Respondents, please ignore the usual Kobe thing and try to make a reasonable conversation of this.

I think Ingles13 makes some good points.

We are seeing more and more players trying to emulate LeGOD due to the success he is having. Durant has hired in own analytics expert so he can close the gap to Lebron and hopefully get an edge.

We are having a semi resurgence in defensive focused teams after the resurgence in 08 with that Boston defense led by Thibodeau. Of the 4 expected teams to dice it out in the conference finals, 3 of them are in the top 5 total defense and the spurs aren't too shabby either.

Playoffs

ChuckMelo: 25.3 FGA per game at 39%. Carmelo is 10th out of 14 players on the knicks in win shares per 48. He is only ahead of Smith (see below), Kidd (having a very poor shooting postseason which is uncharacteristic of him), Copeland, and Camby (3 minutes total played so basically hasn't played.

JR Swish: 15.2 FGA per game at 34% with a TS% of .426. That is HISTORICALLY bad for the second best player on a team. JR Smith actually has NEGATIVE win shares - the only player on the team to do so.



Bonus fun fact: I dislike Chris Anderson, but he is having an extraordinary postseason, albeit in very limited minutes. He currently is posting a 29.2 PER (rivaling LeGOD's amazing season) and is shooting 79% from the field. The Heat score 147 Points per 100 possessions when he is on the floor. For those that are unfamiliar with offensive rating, that means the heat are averaging 1.47 points per possession when Anderson is on the floor. That is STAGGERING. That is a true role player and a non volume shooter for you.

The Kobe point is moot as he had the most efficient offensive season of his career and the Lakers' failings were more to do with Mike D'Antoni's ineptitude and effort from other guys.

I think Rudy Gay is a bit of a red herring. He wasn't that gifted an offensive player; similar to Andre Iguodala. He's different to the rest of the guys on this list, in that they actually can score the ball, even if it's inefficiently. Gay had the keys to the offense and couldn't score more than 17ppg. I always knew they would be better off with Prince and the offense going through Conley, Z-Bo and Gasol. Great trade, especially when you consider how overpaid Gay was.

You also have guys like Steph Curry who are thriving despite being volume shooters and having very questionable shot selection at times.

But yes the Knicks are godawful when they resort to isolation.

After Boston in '08 the league definitely had a massive paradigm shift. I think you'll see it shift back at some point as a truly gifted offensive team changes the status quo back again. What people forget though is that this is a paradigm shift in the lower rungs of the playoff teams. The champs from the past decade have all had stellar defenses. Now you see teams in the lower seedings with fantastic defenses as well. You don't see teams like the Nash/D'Antoni Phoenix squads who just ignored that end entirely and still made it to the Western conference finals.

An aside: Lebron and Wade are VERY concerned with their personal stats, even as much as volume scorers are with ppg, they just value different stats like TS%. They play for numbers as much as anyone. I think that will be their undoing. Lebron talks about personal stats more than any great player i've ever heard of.

The Pacers' and Bulls' (even with Rose) offensive droughts still show that you can't just focus on defense and "sharing" the ball. You still need more than one guy who can go get his own shot, in addition to sharing for the most part.

And can you stop using the term "LeGOD" it renders the rest of your rational, legitimate points redundant. And it makes Lebron seem like an object of your sexual affection rather than an all-time great basketball player.

The sad thing is that the Knicks saw what could be achieved by moving the ball round unselfishly under Lin, and yet they STILL play to live or die by Melo even when he's under pressure and shooting crap.

It IS broke, so it's time to fix it, Knicks.

Harden and Curry were/are the only real exceptions.

They were fantastic.

I disagree Hoopie. The Knicks moved the ball around all year long and then reverted to iso ball in the playoffs when their role plays stopped making plays and shots.

We should all bow to the all mighty & all too knowledgable Ingles13! If we didnt have him we wouldnt be able to formulate our opinions on anything to do with basketball.

CP3, do you write that as a comment on all opinion pieces in basketball? Play the ball.

Mick - agree - sorry for the clumsy wording.

(They're really pi..ing me off right now with their style of play, and don't deserve to go further dammit.)

aaaaaand as if on cue the Pacers' lack of an isolation scorer costs them a game against the ISO-heavy Knicks...

That was disgusting. How Augustin still has a job in the NBA is mind blowing. If Hill had played that would have been a very very even game

Isaac, don't take the Holy Than Out Thou approach with me, you've done it plenty of times on 'your' forum. Ingles13 posts smack of arrogrance & stupidity at times. Surely I'm entitled to an opinion on this?

Cp3, let's not put the kid down, especially seeing as he's contributed something of substance this time.

Good points, Ingles. But you're wrong in putting Monta Ellis in this conversation; he's more of a Dwyane Wade off-ball mover and finisher, not as much of a creator like the Melo's and Bryant's. Speaking of Bryant, your hate of him dictates your opinion. Shoosh (in that regard). Also, cut Joe a little bit of slack, plantar problem in the playoffs. Still, he was quiet all year. Also, Augustin is a decent role player.

And I would've said something about your choice of nicknames, but Mick already said it haha. As Mick said and I've said before, including your regurgitated Kobe 'facts' and sarcastic crap speaks more loudly than your rational stuff. Keep it in mind.

CP3, when the guy's put up a reasonable discussion topic, why not respond to it and encourage a better contribution?