OT (but not really): Zach Lowe article on Kyle Korver

For those of you who love basketball and don't care that it comes in NBA form, Zach Lowe of grantland.com should be required reading.

He recently posted this article about Kyle Korver, now of the ATL Hawks. The reason I draw your attention to it is the three gifs partway down the page. Do those actions make you think of anything or anyone? If you said "hey, that looks just like the stuff M ran with Stauskas," then I say "me too."

The difference, though, is who the dribble handoffer or pick and popper is. With M it was either Morford or Walton instead of a Pittsnoglian-type, as it is in the first (Pero Antic) and second and third (Paul Millsap) gifs.

Here's where I get irrationally giddy about Zak Irvin and Mark Donnal running the same stuff. If Donnal can be a credible three point shooter, that could make Irvin, who may or may not be "just a shooter," structurally lethal.

This kind of action puts the opposing big in a terrible position, because they either have to show on Irvin and then try to get back to Donnal, or if they switch, that leaves Donnal able to get a shot off on a shorter wing.

To make it more concrete, imagine Adam Woodbury, Alex Gauna, or even Frank Kaminsky trying to deal with this:

or this:

Recall that Wisconsin's strategy for dealing with Stauskas was to sag in the lane and dare him to shoot a 16-footer. If they do that this year, that leaves Donnal either unguarded or switched on to a shorter player.

Anyway, I'm excited to see what Donnal and Irvin can do this year is what I'm saying.