Maybe I wasn't clear enough, although I think I kind of explained it further down the paragraph. No I don't think setting a solid screen makes your basketball IQ go up. What I do think is that if you don't set good screens consistently, come off screens well consistently, and move with purpose without the ball consistently, you have no chance of having a good offense. Those basic fundamentals are a must if you're going to have a remotely efficient offense. The past couple of years are a perfect example of what happens when your basic fundamentals are poor. I'm sure you don't need to see the dismal stats.
What I do think is that when you consistently do those things well it opens up a lot of opportunities, which in turn certainly make you look like a smarter player and a smarter team in general. Instead of lazily swinging the ball around the perimeter while standing around and forcing a shot with 3 seconds on the shot clock, it opens up opportunities for an extra pass to a wide open man, or a nice backdoor cut because of solid ball movement, spacing, running hard, moving well, and with purpose without the ball, etc. Solid basic fundamentals are the foundation for an efficient offense. An offense that does the basics well is going to look like a much smarter offense (individually and as a team) than what we've seen the past few seasons. There is no doubt in my mind.
I stated that I believe the biggest impact "right away with this group" is going to be setting a higher standard in practice. Obviously you need to recruit the right pieces. Although even the right pieces, generally speaking, arent going to work magic without solid, basic fundamentals being in place and setting high standards in general.
I said "I strongly believe that KO could not have set a high enough standard at practice" and I'll stand by that opinion 100%. I'm not sure what you saw on the floor the past couple of seasons that would remotely lead you to believe they were being coached well and were held to a high standard (even with the most basic things) at practice. The team was piss poor at the most basic, simple fundamentals of the game, and their effort, quite often, was sorely lacking. In my opinion that is 100% on the coach and the standard and expectations he sets at practice.
