Guys....we need some 3pt shooting...
Not just because the Warriors won, but because Cleveland has 0 3pt shooters and the Warriors left them wide open knowing they can't make 3's.
If we want to compete next year, Collison and Ben need to become better 3pt shooters.
I think the most interesting takeaway is that the Cavaliers HAD shooters. Dellavadova was a 40% shooter over the year, J.R. Smith was at 39%, James Jones shot 36%, and Shumpert was at 34%. The problem was that the Warriors were fast enough defensively to both swarm the paint for LeBron AND close out on shooters when he kicked it out. The main problems were that the Cavs shooters couldn't do anything off the dribble once they were run off the line. The defense was compromised, you have the ball, its a prime position to attack off the dribble but none of those guys had the talent to do it. The Cavs offense was limited only to LeBron being brilliant every possession or Mozgov/Thompson cavemaning their way to garbage points in the paint. Suffice to say that the offense failed.
Contrast that to the Warrior roleplayers. When Iggy, Draymond or Barnes were run off the three point line, they were able to attack off the dribble and make plays. It helped that Curry was getting double teamed off the pick and roll, leading to 4 on 3 situations that the Warrior roleplayers were able to eviscerate after Game 3. The Warriors had acres of space to work with and their roleplayers took full advantage.
The level of defense that the Warriors and Cavaliers were playing in the Finals makes standstill shooters utterly useless. I mean, look at Klay Thompson; he was completely taken out of the series because he relied so much on spot-ups and beating defenders off of screens. Look at the way Kyle Korver was erased. All the off-ball wizards during the regular season simply disappeared in the playoffs because all of the sets that got them open looks before were swallowed up by playoff defenses.
To beat a modern NBA defense requires roleplayers who can shoot, attack defenses off the dribble to either make good, simple plays for teammates or score themselves. This is what Iggy, Barnes, Green can do.
I think both Collison and McLemore can potentially fit the bill. Ben has potential, but isn't there yet; he needs to improve his 3 point shot to about the 39-40% range, which I think is entirely possible (he was at 35.9% last year) and improve his ballhandling further. Collison I am a bit worried about because his release is so slow, but he's efficient from three, is blistering quick and makes solid decisions off the dribble. Both grade out as plus defenders too, which is critical.
Basically, its not just shooting anymore. You need to have roleplayers who can do so much more. One-dimensional players get eliminated by a locked-in defense.
