02-29-2024, 08:03 AM
(02-29-2024, 07:50 AM)SleepingHero Wrote: I can't imagine how impossible it would be to score against the Spurs with Wemby sitting in the paint with no defensive 3 seconds.
Definitely more difficult
However, as the article also pointed out, modern basketball and scoring has evolved mainly because players have vastly improved their skills. Players are more athletic, can shoot better and have higher level of skills. It is especially relevant that bigs have also evolved. Non shooting strong centers are becoming more and more obsolete and relatively easy to exploit in the playoffs. Modern player is tall, athletic, can move his feet and we see more and more of those guys that can also shoot the ball at least averagely if not better.
In this regard, standing in the paint wouldn't really help, as that guy would be exploited with 5 out lineups. Same way Gobert has always been much less impactful in the past, when it came to playoffs. I don't think the real limitation of modern NBA basketball is the defensive 3 seconds. I think it is the much improved spacing. Of course not every team can afford to have 5 out lineups (number of shooting bigs still limited) and such tactics could help during regular season. But less each year, imho, when more and more tall guys that can shoot will enter the league