This study really is saying the value of the 2s that are taken today is higher than the 3s that are taken today. Whether or not I agree with that, it is definitely different than saying "teams should take more 2s". That's because teams cannot necessarily increase to volume of 'good' 2s that they are taking today (.e.g layups, open/star-driven 8-10 footers, star-driven post ups).
Actually 3.
Joe calls timeouts when we're not playing the right way, but not often to stem momentum runs by other teams. Personally I think that makes good sense.
yea Dallas also got two straight transition layups right by a jogging Brown. That probably irked Joe
Good observations. He is identifying and fixing shit quickly.
Also a great note. Often, but not always, one thing causes another. But if it's just a few open shots rimming out at one end and a few contested, bad shots falling at the other, there's not a ton of value there in the TO.
Especially in a league where 8-0 runs happen ALL THE TIME, even when you're playing the right way. I feel like other coaches over-use timeouts in those spots to impose an illusory sense of control.
I love how Joe responded in the post game. Basically if he expects the players to do it, the coaches should be held to the same standard since there is no rule against it. It sounds like he even called out the coaches for not doing it earlier in the season.
He's talked about this multiple times in press conferences... he's told the coaches to not let any opposing player have a free shot at the basket during timeouts. So he expects the coaches and players to attempt to block any shots from going in. His idea is that he doesn't want the opposing player to gain any advantage by seeing the ball go in... it's BB kind of stuff.. basically doing anything he can to make sure the other team is uncomfortable.
I haven't seen a lot of his pressers and I was unfamiliar with the shot blocking thing so thank you for sharing.
I’ve never seen a JM press conference so thanks for sharing. So they brought up to the block thing to him three times and the last one he talked about getting on his staff for not contesting those dead ball shots. He seems to be looking for any advantage, no matter how small. He doesn’t want a guy feeling good about himself walking back to his bench after hitting a dead ball shot.
That was his makeup as a player under Huggy at West Virginia. It’s his personality.
Players have been shooting those dead ball shots forever. The closest I've seen a coach to doing this was van Gundy gnawing on Mourning's (?) leg.
It feels like he comes from the same tree as Thibodeau. More than a little nuts.
I fully get "weird", and "something off about him". Like, he'd make me nervous just having a brief chat if we were waiting in line together at the DMV. The crazy eyes, the energy brimming just under the surface, the overly-standoffish responses to basic questions (that much is like Belichick). Guy is a bit of a psycho, just like someone said upthread. He might even be the biggest psycho coach in the league, though as noted he's got some competition in that regard.
KG used to do this all the time. He thought that any time that a player shot and made a basket you ran the risk of him getting into a groove and shooting well for the rest of the game. I bet that he would have gotten along with Mazzulla just fine.
Funny you bring that up! From 2010:
Yeah, I think he has done a good job this year and thought the knocks against him last year were premature and not really his fault after having been placed in a tough situation. I agree with you though, there is something off-putting about him — he seems like a weirdo with an undeserved chip on his shoulder to me. Perhaps I’m biased from having sat across from him during his Sunday bible study session with his pastor last month (it was just really weird to me to be doing that so publicly) but there seems to be something off about him to me.
He was in the lobby of the team hotel in Indy on Sunday morning in a high traffic area with his pastor going through stuff for the entire 90 minutes that we were there having coffee, etc. To each their own of course, I just find that to be a bit much in general and the public display over-the-top.
Isn't the alternative his hotel room or a separate conference room? The former would be far weirder, and the latter probably feels logistically hard.
It all comes down to how far they get in the playoffs and if they win it or don't.. but when I listen to his press conferences I get the feeling of a coach that is constantly thinking about and preparing for every team they'll face more than a coach who will be ill prepared. I wonder how much of late game tactics/approaches/failure or not is due to the coach rather than execution by the players. I got the ones last year that the players really didn't execute.. and possibly Joe was ill prepared.. but I guess I also don't think Spoelstra did anything special to get role players to shoot out of their minds or getting Butler to score etc.
This is pretty much exactly what I was trying to say and why I think the Belichick comparisons are really off base.
I'm not sure how much strategy Joe has saved. He clearly likes the 5 out and it's worked well in almost every game. But against Denver it didn't. Denver was very intent on making sure they pressed Tatum and sent help. They were then usually able to disrupt his passing lanes and rotate back to their initial man , and they were athletic enough to stop the 5 out from being effective.
I am not a hoops coach so I cannot speak to your critique of Mazzulla but I would at least consider that he purposely didn't employ a high pick and roll during a regular season match up that doesn't really mean anything. Why put it on tape against a possible finals match up now?
I'm not a coach either, but that's part of the point: most of this stuff isn't rocket science. I don't see the point of "saving" strategies for the playoffs (Denver certainly didn't against the C's). Most of the playoffs are reactive: one team tries something, the other team counters. My point is that Joe has traditionally been slow to react. There's reason for that based on the success of the team's offense (they haven't needed to) but he's going to need to do it in the playoffs against a team like Denver that doesn't get easily beat off the dribble.
Bible study in this context feels to people like a work appointment/meeting, and coffee shop/lobby is a lot more natural for that than a hotel room.
I would love to see an analysis of Mazzulla's "slow to react" issue and what its actually cost the team. I sense you are arguing that its not cost them yet but will going forward.
