MAVS NEWS:

[Smitty]

I think we're all using (and confusing each other with) the term "traditional" differently. 

Luka was absolutely not a "traditional" PG in the way I take that label's meaning. 

I keep seeing this conversation devolve into "heliocentric vs. ball movement," and I just can't believe our collective understanding of the game (quoted poster excluded) is so lacking in nuance. Using the example of Indiana (again), I think they moved the ball and ran a beautiful, rhythm-building offense the likes of which the league hasn't seen for quite a while. But, I think they were able to do that because they had (before the injury) possibly the best "traditional" PG in the league right now. 

You could convince me that some type of 5-out, dribble handoff system with lots of cutting that allows AD and/or Lively to make decisions at the top could work, but...if that's the plan, why on Earth is Daniel Gafford still on the team? He'd have no chance of thriving in an offensive system like that, and desperately needs to be on a team that plans to spam spread pick and roll. 

There are loads of ways to run offense, but they all depend on creating advantages, and I'm not seeing a way for the Mavs to do that at the moment. I suppose at this point we just need to see what else they do and then see how it looks, but I'm definitely not getting "contender" vibes at the moment unless we see a pretty big offensive add (in addition to the tpMLE guard).

Offensive philosophy is different than what I posted. What gets me irked is when people say player X is a “Position X”. What do they even mean? Like you say, Gafford and Lively and Davis are all Centers but they are very different players. Are they putting players in a box? Are you looking for something specific when you put a label on that position? Are we talking offensively or defensively?  This isn’t 1995.

I think you and I are on the same page when it comes to offensive philosophy. If you want to be a heavy PnR team, Gafford is great. If you want to be a 5-out team, AD is your guy. If you want a short roll passer and DHO guy, Lively is ideal. 

We don’t do deep dives in here on the nuance of offensive philosophies, but I’d love to grab a beer and do a deep dive sometime.