Style
Offensively, we’ve all heard it. From day 1 Williams preached the “0.5" offense, a style predicated on ball movement and quick decision making. The thing is though, I’m not sure we actually ran it!
We weren’t isolation dependent (2nd lowest frequency in the league) which supports the idea that we did, but that’s about it. In terms of average seconds per touch and passes per game we were near league average (both 11th). Combine that with 9th in pace and 20th in 3Par and I’m struggling to see an on-court identity.
BUT THE ASSISTS DOM, WHAT ABOUT THE ASSISTS!!
Yes, we lead the league in AST% at 66.6%. Golf clap. However, these high assist numbers may just be the product of having an entire roster outside of Booker who can't score for themselves, led by a pass first lead ball-handler who himself can't get his own shot.
There were 11 teams in the league that operated with a primary ball handler with a true usage of over 50%. Phoenix, with Rubio, was one of them. This is to say, when the Suns were on O, and Rubio was on the floor, the ball was in his hands 50.84% of the time (8th highest in the league). For perspective, a third of the league, operates without a player over 40%. Evidently, our high assist numbers weren't the product of great ball movement through the 0.5 system, rather, it was the product of:
a) a team of dependent players, led by a lead ball handler that thrives in helping said dependent players and
b) an incredible shot creator whose natural gravity creates easy opportunities for others
What Monty really did was just simplify things – giving Rubio (one of the smartest guys in the league) and Booker (a guy that knows how to use his gravity) control. This isn’t a bad idea, but it’s not exactly creative, nor does it involve any sort of holistic player optimisation. This "freedom though structure" (I highly recommend you read Sam's piece on this, found here), is incredibly beneficial to Rubio, which in turn benefits the rest of the team whilst he is on the court, as well as suiting Booker to an extent.
The downside to this becomes apparent when you consider how bad the team was when either of them wasn’t on the floor. Whilst our bench wasn’t anything to write home about, it wasn’t one of the weakest in the league like the numbers suggest. A fair bit of this can be placed on coaching, where Monty’s lack of system/structure contributed to mediocre players being caught out.
Ultimately, Rubio and Booker may not need structure, but the 13 other guys on the roster do.
In terms of other stylistic matters in our O, assistant coach Darko Rajakovic (again, I seriously mean read Sam's article as he explains the background to this and the podcast interview Darko did) touches on other key components of our apparent offensive identity. This includes limiting turnovers; I can't help but think that this is something that any offense is trying to achieve. Does Brad Stevens go out there and tell his Boston players to try and turn the ball over more? No! A lot of the things he addresses, including passing up good shots for great shots, are really just basic basketball principals.
Defensively, the packing the paint scheme he insisted on using early in the season, that in turn allowed shooters to get easy open spot-ups lasted way too long.
He wasn’t exactly working with the best personnel defensively, but little things like often not placing Mikal on the opposition’s best perimeter player until later in the game were frustrating.
On the positive side, and I'm honestly struggling here, I did like how he occasionally implemented zones for sections to throw the opposition off.
Rotations:
Let me preface this by saying that Monty as a coach dealt with a considerable amount of adversity this season in terms of personnel. From Ayton being suspended, Rubio moving from back spasms to children and Baynes/Frank missing huge chunks, he was up against it.
This doesn’t preclude him from receiving criticism for his rotations though.
My issues with his rotations come down to a few core things:
- Constantly shuffling around the starting line-up/when he would take guys out and put guys in
- His inability to effectively stagger Booker and Rubio
- Poor in game adjustments in terms of reading who is hot for either team
- Rarely playing Booker at the 1, when it has proven to be an effective method in the past
Player Development:
A+ for Monty here. The core 4 of Booker, Ayton, Mikal and Kelly all took strides forward, whilst Cam progressed well through the season.
The lack of development form Elie and Ty, whilst not ideal, really isn’t much of an issue in the grand scheme of things.
Vibes:
A major reason Jones wanted to get him here was to start the cultural change, and he didn’t disappoint.
The players seem to love him. The fans seem to love him. The media seems to love him. Simple as that.
The Numbers:
Fair bit of noise on this one, but the team’s numbers out of timeouts don’t paint a pleasant picture.
In general play we had a relative ORtg of +0.32, which slipped to -1.18 out of time outs.
On the defensive end, in general play we had a relative DRtg of +1.00, sinking to +7.72 out of time outs.
That’s a drop from 16th in the net to 26th. Now, not all of this can be placed on Monty, a number of other factors such as player execution would also play a role, however Monty deserves at least some of the blame.
Finally, he had the 3rd lowest percentage of reviews overturned at 27.27% (league average was 44.32%). Not that this defines a coach, but it is a bit annoying that he isn’t taking advantage of them like some coaches.
Verdict:
His actual coaching ability in game and ability to build a gameplay off the court is legitimately concerning and will become an issue down the line. For now, he is an excellent culture guy, and is clearly a positive influence on the young players. C