re: General NBA Links

Some good reads from GMIB today.

A look at how stretch bigs make their big partner better offensive players

LINK

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Thanks to nbawowy.com, we can look at a player’s efficiency and production when another player is either on or off the court. Here are the results for how some of the more well-known stretch fours affect the offense of their respective centers.

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The centers listed above were not terrible on their own, but the data shows that they become elite from an efficiency perspective when paired with a stretch four. Just look at Anthony Davis with Ryan Anderson, since I discussed it above. Davis is a great player regardless of his teammates, but when you put Anderson with him, he suddenly becomes one of the most dynamic offensive players in the league.

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The NBA is always trending. Advanced stats tell us that having two post players - unless they're elite and paired with elite guards (like Blake Griffin and Chris Paul) - isn't really the ideal way to build an efficient offense. We will continue to see big men learn to play like guards and guards play like big men.

That means players are becoming more identifiable by their skill set than their "position." And that's not a bad thing. When you know that Kevin Love is going to stretch a defense out to the perimeter with his shooting, that's a tangible offensive weapon you can build around. You can then fit all the pieces together. Find a guy who can run the pick and roll. Find a rim protector. Find another shooter.

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Defense is worrisome overall, but Davis/Anderson is the only pair that was worse in Net Rating. Anderson was on some great defenses in Orlando, so it's not all on him.