MAVS NEWS:

[KillerLeft]

Hardy needs to get better handling the ball.  I thought his decision making improved, but his instinct if he is crowded is to try to attack.  This is when he gets into trouble.    All during his life playing basketball if someone got in his face, his instinct is to attack.   He got away with this his whole life until the last few years in the NBA.   Improved ball handling may mean the difference of 10's of millions of dollars for him.   It is just one of many things he needs to improve on.

Totally agree with this. But, I don’t think it’s ball-handling (the physical skill of controlling the ball in a variety of situations), I think it’s decision making (knowing how to avoid the strengths of the defense and instead find and exploit its weaknesses). And, I think he’s closer than he might seem, given that many of the recent stretches we’ve seen have come suddenly, and in extremely high leverage situations.

One thing I think people are getting hung up on are our definitions of these positions. People are asking for a “sixth man.” People are asking for a backup point guard. To me, those will probably end up being the same guy, because in this offense, a perimeter player is going to have the ball in his hands a lot. Even if they go to more 5-out, which I think they should, it will STILL be pick and roll, and not some GSW dribble-handoff motion offense. It will just be more spread pick and roll.

For me, it’s just super obvious that because Hardy is only unlocked when he has the ball, and in fact, probably only PLAYABLE when he has the ball, he MUST live up to the responsibilities of that role in order to survive. People who don’t think he can do that or will ever be able to do that but still want to keep him confuse me. I don’t see any other way for him to ever play.