Dunk Base

I thought I’d just throw out a few names whose games and respective teams would benefit if they added a component (or two) to their game. All of these are realistic goals obviously so I’m not going to talk about how much better Dwight Howard would be if he had a 3-point shot.

Derrick Rose: quicker decision-making and 3-point shot

Getting used to the quicker pace of the game in the NBA has always been a problem for rookie PG’s and it’s even more evident now that the pace has gotten quicker in recent years. You could see pretty obviously that Rose experienced this problem in his rookie season. His hesitancy before going to his moves and deciding whether he should pass was a bit frustrating in the playoffs. I still think what he did was better than trying to play too fast. That would have just resulted in worse decisions and more turnovers. I’m certain that we’ll see a more confident looking and less stagnant Derrick Rose this season. The 3-point shot.. not so sure about that. Reports are that the guy is a tireless worker so it’s possible that he’s developed an OK 3-point shot. Even if he hasn’t developed the shot for this year, doesn’t mean he can’t add it to his repertoire somewhere along the line. You have to remember that the guy is only 21.

Dwyane Wade: 3 point shot

Wade had by far his most productive season from beyond the arc last season. He made 1.1 3-pointers per game, a significant improvement from his previous best of 0.4. There is room for improvement in the accuracy however, he only shot 31.7%. The fact that he improved so much last season bodes well for the future. His progression in 3-point shooting is eerily similar to Michael Jordan’s. Jordan was not a threat at all from beyond the arc in his first 5 years. Then in his 6^th year, he suddenly started making significantly more 3’s just like Wade did last season, his 6^th year in the league. Wade has shown that he’s very capable of hitting the 3 when he’s on fire on the rest of his jump shots. Now he needs to develop consistency. If defenders have to reduce the amount of breathing room they give him beyond the arc, Wade is going to have an even easier time blowing by. That’s a scary thought.

Danny Granger: post-up game

Danny Granger is a very crafty player. He has a great knack for finding good shots with veteran type moves, which compensates for the fact that he isn’t as athletic as most other all-star caliber SF’s. His body looks like it’s capable of backing opponents down. His savvy around the basket would be a very good fit to a post-up game. His FG% would automatically rise (a surprisingly modest 44.7 % last season). A big reason why adding this component would be beneficial to the Pacers is that the closest thing the Pacers have to a sure thing in the post is Roy Hibbert. I’m expecting Hibbert to have a solid sophomore season but regardless there will be plenty of room for Granger to establish position around the basket. The reason this could work out really well is that the Pacers have good outside shooting. If Granger gets double teamed he can dish it out to an open shooter.

JR Smith: penetrate-and-dish game and headfake

I saw a couple of passes from JR in the Lakers series that had me out of my seat. Please drive to the rim and pass more JR. You clearly have vision and you have the athleticism to get to the rim. You’re not a very good finisher at the rim so dishing it out of traffic would help your game and the Nuggets. You have a very quick release on your shots. You should use this to your advantage by baiting defenders with head fakes. You could either blow by the defender once he bites on it (and they often will because of the respect they have for your shot and its quickness), drive to the rim and dish it to Nene or you could draw a foul on the defender by throwing your body into him.

Greg Oden: positioning

Greg Oden posted solid per 36 minutes stats in his rookie season. The problem was that he wouldn’t even be able to play for that long because he averages 6.5 fouls in 36 minutes! To stay out of foul trouble Oden must learn to distance himself from guys that are driving to the rim. He should try to focus less on blocking every shot and more on altering shots with his long reach.

On offense, improving how he establishes position on the block will make him more assertive. Oden doesn’t appear to have quick feet. To me, this is a little worrying when you look at the all-time great big men. There aren’t that many. Yao Ming… and Vlade Divac?  Fortunately, Oden can easily back down guys better than them. And that all starts with establishing position.

Kevin Durant: making teammates better

Kevin Durant improved in every aspect of his game last season except passing. He only averaged 2.8 assists per game. He’s spoiled with so much individual talent that I don’t think he realizes the importance of getting his teammates involved yet. In all fairness, he doesn’t have a lot of help. Still, the Thunder should expect Durant to bump his average to 4 APG.

Russell Westbrook: pick-and-roll

Westbrook’s natural position is, or at least was last season, SG. But he was the Thunder’s best option at PG and will be this season as well. Knowing how to play the pick-and-roll is pretty much a standard requirement for all starting PG’s. He didn’t know how to run it last season and he tried to compensate for it by doing too much. This resulted in 3.34 turnovers per game. Word is that he’s been working on his PG skills so expect there to be more structure to the Thunder’s offense this season.

Rajon Rondo: the ability to shoot… from anywhere

He’s arguably the best penetrate-and-dish guy in the league in terms of being a scoring threat in the paint and finding open teammates. I guess the fact that he has huge hands is somewhat of an excuse for his poor shooting but he needs to at least find a hot spot on the court. It would open up his driving game even more. Right now, Rondo is an opportunist on the offensive end. A jump shot would make him a consistent threat.

Trevor Ariza: pull-up jumper

Pretty tall order. I personally don’t think Ariza will be a better player in Houston. I see him focusing less on defense and being more inefficient on offense. If he develops a pull-up jumper though, it’s a different story. All swingmen (guys who play SG and SF) who score 15 PPG have a pull-up jumper.

Rudy Gay: High post game

As much as I hate how the Grizzlies look on paper, I’m going to try to be optimistic here. If you have Iverson at PG (and you shouldn’t, you should have him at SG playing alongside a tall, defensive PG), the best kind of SG to pair him with is a guy who’s a really good shooter. Mayo is a really good shooter. If Iverson and Mayo share the ball with each other, they could be a very formidable duo. In the frontcourt, you have two big bodies who should both have room to operate. Doesn’t sound too bad so far. But then on top of all this, you have Rudy Gay, a 4^th ball hog in the starting lineup. Where does he fit? Seeing as he’s added 20 pounds of muscle during last season and the off-season, I would like to see him back guys down instead of taking bad pull-up jumpers. It would be a shame to see him give his muscles the Ben Gordon treatment, not putting them into any use that is. Iverson and Mayo on the perimeter, Rudy in the high post, Randolph in the high/low post and Gasol in the low post. That sounds like a potentially structured team. But yeah.. probably not gonna happen.

Chris Bosh: Post-up game

Chris Bosh has finally added some muscle. What took him so long? Bosh has always been an extremely skilled big man but he’s never been an intimidating force in the NBA. I don’t want to call him soft but he’s been a purely finesse PF with unimpressive strength so far. With Dirk Nowitzki being the one exception, that’s not the type of guy who you want as your best player if you want to be a winning team. Chris Bosh already has a terrific face-up game and his mid-range shot is very solid. If he gets a back-to-the-basket game, he has the full arsenal. When I think of a wiry strong PF with a great mid-range, back-to-the-basket and face-up game, I think of Kevin Garnett. Bosh is never going to be the defender that Garnett is but he could be an equally versatile and effective threat on offense. I see him having the best season of his career.

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