Quote:
Originally Posted by ronsmac
1950's basketball was like watching slow white guys playing at the YMCA.
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The only thing the 50's teams brought to the game were things like the weave.
These guys didn't just run a weave occasionally on a fast break(did they even
have fast breaks back then?).
Their offensive sets occasionally were similar to watching the a team run the triple-option in college football.
Individual talent has since brought a lot more to the game of basketball.
From the mid-90's to the mid-2000s, it can be argued that we almost reached a point of diminishing-returns with individual talent.
The 'And1' era. The crossover dribble era. Some players seemed to be at times more driven to 'waive off' a screen, and attempt a low% pull-up jumper after trying to 'break the defender's ankles' with a shake and bake crossover dribble. Spotlight basketball.
From about the mid 2000-teens to present the game has left that 'And1' era far behind, to a more efficient use of the game pieces and the playing territory.
The 3-point shot is used as a weapon and a threat to a greater degree than ever before. Steph Curry looks like a Michael Jordan in this environment instead of a Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. Klay Thompson looks like a Reggie Miller in this environment instead of a Dell Curry.
With the 3pt weapon being efficiently used, the game has become about screens and spacing(remotely similar to the 'triple option' of the 50's). Both offensively and defensively. The teams who run the offense correctly, horribly expose regular defenses. Defenses have to be active, able to switch men on screens and not miss a beat(not be mismatches), rotate into cross court passing lanes. Just as the offense is about screens and spacing, - the defenses are about handling the screens, and maintaining coverage of the space. A guy like Draymond Green looks like the ultimate team player in this environment, instead of the cool guy on your team that doesn't mess up.
Aside from the unneeded co-opting of Kevin Durant, the Warriors built this dynasty from superior insight into modern basketball and reasonably good fortune with their pieces. They have better management and better suited pieces than the other teams. They deserve to be a dynasty.
