First off, I’m a huge Rick Barnes fan. He’s forgotten way more about basketball than I’ve ever known. I’ve been a season ticket holder since the Buzz days so I’ve seen the good and the bad and will take the coach we have now and be perfectly happy. Getting to a final four requires a great team, health, and a lot of luck.
The thing I wanted to discuss is how much the game has changed. 10 years ago, even 5 years ago, the game we have now is unrecognizable. Rick Barnes has run the same offense ever since he’s been here. Pass to wing, to corner, back to wing, to top, to other wing. It’s pretty when it works, ball reversal with an entry pass to the post occasionally. It gets everyone involved but it seems like the defense doesn’t really get concerned until after that fifth pass when we might try to score. To his credit, this year he had a plan B. Give it to DK, spread out, give him a pick, and watch him work.
The thing that is so different now is the amount of contact allowed. We’ve had one guy that I remember who looked for contact and that was Grant Williams. He would go up into and through your arms and score, get fouled, or often, both. Other than him, we’ve always had finesse players who avoid contact. People get upset about us not getting foul calls but we’re shooting fade away jumpers to avoid contact.
This year, everything really changed with the new block-charge rule. We haven’t adjusted at all to that. Teams that give us fits all do the same thing. Put your head down and drive straight into the rim. In the past, the defense for that was to step out and draw a charge. That’s not allowed any more. They do allow the defense to make so much more contact now as long as they are straight up. It’s amazing how many times 2-3 people meet at the rim and bang into each other with everybody ending up in the first row and nothing is called. Generally, though, the offense gets the call. All these teams we play have guards that just drive into people over and over. South Carolina, Texas A&M, and Miss St did it over and over to us. It’s a part of the game that we haven’t embraced but it seems that it’s here to stay. Gainey does it occasionally. Other than him, DK is the only one that even tries it. Everyone else shoots the pull up jumper from 8-10 feet (which most teams will happily give you) or drives in with zero intent to shoot and looks to kick it out. I feel like this is probably going to be what ends our season this year, just failing to embrace the physicality allowed. I hope I’m wrong.
The thing I wanted to discuss is how much the game has changed. 10 years ago, even 5 years ago, the game we have now is unrecognizable. Rick Barnes has run the same offense ever since he’s been here. Pass to wing, to corner, back to wing, to top, to other wing. It’s pretty when it works, ball reversal with an entry pass to the post occasionally. It gets everyone involved but it seems like the defense doesn’t really get concerned until after that fifth pass when we might try to score. To his credit, this year he had a plan B. Give it to DK, spread out, give him a pick, and watch him work.
The thing that is so different now is the amount of contact allowed. We’ve had one guy that I remember who looked for contact and that was Grant Williams. He would go up into and through your arms and score, get fouled, or often, both. Other than him, we’ve always had finesse players who avoid contact. People get upset about us not getting foul calls but we’re shooting fade away jumpers to avoid contact.
This year, everything really changed with the new block-charge rule. We haven’t adjusted at all to that. Teams that give us fits all do the same thing. Put your head down and drive straight into the rim. In the past, the defense for that was to step out and draw a charge. That’s not allowed any more. They do allow the defense to make so much more contact now as long as they are straight up. It’s amazing how many times 2-3 people meet at the rim and bang into each other with everybody ending up in the first row and nothing is called. Generally, though, the offense gets the call. All these teams we play have guards that just drive into people over and over. South Carolina, Texas A&M, and Miss St did it over and over to us. It’s a part of the game that we haven’t embraced but it seems that it’s here to stay. Gainey does it occasionally. Other than him, DK is the only one that even tries it. Everyone else shoots the pull up jumper from 8-10 feet (which most teams will happily give you) or drives in with zero intent to shoot and looks to kick it out. I feel like this is probably going to be what ends our season this year, just failing to embrace the physicality allowed. I hope I’m wrong.
