Originally posted by Nuntius
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In my opinion, our offense changed after that Cavs game.
This is what I see us doing offensively this season: Oladipo is not aggressive at all to start the game. He is deferring to the rest of the team as we're trying to get everyone else into a rhythm. If it works then great. Everyone is on a rhythm and with a rested Dipo coming into the second half we have a very high chance of winning the game. In such a case, Dipo is quite likely to not take a lot of shots since those games are blowouts (it's not a surprise that he mentioned the Memphis, SA and Cleveland games which were all blowouts). He doesn't have to carry a heavy offensive load when we're already winning by a lot.
But what happens when this doesn't work? Well, that's what we have been witnessing ever since the Portland game. We get into big deficits and Dipo has to press to bring us back in the game. We usually do succeed to come back into the game but we cannot always get over the hump.
At this point, I'd like to direct your attention at Dipo's shooting splits. I think that they can shed some light into this situation. This are this year's shooting splits -> https://stats.nba.com/player/203506/...n&Split=ingame
As you can see, Dipo is indeed shooting more in the second half than he does in the first. But the difference isn't that big. He takes 9.2 shots in the first half and 10.8 shots in the second half. If we look at the per quarter splits, we'll see that he takes 4.5 shots in the first quarter, 4.7 in the second quarter, 5.4 in the third quarter and 5.4 in the fourth quarter.
But let's check those last 8 games -> https://stats.nba.com/player/203506/...e&LastNGames=8
Dipo's shots in the first half are about the same. 9.3 per game.But in the second half there's a significant spike. He goes from 10.8 (for the season) to 12.8 shots. That's a pretty big uptick. If we look at the per quarter splits that's the picture we get: 4.9 shots in the first, 4.4 in the second, 5.3 in the third, 7.5 in the fourth.
What's the reason for this spike in second half and especially 4th quarter shots? It's quite simple. Those games weren't blowouts in our favor. We were either losing or the score was close.
We were down 2 points against the Blazers when the 4th quarter started (71-69). Down 6 when Vic returned to the game (77-71).
We were down 4 points against the Knicks when the 4th quarter started (77-81). Up 2 when Vic returned to the game (87-85).
We were up 7 points against the Bulls when the 4th quarter started (87-80). Up 2 when Vic returned to the game (92-90).
We were tied up with the Celtics when the 4th quarter started (72-72). Up 3 when Vic returned to the game (84-87).
We were down 1 point against the Rockets in BLF when the 4th quarter started (71-72). Up 4 when Vic returned to the game (75-79).
We were down 7 points against the Sixers when the 4th quarter started (78-71). Down 11 when Vic returned to the game (84-73).
We were up 4 points against the Heat when the 4th quarter started (84-80). Up 2 when Vic returned to the game (86-84).
We were down 21 points against the Rockets when the 4th quarter started (81-102). Down 17 when Vic returned to the game (87-104).
I do agree that Dipo sometimes tries to do too much on his own. But he only does it when the team really, really needs him. He is our best player. He is probably the only player we have that can take over a game on his own on the offensive end. So, when the game is close or when we're down big and we need to score points quickly to come back to the game then yes, we'll rely on Dipo. It's the natural thing to do. The only thing I don't like in these situations is that sometimes he settles too much for the pull-up long 2. But he hasn't done that in the last few games so I'm cool with it.
I'm way more concerned about our offense as a whole than I am about Dipo. The way our offense has stalled and the complete lack of player movement off the ball is very concerning. I do believe that this team has enough talent to make a deep playoff run (6-7 games in the second round, to be precise). But to do that we need to play to our strengths and we're not doing it right now.
We have a very fast backcourt. We need to run. Instead, we're playing at one of the slowest Paces in the league.
We have shooters but we don't have plays to get them open. It's very telling that Domas does a much better job at getting Doug open looks (especially when he's passing out of the post) than our set offense does.
We could also punish teams inside with Domas even more if we played him alongside Myles but we don't do that a lot either.
The point I'm trying to make is this. We have talent. We have weapons. We're just not using them correctly.
