Take shots that you’re good at taking. What a crazy concept lolPitino and his staff could have very well taken the Sisyphean route. More reps. More shots. More 3s until the numbers changed. Instead, a far simpler decision. Shoot closer.”
Why does Rick Pitino win? The answer is in no-man’s-land
St. John's is playing basketball of a bygone era. And it's workingwww.nytimes.com
Interesting strategy in countering today’s analytics. He basically wins by getting substantially more shots (or free throws) than the opponent through turnovers and offensive rebounds, with emphasis on defense. Still math involved but with a twist. Throw back, easy to like. This years finesse UConn team has been stylistically pretty bland as they can never impose much, just have to outshoot. Some of my favorite moments this year have been seeing Tarris manhandle around the rim. While nice to beat Marquette by shooting 63% from three, not sustainable.Good article in the Athletic on exactly that. In our game they went “9 of 26 shots at the rim, 4 of 21 3-pointers, and an absurd 13 of 18 shots between the paint and 3-point line.“ It wasn’t accidental.
“Pitino’s team at St. John’s, just like his teams at Louisville and Kentucky, and at Iona and in Greece, and with the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics, spent early workouts going through individual sessions overseen by the head coach. Such one-on-ones are grueling to watch, let alone to endure. Fifteen shots in 30 seconds. Or timed attempts darting around stations scattered all over the court. Over and over. Pitino, the whole time, stands, hands behind his back, shouting directions until the player in front of him stands atop a pool of sweat. All along, every shot is counted and added to a tally. Those numbers, in part, determine how Pitino later decides who can shoot from where and when in what games. Sound strategy. He’s won everywhere.
But then came this preseason at St. John’s. Every day ended with an autopsy revealing a fatal flaw.
St. John’s couldn’t shoot.
“The lowest metrics I’ve seen from my team, ever,” Pitino recently told me.
Pitino and his staff could have very well taken the Sisyphean route. More reps. More shots. More 3s until the numbers changed. Instead, a far simpler decision. Shoot closer.”
Why does Rick Pitino win? The answer is in no-man’s-land
St. John's is playing basketball of a bygone era. And it's working
I love it. "We suck at making shots, but if we take enough of them, we're bound to score eventually"
Pretty much it - we’ll find ways to get more of them and make you miss more. Meanwhile look like OGs. Genius!!
That would be the floor. Handling the regular season grind with a young nucleus.
Upon further review it looks like a Jonny got a hand on this one, ball looks redirected.
