Wallace has a short memory

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Joe H. posted this quote from Chris Wallace:

"If your point guards can't shoot the ball, your offense 
is in big trouble," Wallace said. 

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Yep, New Jersey's offense was just destroyed by Jason Kidd. He can't shoot,
but he sure can run a basketball team. The more accurate statement is your
offense is in big trouble if the only options are one-on-one play from one
of two players or a last-ditch three-pointer from your point guard.

Mark Jackson... early Magic Johnson... Jamaal Tinsley... all the way down to
Avery Johnson... there are plenty of examples of successful point guards who
weren't great shooters. But I'd be hard-pressed to find a shooter who was a
great point guard. Don't get me wrong-there have been plenty of great point
guards who also were great shooters. But I can't think of a single
shoot-first guy who was a great point guard.

And like I posted yesterday, I don't think Antoine is the answer. He's a
nice complement to a real point guard, but he's not someone I want
initiating the offense. He thinks shot-first. I know he gets assists. So
does Stephon Marbury, but he thinks of his own offense first also and
doesn't make his teammates better. The offensive initiator has to think of
others first, whether it's the point guard or the point forward. That
doesn't mean they can't score-Magic scored, Isiah scored, Bird scored-but
they have to be willing to help others first. It's a subtle distinction in
description, but huge in execution. It's the reason Philly moved Allen
Iverson to shooting guard, and the reason Phoenix is experimenting with Joe
Johnson at point guard to get Marbury off the ball. 

Anyway, if Wallace had said "if Obie's point guards can't shoot the ball,
Obie's offense is in big trouble," then I'd have to agree. He has
inefficient scorers and non-shooters at the other spots on the floor.
Putting another non-threat out there with Eric Williams and Tony Battie
makes it awfully tough. Of course, a true point guard would make threats of
those guys. But Obie doesn't coach that way.

By the way, I wanted to find out a little more about Obie's coaching
philosophy, so I went back and checked some University of Dayton basketball
records. You know Obie single-handedly destroyed that program, taking it
from a perennial postseason contender to single-digit wins in a matter of
four years. Anyway, Obie's UD teams hold almost every school record for
three-point attempts. They kept shooting more and more, and winning less and
less (after initial success in his first season). I hope history doesn't
repeat itself.

Mark