This is what I see us doing offensively this season: Oladipo is not aggressive at all to start the game. He is deferring to the rest of the team as we're trying to get everyone else into a rhythm. If it works then great. Everyone is on a rhythm and with a rested Dipo coming into the second half we have a very high chance of winning the game. In such a case, Dipo is quite likely to not take a lot of shots since those games are blowouts (it's not a surprise that he mentioned the Memphis, SA and Cleveland games which were all blowouts). He doesn't have to carry a heavy offensive load when we're already winning by a lot.
But what happens when this doesn't work? Well, that's what we have been witnessing ever since the Portland game. We get into big deficits and Dipo has to press to bring us back in the game. We usually do succeed to come back into the game but we cannot always get over the hump.
At this point, I'd like to direct your attention at Dipo's shooting splits. I think that they can shed some light into this situation. This are this year's shooting splits -> https://stats.nba.com/player/203506/...n&Split=ingame
As you can see, Dipo is indeed shooting more in the second half than he does in the first. But the difference isn't that big. He takes 9.2 shots in the first half and 10.8 shots in the second half. If we look at the per quarter splits, we'll see that he takes 4.5 shots in the first quarter, 4.7 in the second quarter, 5.4 in the third quarter and 5.4 in the fourth quarter.
But let's check those last 8 games -> https://stats.nba.com/player/203506/...e&LastNGames=8
Dipo's shots in the first half are about the same. 9.3 per game.But in the second half there's a significant spike. He goes from 10.8 (for the season) to 12.8 shots. That's a pretty big uptick. If we look at the per quarter splits that's the picture we get: 4.9 shots in the first, 4.4 in the second, 5.3 in the third, 7.5 in the fourth.
What's the reason for this spike in second half and especially 4th quarter shots? It's quite simple. Those games weren't blowouts in our favor. We were either losing or the score was close.
We were down 2 points against the Blazers when the 4th quarter started (71-69). Down 6 when Vic returned to the game (77-71).
We were down 4 points against the Knicks when the 4th quarter started (77-81). Up 2 when Vic returned to the game (87-85).
We were up 7 points against the Bulls when the 4th quarter started (87-80). Up 2 when Vic returned to the game (92-90).
We were tied up with the Celtics when the 4th quarter started (72-72). Up 3 when Vic returned to the game (84-87).
We were down 1 point against the Rockets in BLF when the 4th quarter started (71-72). Up 4 when Vic returned to the game (75-79).
We were down 7 points against the Sixers when the 4th quarter started (78-71). Down 11 when Vic returned to the game (84-73).
We were up 4 points against the Heat when the 4th quarter started (84-80). Up 2 when Vic returned to the game (86-84).
We were down 21 points against the Rockets when the 4th quarter started (81-102). Down 17 when Vic returned to the game (87-104).
I do agree that Dipo sometimes tries to do too much on his own. But he only does it when the team really, really needs him. He is our best player. He is probably the only player we have that can take over a game on his own on the offensive end. So, when the game is close or when we're down big and we need to score points quickly to come back to the game then yes, we'll rely on Dipo. It's the natural thing to do. The only thing I don't like in these situations is that sometimes he settles too much for the pull-up long 2. But he hasn't done that in the last few games so I'm cool with it.
I'm way more concerned about our offense as a whole than I am about Dipo. The way our offense has stalled and the complete lack of player movement off the ball is very concerning. I do believe that this team has enough talent to make a deep playoff run (6-7 games in the second round, to be precise). But to do that we need to play to our strengths and we're not doing it right now.
We have a very fast backcourt. We need to run. Instead, we're playing at one of the slowest Paces in the league.
We have shooters but we don't have plays to get them open. It's very telling that Domas does a much better job at getting Doug open looks (especially when he's passing out of the post) than our set offense does.
We could also punish teams inside with Domas even more if we played him alongside Myles but we don't do that a lot either.
The point I'm trying to make is this. We have talent. We have weapons. We're just not using them correctly.
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