09-14-2021, 09:00 AM
(09-13-2021, 01:45 PM)fifteenth Wrote: Nothing to talk about, right? So I'll be nitpicky. I don't think the one legged fade was born out of learning to deal with smaller defenders getting up under him. It was developed as he got older and was looking for another tool since he wasn't driving as much.
My memory, with no quotes to support it, is that conquoring problems with smaller defenders happened, like dealing with double teams, in the Avery era. Both became necessary at that time because he started posting up more under Avery. Pre-Avery, Dirk was in constant motion and didn't post up nearly as much, so he didn't run into the defenders underneath him and double teams much. Of course, going off of memory on things that happened 15 years ago, so there's that.
https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/maveri...r-decades/
So I got the timing right, just different motivation that I perceived. I remember Avery coming in and saying he wanted to get Dirk posting up more, so I guess the 1LSB was a reaction to having to shoot over a defender instead of getting open through movement. (KP, are you paying attention?)
Dirk's move was so automatic and everyone has that image of him punishing a defender with a move everyone knew he was going to do. That's a mark of greatness like Duncan's bank shot or Kareem's Skyhook.
A little off topic, but I don't know why every 7'+ guy isn't practicing that hook shot until it's automatic. Not as dramatic as a dunk, but it still takes the heart out of a defense to know it's coming and not being able to do much about it.