The problem with that is, much of it started with European players coming to the NBA.

The elimination of the post game. 7 footers handling the ball and shooting threes. That all came to the NBA from Europe.

The U.S. had no problem developing big, fundamentally sound post men for decades, until a generation of kids started to emulate Dirk instead of Duncan.

And now thats being rewarded, and sought out, by NBA teams. Stretch 4's and 5's are the rage. Before Blake Griffin ever fully developed any kind of real post game he had already moved on to long jumpers and 3s. Blake Griffin banging guys around in the post is an MVP-caliber player. Griffin jacking 20 footers and 3's is lovely for guys trying to guard him. And he's having the least efficient season of his career. Who would have imagined layups and dunks from Griffin>>>long twos and 3s.

You read the same thing mentioned about Anthony Davis all the time. "Just wait until he starts shooting 3s." An athletic freak with elite touch around the rim and a really basic post game is constantly asked why he doesn't take 3s, by smart basketball people.

Also zone defenses make it really tough to just dump the ball to a guy in the post, when you can quadruple team a guy if you wanted to. So if you're a young kid watching the NBA, who's getting paid off of footwork and back to the basket work in the post? THE NBA by way of Europe, not AAU ball, is sending those guys to the perimeter to shoot 3s and spread the floor

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Posted by corndeaux

Member since Sep 2009

9634 posts

Posted on 1/4/15 at 2:00 pm to eyeran

quote:
The elimination of the post game. 7 footers handling the ball and shooting threes. That all came to the NBA from Europe.

I don't know about all from Europe.

Kevin Garnett was a paradigm shift. Chris Webber was a paradigm shift. Neither guy was a 3PT shooter and neither guy was watching Dirk, but they changed what a traditional PF body type could do on the court. If you can handle like a guard, then why not be able to shoot like a guard? How many kids were watching them? Were influenced by them? What's more feasible: emulate Shaq's game or emulate Garnett's game?

Guys like Sam Perkins and Robert Horry were prototype stretch bigs before we even had that term. Charles Barkley took 2 3PA/G over his career. Bigs shooting 3s is not solely a European idea.

And you're right that the NBA has pushed that trend with rules changes. I don't think that's a bad thing- ball movement and spacing for superior athletes are things that weren't common even a decade ago. If anything it's a reaction to the thug ball that Pat Riley created in NY during the 90s and not an accommodation to Euro bigs.

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Posted by Galactic Inquisitor