Kobe Bryant was truly a gifted passer... when he wanted to be. But he never shifted away from the hero ball style. Sure, he might have passed to a teammate here and there... but he is largely regarded as the biggest hero ball chucker of all time.
Look at this smaller sample from 2003 - 2009... which largely coincided with Bryant's "prime" years:
http://www.82games.com/gamewinningshots.htm
Bryant took the most last-second shots... but shot one of the lowest percentages (25%). But look even closer. He had only ONE assist!
Ironically, a guy known as "Mr. Big Shot" was even worse, shooting only 6 - 37 (16%). Amazing how narratives look different when stats are brought into the mix. To his credit, Billups was 18-19 on free throws and added 6 assists.
Yeah, I said later in his career like 2012-2014. Maybe he still took last second shots, but I'm willing to bet his assists per 36 went up as he got older.
He averaged 21+ shots per 36 minutes in 4 of those seasons. He only shot 21+ times per 36 minutes one other season in his career... the 2006 season when he took 27 shots per game and averaged 35 ppg.
So they went up a tad as his experience was gained, minus his last year when he went to full chuck mode for "fun" i suppose.
2013 and 2015 were his highest assist rate of his career. Kobe was a great passer, I'm not sure if you are debating that or what.
I literally just wrote "Kobe Bryant was truly a gifted passer"... this discussion started when I disputed your use of him as a shining example of a guy willing to pass in hero ball situations.
Kobe Bryant was truly a gifted passer... when he wanted to be. But he never shifted away from the hero ball style. Sure, he might have passed to a teammate here and there... but he is largely regarded as the biggest hero ball chucker of all time.
Look at this smaller sample from 2003 - 2009... which largely coincided with Bryant's "prime" years:
http://www.82games.com/gamewinningshots.htm
Bryant took the most last-second shots... but shot one of the lowest percentages (25%). But look even closer. He had only ONE assist!
Ironically, a guy known as "Mr. Big Shot" was even worse, shooting only 6 - 37 (16%). Amazing how narratives look different when stats are brought into the mix. To his credit, Billups was 18-19 on free throws and added 6 assists.
Yeah, I said later in his career like 2012-2014. Maybe he still took last second shots, but I'm willing to bet his assists per 36 went up as he got older.
He averaged 21+ shots per 36 minutes in 4 of those seasons. He only shot 21+ times per 36 minutes one other season in his career... the 2006 season when he took 27 shots per game and averaged 35 ppg.
So they went up a tad as his experience was gained, minus his last year when he went to full chuck mode for "fun" i suppose.
2013 and 2015 were his highest assist rate of his career. Kobe was a great passer, I'm not sure if you are debating that or what.
I literally just wrote "Kobe Bryant was truly a gifted passer"... this discussion started when I disputed your use of him as a shining example of a guy willing to pass in hero ball situations.
Yes and I agreed he almost always took the last second shot, but my thinking was that he passed a bunch more later in his career and was a willing and great passer as well.
As far as him, making the highest percentage play late in the game, I was off of course.
LeBron and MJ exemplified that much more in crunch time, MJ a bit less but still I remember many "no names" hitting the last big shot to win.
He's posting a .589 TS%, which is in that elite category for volume scorers.
"Andrew Wiggins needs to be more involved in the offense."
But the guy owns a .506 TS% on 16 FGA's per game, which actually leads the Wolves' team.
This isn't another post looking to spark a debate about Wiggins, I promise, but I think it should show that our most efficient scorers -- Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns -- are deserving of even more shots. Good things happen when they have the rock.
And while Wiggins has been at least better as of late, I think we'd all rather see him taking less shots overall but drawing more fouls while the other two increase their attempts.
A couple things: When Wig touches the ball he is generally looking for his shot. You can argue whether that's a good thing or not, but if he wouldn't he would hardly be involved in the offense at all. We don't run to take advantage of his biggest strength. Secondly, he gets to play several minutes of each game without KAT or Butler on the floor. He gets a lot of his shots during those intervals. He along with Crawford.
I don't think this is as simple as it seems. As Cool points out, the offense runs mostly through Jimmy and Kat, and that severely limits Wiggins opportunities. I think it should be pointed out that at least one or twice a game (from the games I have witnessed), either Jimmy or Teague end up throwing the ball to Wig with about 3 seconds left on the clock and no option other than shooting at that point. Even once a game, that can have a substantial effect on ones shooting percentage.
My bigger issue is with the end of game Hero ball BS. I believe this is more about Thibs than it is Jimmy. The wolves have one of the best starting fives offensively, and we throw away that strength when we go to iso ball late. We have five solid options on offense so why are we bailing out the opponent by making them only guard Jimmy late? If anything, I think KAT should be the guy taking the last shot, by why limit our options at all.
