Game 63: Miami Heat (35-26) vs. Dallas Mavericks (34-28)

[KillerLeft]

Imagine saying that a guy that averages 10 assists a game, and would lead the league by far if not playing with some absolute scrubs, is not getting his team involved? 

And yet there are several of us who have been studying the game for decades saying that.

if you really want to learn, start by throwing out the assumption that assists are the only way to get people involved, because that is what’s holding Luka back. Sometimes, he literally won’t release the ball unless he thinks he’s going to get an assist out of it.

Often, it’s the pass before the assist pass that really opens up the offense. Someone as genius as Luka knows that, which leads me to believe that he plays a little bit selfishly, sometimes. if he would give up the ball earlier in possessions, other players would touch the ball more often, and would find it easier to play in rhythm, rather than having to just wait until two seconds left on the clock and hit last minute shots that Luka creates for them. This style makes it more difficult for players to get in rhythm than we realize, and all you have to do is listen to players talk about this to get that. 

One of the better developments of this season is that Kidd was able to convince Luka to give up the ball earlier in transition. That has helped in numerous ways, but I still feel like the half court offense is sludge city.