Basketball: Random Thoughts on Sport, and Society, Half a Loaf and Too Much Bam Roll

The winter sports season starts December 14th in Massachusetts. It's a long run for the proverbial short slide. At least one community (Westford) voted to cancel the basketball and hockey season. Why? 

Today's 90 deaths (not on the above chart) are the highest since the spring and the Commonwealth's opening plan is being rolled back because of cases, increasing test positivity, hospitalizations, and deaths. View any schedules as preliminary in the context of the public health emergency. 

Some contest the data. Incontrovertible facts come from the state's Wastewater processing (MWRA). 

Wastewater viral loads from 43 Eastern Massachusetts communities predicted the surge in clinical Coronavirus disease. Ignore science at our peril. The virus sheds in stool before clinical cases rise.

The normal twenty game season is cut in half, with no statewide post-season tournament. Rumor has it that one spectator will be allowed per player. 

The "traditional" Tuesday and Friday doubleheaders are nowhere to be found. 

Home teams are responsible for filming. 

Some rules and policies can be viewed as arbitrary. 

Basketball update: Rosters can stay at 15, but only 12 allowed in the pregame warmups. If a school has 15, three kids would be stretching under the hoop. That can be rotated, but 12 is the max number in the pregame layups.

— Danny Ventura (@BostonHeraldHS) December 9, 2020

As I mentioned previously, BOBs are gone for this season, replaced by SLOBs from the foul line extended. Getting into offense from SLOBs comprises a possible edge. Creativity and execution matter. 

Horns-like set with high entry can pressure the heart of the zone. 

A modified box set can open the help/weak side with a screen. 

Lagniappe: Why can't A stop B? It's easy for fans to say, "take that away." ScoutwithBryan's YouTube channel is another analysis gold mine. 

Reality says: 

1) NBA players are great at exploiting edges.

2) Defenses can't take away everything. 

3) Teams have to "live with" certain shots (e.g. mid-range jumpers).

4) Brad Stevens, the Celtics coaches and players surely watched a lot of Heat film looking for solutions if not kryptonite against the Heat pick-and-roll. 

5) The points per possession on the "live with it" shots (1 to 1.2) are going to be less than lobs and layups (probably 1.6 - 1.8)