I don't think this is as simple as it seems. As Cool points out, the offense runs mostly through Jimmy and Kat, and that severely limits Wiggins opportunities. I think it should be pointed out that at least one or twice a game (from the games I have witnessed), either Jimmy or Teague end up throwing the ball to Wig with about 3 seconds left on the clock and no option other than shooting at that point. Even once a game, that can have a substantial effect on ones shooting percentage.
My bigger issue is with the end of game Hero ball BS. I believe this is more about Thibs than it is Jimmy. The wolves have one of the best starting fives offensively, and we throw away that strength when we go to iso ball late. We have five solid options on offense so why are we bailing out the opponent by making them only guard Jimmy late? If anything, I think KAT should be the guy taking the last shot, by why limit our options at all.
Actually.. Wiggins has a higher usage rate (24.0) than KAT.
KAT is actually 4th on the team at 22.0. This team MUST figure out more/better ways to get its most efficient and talented offensive player more touches.
I don't think this is as simple as it seems. As Cool points out, the offense runs mostly through Jimmy and Kat, and that severely limits Wiggins opportunities. I think it should be pointed out that at least one or twice a game (from the games I have witnessed), either Jimmy or Teague end up throwing the ball to Wig with about 3 seconds left on the clock and no option other than shooting at that point. Even once a game, that can have a substantial effect on ones shooting percentage.
My bigger issue is with the end of game Hero ball BS. I believe this is more about Thibs than it is Jimmy. The wolves have one of the best starting fives offensively, and we throw away that strength when we go to iso ball late. We have five solid options on offense so why are we bailing out the opponent by making them only guard Jimmy late? If anything, I think KAT should be the guy taking the last shot, by why limit our options at all.
Actually.. Wiggins has a higher usage rate (24.0) than KAT.
KAT is actually 4th on the team at 22.0. This team MUST figure out more/better ways to get its most efficient and talented offensive player more touches.
They do need to get KAT more touches, but at least he is involved in the screening game. Wig generally spaces the floor on the weak side and doesn't run the 3 or 4 man offense we have going on. Occasionally they run a play specifically to get him the ball where he can go one on one. But again, his usage rate goes wayyyyy up when KAT and Butler leave the court at the end of quarters 1 and 3.
He's posting a .589 TS%, which is in that elite category for volume scorers.
"Andrew Wiggins needs to be more involved in the offense."
But the guy owns a .506 TS% on 16 FGA's per game, which actually leads the Wolves' team.
This isn't another post looking to spark a debate about Wiggins, I promise, but I think it should show that our most efficient scorers -- Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns -- are deserving of even more shots. Good things happen when they have the rock.
And while Wiggins has been at least better as of late, I think we'd all rather see him taking less shots overall but drawing more fouls while the other two increase their attempts.
A couple things: When Wig touches the ball he is generally looking for his shot. You can argue whether that's a good thing or not, but if he wouldn't he would hardly be involved in the offense at all. We don't run to take advantage of his biggest strength. Secondly, he gets to play several minutes of each game without KAT or Butler on the floor. He gets a lot of his shots during those intervals. He along with Crawford.
I don't think this is as simple as it seems. As Cool points out, the offense runs mostly through Jimmy and Kat, and that severely limits Wiggins opportunities. I think it should be pointed out that at least one or twice a game (from the games I have witnessed), either Jimmy or Teague end up throwing the ball to Wig with about 3 seconds left on the clock and no option other than shooting at that point. Even once a game, that can have a substantial effect on ones shooting percentage.
My bigger issue is with the end of game Hero ball BS. I believe this is more about Thibs than it is Jimmy. The wolves have one of the best starting fives offensively, and we throw away that strength when we go to iso ball late. We have five solid options on offense so why are we bailing out the opponent by making them only guard Jimmy late? If anything, I think KAT should be the guy taking the last shot, by why limit our options at all.
Good post SJ, our strength is in the multiple weapons we have. It works for most of the game, why should we change in the last 5 minutes?
One thought I had watching this Anne was how Toronto while they haven't got on every young player they have brought in has really done a good job finding and developing young talent. Van Vleet was supposed to be too small not dynamic enough to make it. He was taking it to guys in this game. Powell even though he hasn't been as good this year is a tough guy to play against. Some of their first rounders haven't been home tim guys but they are worthwhile contributors. The Wolves NEED to find and develop worthwhile young players. It's not going to happen over night.
I thought it made sense to throw Bazz in there in this game.
