As I've been watching the NBA finals I have come to the conclusion that I think Pike should really try to mirror the Celtics play style that is working so well for them this year. This could really work because our personnel for next season is almost identical to what Boston runs out there. It obviously starts at the top with the elite duo of Tatum/Brown and Harper/Bailey. Having 2 big athletic on ball playmakers is so overwhelming to defenses. I've seen Boston run a ton of Tatum/Brown p&r and attack mismatches which works extremely effectively because it is so rare you have 2 defenders good enough and athletic enough on the floor at the same time to navigate them both in the same action. Ace and Dylan have the potential to play the same exact way.
The next 2 most important pieces for Boston in White/Holliday also compare really well to Jwill/Acuff IMO. Jwill brings the on ball point of attack defense and offensive creation Holliday does and Acuff has shown he can score at an extremely high clip the way White does. Acuff isn't the level of defender White is comparatively, but I think he can definitely improve being tasked with the worst offensive player on the court instead of the lead guard like at EMU. Horford and Martini are also shockingly similar in terms of play style as well and what could really make the offense IMO. Horford is an undersized center that is an excellent 3pt shooter(42%) and not a big rim protector(1.0 bpg). He has a really strong base defensively and is able to wall up and prevent bigger and more athletic defenders from scoring easily like we have also seen Martini do against Cliff and Danny Wolf. Horford's offensive role is what truly what unlocks the Celtics offense and what Martini starting at the 5 could do to ours like I've seen others on here suggest as well. Having your center be able to exclusively sit in the corner and pick&pop keeps the paint clear all the time and creates amazing offensive chances. Dylan, Jwill, Acuff, and Ace's best offense is getting downhill into the paint and when there's no clog sitting in the middle it makes it so much more effective.
Now the obvious and fair question is does Pike have the ability to coach this way? He's said and proved(at Stony Brook) that he can win by leading the league in scoring so if he can tap into that style again I think we can see some really good success. Now even with all our roster improvements its obviously not very likely we're going to go from 300 in kempom adjO to top 10, but if we can even get to a top 50ish O with 6-7 very versatile defenders and Pike's ability to scheme up defense, this could be a real recipe for success next season. This Celtics style lineup really has the ability to just be an overwhelming offensive force if Dylan and Ace play like top 3 draft picks which sounds crazy talking about a Steve Pikiell lead Rutgers team.
The next 2 most important pieces for Boston in White/Holliday also compare really well to Jwill/Acuff IMO. Jwill brings the on ball point of attack defense and offensive creation Holliday does and Acuff has shown he can score at an extremely high clip the way White does. Acuff isn't the level of defender White is comparatively, but I think he can definitely improve being tasked with the worst offensive player on the court instead of the lead guard like at EMU. Horford and Martini are also shockingly similar in terms of play style as well and what could really make the offense IMO. Horford is an undersized center that is an excellent 3pt shooter(42%) and not a big rim protector(1.0 bpg). He has a really strong base defensively and is able to wall up and prevent bigger and more athletic defenders from scoring easily like we have also seen Martini do against Cliff and Danny Wolf. Horford's offensive role is what truly what unlocks the Celtics offense and what Martini starting at the 5 could do to ours like I've seen others on here suggest as well. Having your center be able to exclusively sit in the corner and pick&pop keeps the paint clear all the time and creates amazing offensive chances. Dylan, Jwill, Acuff, and Ace's best offense is getting downhill into the paint and when there's no clog sitting in the middle it makes it so much more effective.
Now the obvious and fair question is does Pike have the ability to coach this way? He's said and proved(at Stony Brook) that he can win by leading the league in scoring so if he can tap into that style again I think we can see some really good success. Now even with all our roster improvements its obviously not very likely we're going to go from 300 in kempom adjO to top 10, but if we can even get to a top 50ish O with 6-7 very versatile defenders and Pike's ability to scheme up defense, this could be a real recipe for success next season. This Celtics style lineup really has the ability to just be an overwhelming offensive force if Dylan and Ace play like top 3 draft picks which sounds crazy talking about a Steve Pikiell lead Rutgers team.
