I posted a comment to Wayne Vore's RJ Is Back (So They Say) FanPost, in response to some other comments about RJ, and it kinda got away from me... it may be the longest comment in PtR history. Several PtR's encouraged me to cut and paste it as a FanPost, and I wanted to add/change a few words anyway, so here goes my first FP.
RJ was the target of a fair amount of criticism last season (including some harsh ones from me), and in the run-up to his re-signing with the Spurs (recently announced as $39M over 4 years, last year's $11M partially guaranteed), the consensus here was that the Spurs would bring him back, so a number of us began to engage in the blood sport of analyzing his game in terms of what he and the team would need to do for him to be successful in his second year with the Spurs.
Some of the comments made -- that he'd never been a high percentage outside shooter, that he needed a run and gun PG like Kidd to thrive, that he needed the ball in his hands to score, etc. -- didn't square with what I thought I had read or knew about RJ, so I did a little research to see if I could clear things up. The following is just my humble opinion.
I know some people tend to think of Kidd as a run-and-gun sort of PG (and maybe he is now, kinda, in Dallas), but they may have forgotten that in his first year with the New Jersey Nets, under new coach Byron Scott, he ran an NBA-style "Princeton offense."
And contrary to popular belief, that style is not a "hold the ball and run out the clock" system. It’s a system that places a high premium on unselfish players with good hands (for passing and receiving passes) and high basketball intelligence. Players are in motion constantly, cutting and screening. It requires high basketball IQ because the name of the game is to read the defense and exploit its weaknesses (e.g. making backdoor cuts when the defender is playing too close/aggressively). When it's executed well, it's almost like athletes are as living art... to me it's that beautiful.
And Kidd’s first year with the Nets also happens to have been RJ’s rookie season. And despite the new system, new coach, and other new players (e.g. Todd MacCulloch, Jason Collins, Brian Scalabrine), that year was the best season for the Nets since they joined the NBA (52-30, 1st in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference, lost in the Finals to the Shaq- and Kobe-led Lakers).
In case I buried my point about RJ in excess verbiage above, let me restate my main point. RJ thrived — from the beginning of his NBA career — in a motion-oriented system that places a high value on players with high basketball IQ, good hands, and unselfish play. What’s more, his college basketball pedigree is impeccable… he learned from Arizona’s Lute Olson.
Add to that, his three point shooting in Milwaukee, the year before joining the Spurs (thanks and credit to Tim C. for posting it in this RJ FanShot):
and we can understand why the Spurs FO thought RJ would be a great fit for the team. Not just an unselfish player with good hands and a high basketball IQ, but daaaamn, over 45 freaking percent from the corners! That should put to rest claims that RJ has always been a poor percentage outside shooter.
And as far as criticisms about his shooting mechanics are concerned, I don’t give a damn care if he looks like a spastic mutant albatross flinging the rock from behind the arc — provided that he can get back to anywhere near his 2008-09 numbers. I think he can... it's partly a matter of confidence, but also his teammates understanding how, where, and when he'd like the rock delivered into his hands.
But, instead of the guy we thought we were gonna get, we got (thanks and credit to Wayne Vore for posting in the other RJ thread) this guy:
Now, nearly 40% from one corner is pretty good. Actually, I’d be celebrating if RJ did that well this coming season from both corners AND took more corner threes… his top of the arc numbers (nearly 35%) are OK, it’s all those bricks he threw up from the areas between the corners and the top of the arc. Too many threes taken from the places where he was under 30%. (Oddly, one of those areas was good for 43.2% the previous year. Go figure.)
And in comparison to the player we all thought we were getting last season, it was disappointing. The most frustrating aspect for me was watching games in which he looked… uncomfortable on the floor. Not angry or bored, just a little confused and lost. Not at all what I expected.
My tendency during the season was to blame RJ, but I now see that I was being unfair, and I apologize. No matter what a player’s basketball IQ, it's unreasonable to expect him to perform at his peak level at the same time he’s learning new systems/teammates/coaches in the pressure cooker environment of pro sports competition, especially when he's coming in as a role player without any plays drawn up for him. It’s almost as if the Spurs told him, "Don’t worry about it. Just keep moving on offense and get open, post up behind the arc if all else fails, and we’ll try to get you the ball."
Now, I don’t think that’s exactly what happened, and it doesn’t matter anyway. I want to focus on the future and how the team can bring out the best out of RJ going forward.
Of all the Spurs last season, I think one who never lost confidence in RJ was Manu the Magician. It’s no coincidence that when Manu’s play improved as he got healthy, we saw flashes of the RJ we expected when they were in the game together. So I’d guess that Pop has designed some plays over the summer to take advantage of RJ’s skills, and that TP, TD, and GH will have ample opportunity (and be directed by Coach) to get RJ involved from the very beginning of the game. The games where TP got RJ going early with an easy backdoor layup or an alley-oop dunk were ones that seemed like we had a completely different team.
I'll go further and say I’d pay cash money to see TD in the high post pass it to a cutting RJ for an easy two. Especially if RJ got free from his defender courtesy of a hard screen by Splitter, Blair, or McDyess. :) Nothing demoralizes a player on defense than getting caught giving up an easy backdoor layup because he was too aggressive in trying to deny his man the ball.
As for RJ being the stretch 4 in the Spurs’ small ball lineup…. depends on matchups. Who would be guarding him and who would he be guarding. Frankly, I’m not a fan of Spurs small ball, even when it means I get to see Parker, Hill, and Manu on the floor together. For three-guard situations, I’d rather see TP/GH/MG paired with Duncan/Splitter or McDyess/Blair or maybe Splitter/Blair… again, depending on individual matchups.
With Parker, Manu, and/or Hill in the game, I probably wouldn’t initiate the offense through RJ, but I’d make darned sure he touches the ball and is active even without the ball. By being a constant threat to cut, slash and score, RJ can take defensive pressure off the ball handler (and Duncan). And especially when his defender leaves him to double-team our post player, RJ needs to move to the open spot and make them pay by making an easy two.
Most of all, I’m counting on the ‘reversion to the mean’ effect working in RJ’s (and the team's) favor.
Go Spurs Go!
