Champion Creed
Chapter 872 - 872 289 Let him form the groin!

872: 289: Let him form the groin!

(Requesting monthly votes) _3 872: 289: Let him form the groin!

(Requesting monthly votes) _3 Because the Warriors are not just fast.

Their offense, rather than being merely quick, relies on a sufficiently complete tactical system, the complex and precise cutting and passing patterns designed by Steve Kerr, and the much greater offensive threat posed by Curry compared to Nash.

All of these allow the Warriors to play efficiently in half-court sets and better adapt to high-level games that require solid solutions.

But Mike D’Antoni has too little on his tactical board to come up with solutions in crucial moments, which is why his teams always falter in the playoffs.

The Hawks do not have to worry about this problem.

Even if a seven-second attack fails, the Hawks can also use half-court play to solve problems.

In fact, the Hawks’ performance in half-court offense next season will definitely be better than the past two years.

The departure of Big Ben might cause a drop in the Hawks’ defense but will greatly help their offense.

Big Ben’s role on offense was not just about not scoring but being a player without shooting or technique or even the ability to initiate without walking.

Next season, by replacing the starting center with Kurt Thomas and the Dream, the Hawks’ offense will reach a higher level.

Especially Dream, he may not score as crazily as he did at his peak, but his contribution to the offense remains significant.

Before Nikola Jokic, no center had the offensive impact comparable to Olajuwon.

Dream could do so many things.

A versatile center has always had a market, even in a small ball era that shuns big players.

When the Warriors won the championship in 2015, they unexpectedly developed the death lineup due to Bogut’s injury.

Yet the next year, Bogut returned as the starting center because his role with the Warriors was substantial.

Apart from those nauseating dirty plays, he could provide rim protection, rebounding, screening, and passing, allowing for seamless offense and solid defense.

It has to be said, Bogut is the highest basketball IQ dog Roger has ever seen in the world.

Apart from not participating in fast breaks and going one-on-one, he could provide everything else.

And Dream can clearly do better than Bogut during the small ball period.

In fact, even when the Hawks need to play a seven-second offense, Olajuwon will not hold them back.

His long-passing ability after grabbing rebounds can definitely aid the seven-second offense.

So, a Hawks team with half-court ability does not need to force an uptempo pace by abandoning defense.

They just need to moderately speed up, increase the frequency and success rate of fast breaks, and maximize offensive efficiency to compensate for defensive regressions.

In this regard, the Hawks need Mike D’Antoni’s help, need him to make some adjustments in detail, need him to stabilize each player’s role, need his glamorous seven-second offense and V-pattern advancement to play a role in counterattacks.

Truly efficient fast breaks are not done by just running around; they still need an excellent coach to orchestrate everything.

Overall, D’Antoni’s fast attack whirlwind is not all there is to the Hawks’ game, but only the sharpest, most lethal part of their offense.

In fact, Mike D’Antoni is most suitable for the role of an offensive coach.

As a head coach, his tactics are too monotonous and too limited.

Letting him build the head of a team might not be powerful enough.

But if he builds the deadliest groin, he can definitely make you thrilled to the point of spiraling.

After Roger discussed these points, Lenny Wilkens felt much more relieved.

At least under Roger’s narrative, the Hawks would still play normal basketball next season.

Mike D’Antoni also accepted the changes proposed by Roger.

At least the Hawks would still primarily play fast-paced basketball, which aligns with his philosophy.

The few people finally reached a consensus.

So, the next most crucial part was: Which players does this new system still require?

Another flaw of the D’Antoni system is the seven-man rotation.

In critical playoff moments, poor roster depth can drag down a team.

Therefore, the Hawks’ rotation roster must be deep enough, not just to fight fatigue, but also to withstand injuries.

Because Horace Grant decided a few days ago after much consideration to accept the Magic’s mid-level exception and give up the Hawks’ minimum salary renewal, going around and returning to Orlando, the Hawks roster can still accommodate two more players.

Compared to Big Ben’s departure, Horace Grant’s departure will not have much impact on the Hawks.

Pete Babcock even considers Horace Grant’s departure a good thing, as last season he did not contribute much to the Hawks.

Now that the position is open, it allows the Hawks an opportunity to strengthen their roster.

After setting the system based on fast-paced defense and counterattack, supplemented by half-court play, the personnel the Hawks need is very clear.

At present, Marion still needs a substitute for the power forward position.

The guard position also needs a backup, as Jeff Hornacek will not be able to return until the latter part of next season.

Until then, the Hawks are short on guards.

Both of these players need to be able to defend, have basketball intelligence, possess passing and shooting skills, and be mobile.

After receiving the specific requirements, Pete Babcock closed his notebook: “Rest assured, gentlemen, I will be right back with a few quick deliveries.”

At this point, Mike D’Antoni raised his hand: “Uh…

So, do I still need to catch my flight to Italy?

My wife is still waiting for my news.”