should be played.  The Brooklyn Nets shot 50 3 Point Field goal attempts in their loss last night to the New York Knicks. Teams ultimately have to know their personal because if you try to do what the analytics tell you, but you do not have the players the plan will not work.  Ultimately Big Men even if they love to shoot, they should post up a third of the time. If you get 15 shots a game just 5 times get in the paint and see the difference it can make. This will lead to double teams which means open shots for your shooters on the outside. Let me know what you think?  

NBA MID-SEASON TOURNAMENTS

The TV ratings for many things have been down the last couple of years this includes the NBA. There are many contributing factors to this includes the different ways that people consume content through cord-cutting and the fact the casual fan doesn’t generally tune in until Christmas. One of the ideas that are being floated around to has reportedly been proposed a mid-season tournament to add some excitement to the regular season.  This is an idea that commissioner Adam Silver has been flirting with for a while due to his fascination with the European soccer model. In soccer, many leagues have mid-season tournaments to go along with their regular seasons. The tournament would be like the World Cup you have pool play then the top 8 teams advance to a single-elimination tournament. This idea gives mix feelings because many players on contending teams only care about playing for the NBA championship and many teams in large market team worry about losing money they get from the gate sales of home games. The details of the  proposal include $1 million-dollar prize money per player of the team that wins the tournament and $1.5 Million per coach of the winning team. Also, a play-in tournament for the 7^th and 8^th seeds for each conference and a reseeding of the playoff semifinals where the teams will be reseeded based on record of the remaining regardless of conference. This must be proposed to the NBA Players Association(NBAPA) by April of 2020 this way if it is approved, they can implement it as soon as the 2021 -2022 season. I like the idea of a mid-season tournament it adds new life to teams that will not have a shot at winning the NBA title. Imagine a team getting hot for 5 games winning the tournament it can give a team a needed morale boost and showcase the talent that the average NBA fan does not get to see because that team is not on many nationally televised games. One thing I would add is if your team does not make the playoffs you have a tournament for the number 1 pick. This disincentive tanking in the NBA as well in addition to attaching the cash incentive as well. Reseeding in the conference semifinals and play in for the 7^th and 8^th seeds should not get much push back a new wrinkle that will push teams to make sure they are better. The prize money must be more per player especially with the sponsorship that the mid-season tournament would bring for the NBAPA to consider this being agreed to. Let me know are you feeling the idea of mid-season tournaments in the NBA?

Harden Ready to Blast OFF

The NBA MVP race has many great players making strong cases for the award including former MVP James Harden of the Houston Rocket.  Harden is currently averaging 39 points 6 rebounds and 7 assists. He is on a historic scoring pace if he can average 38 points, he will become just the 2nd 
  player in NBA history to do so. He will be joining Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain. Harden’s success has been met with much resistance with many pointing out his game is not aesthetically pleasing using his league-leading 13 free-throw attempts a game. I know it is not fun watching him shoot free throws, but he is using the rules to his advantage creating foul trouble for the opposing team. This is what the great players do they not only know the rules but also uses them to their advantage. Harden has the highest efficiency rating in the NBA at 34.9. Also, he has taken the most shots in the NBA at 650 field goal attempts which include 363 3point attempts. The next closest in the NBA in 3point Field goal attempts is Buddy Hield of the Sacramento Kings at 266. For field goals attempts overall the next closet to Harden is Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz at 535 which means Harden is leading the league in shot attempts by more than 100 shots.. Harden has the highest  usage rate in the NBA. The Houston Rockets lead the league in 3point shots made and have taken more threes than any team in the league by more than 100 attempts. Playing the style of offense the Rockets play will inflate your numbers but what Harden is doing amazing and we must appreciate it because what he is doing is rare. Houston has a winning record which Harden is a huge reason why; if he ends up averaging 40 points this season it will be hard not to give him the MVP award this season.