HALLELUKA: Luka Clinches All-NBA 1st team. 4th in 5 years

[mavsluvr]

Missed shots are just another way of turning the ball over.  If you give the ball back to the other team 66% of the time like in the last game because you shoot 33% from the field, you were definitely stopped. Basketball is just a possession by possession game.  The team with the highest conversion percentage wins, almost all the time. Luka’s shooting percentages have been bad this year and he shoots a lot, which is why the team performs so poorly when he’s in the game.  The question is why.  Is it something about Luka or is it the scheme, or maybe, a little of both.

Luka has a history of settling for bad shots. He has admitted it. However, I don't think Luka's shot selection is the only or main reason for the team's puzzling performance. I would argue that Luka is the main reason the Mavs even have a chance at a high seed in the West. If you just sent him back to Slovenia and never let him play again for the Mavs, the Mavs would be a substantially worse team. 

Missed shots actually aren't the same thing as turnovers. They can operate similarly in the case of long defensive rebounds that allow the rebounding team to run. But that's not the only thing that happens on missed shots. A missed shot can be rebounded by the shooting team, which can then score a second-chance basket. It can result in a foul by either team, followed by free throws and/or a new possession. After a missed shot, the ball can (and usually will) be inbounded by the defending team behind the line, as opposed to a sudden change of possession from wherever the turnover occurred on the court, in the case of a turnover. The shooting team would far rather have a missed shot than a live-ball turnover. 

Luka may have been limited, but he wasn't stopped. Twenty points. Ten assists. That's a splendid outing by most players' standards. If the Bulls said they stopped Luka, they would be laughed out of the interview room.

Actually, afaik, games are decided by points scored, not FG%. Just say, for example, that one team's shooting for the game is 50 layups attempted, every one of them made, no and-ones. Looks like they would have 100 points. The other teams shooting for the game is 60 layup attempts, same conditions, but missed one. Looks they would have 118 points. A lower FG%, but still declared the winner of the game. I am really pretty certain this is how it works, but feel free to correct me if I am wrong about that.  

As for shooting percentages, they are way down all across the league. Don't think we have enough information yet to declare that they will never normalize.