[halfdecayedParticipant]

Who can actually pass the ball well for that team and create for other than themselves? PG, Kawhi and Lou are great at creating their own shot, but let’s be real, Pat Bev ain’t a passer, Kawhi surely ain’t a great one either, it’s his biggest weakness. Everyone seems to think this team will win 50 + games while Kawhi takes 25 games or so off when there’s no legit creator on the team right now. There’s also the notion that they won 48 games last year so adding Kawhi and PG makes them the best team, but Tobias Harris had alot to do with the team success until the trade and so did Gallo and Shai (who will be a stud). I guess I expect alot of running around screens and ISOs, what are your thoughts on the offensive fit?  

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 It’s a valid question. Both kawhi and pg are going to have the ball in their hands a lot of course. They are going to need to expand their playmaking ability in a way we haven’t really seen before. Both have primarily been scorers throughout their careers, although I always thought George had the ability to be more of a facilitator if the circumstances of his career had been different. Even though kawhi isn’t a great passer, he’s still one of the best isolation scorers on the planet and more than capable of making simple reads to find open players out of doubles. I personally think both have the ability to do more in terms of creating shots for others as they are both very smart players. However, there may be some rough patches in the beginning.  Beverly is mostly going to just be a spot up threat on offense and you can’t really count on him for much besides that. They do have Lou Williams, one of the savviest pick and roll players in the league, coming off the bench. If Williams is going to continue to play major mins though, he’ll probably need to adjust to a little more of an off ball role than he’s had in recent seasons. 

I trust doc’s coaching and the talent of kawhi and pg to be able to figure things out, but it could require some guys to step out of their comfort zones a little to make things work. 

[halfdecayedParticipant]

 I love Kawhi’s game, but when you say he’s more than capable of making simple reads to find open players out of double, I agree but this is his weakness. He tends to freeze with the ball when that happens because he’s not a natural playmaker, and that usually took lots of time off the clock. Of course he’s no James Harden, but the fit with George will be interesting, because I thought PG13 fit really well with Westbrook’s playmaking abilities which are underrated too. 

[juves4783Participant]

i really don’t know if it matters too much.  PG played on multiple succssful pacers team where the pgs were george hill, rodney stuckey, lance stephenson and monta ellis….all natural combo guards.  i think all offensese likley start with iso to PG or kawhi.  don’t count out shamet either.  he played his entire college career as a pg and was moved to jj redick type role in philly.  doc may use him at natural position and could be why he wasn’t a part of any trades.  

i think at the end of the day, you have 4 capable ball handlers in beverley, shamet, kawhi and PG and a mastermind in doc.  he’ll find a way to optimize the talent.

 

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

This right here 

100% 

[HobbyOGParticipant]

 You over thinking it..Who did the Lakers have in the Shaq and Kobe era or Kobe Gasol era?  They had Derek Fisher he wasn’t a legit passer. Fisher never average more then 4.4 assist a game in a season they won. Bev avg 3.8 last year. 

[llperez]

Lakers we’re exception because they ran the triangle offense which was all about spacing and ball movement. They probably were dead last in the league in pick n rolls and dribbling the ball in general during their 5 rings under Phil 

[CoachWyersParticipant]

 Lou Williams is their best playmaker and can make things happen in the pick and roll/pop game, but they are without a true table setter and should look to add one with one of their two open roster spots.

[XYRYXParticipant]

I think the question is legit but also like stated above if they play at a decent pace and their defense should allow pressing the ball after forced turnovers, shot creation should be okay. Doc for sure needs to show that he is capable of forming a contending team after falling short of that for several years now which was not directly his fault but he was part of that. 

It should also be noted that Lou Williams is getting old and has some miles on his chassis. He stayed relatively healthy the last couple of years but injuries could plays big factor to this team going forward. What if Harrer is going to miss some games? What if Shamet won’t be able to play significant minutes and finally is Kawhi or PG going to play significant minutes at the 4? I know positioned basketball is the new thing now but some bodies need to hang for rebounds and do the dirty work. Aside from Harrell I don’t really see sacrificing frontcourt role players. Zubac is promising but he won’t do the responsibilities either and they will miss Gallos 42+ percent from deep as well as a bully like Harris who has a nice inside and outside game. 

Chemitry might also be interesting to see how the packing order is going to end. 

[cohenbc1Participant]

I don’t think it’s an issue. Lots of guys on the team can "pass the ball well." If you don’t have a "true point guard," you run a lot of P&Rs and iso plays. The Clips have the best scorer in the world in those situations, and two others who are arguably in the top 10. 

Kawhi played in the Spurs’ motion offense — he’s quite capable of hitting cutters and guys coming off of screens.

Lots of teams play without a point guard in the old-fashioned sense, including several recent champions as mentioned above. You can even make an argument that when you have two or more elite scorers, you don’t want a point guard on the floor, you want a spot-up shooter who can guard the other team’s quickest player.

There’s value in having a guy like Jokic or Draymond or Rondo or Rubio, who can make risky passes that other players might not attempt or even see. But there’s only a handful of guys like that anymore. They’re a luxury but not a necessity.

 

 

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