The Dream’s offensive recovery depends on creating choices for defenders before the shot goes up.
By Rodney Holloway
Atlanta’s central Finals problem is how to create useful offensive advantages against a defense that has increasingly dictated the terms of each possession.
Golden State reports in its series recap that Atlanta has made 10 of 49 three-point attempts across Games 4 and 5. The Dream have lost both games and now face elimination.
That shooting stretch establishes the result. It does not, by itself, establish the quality of every attempt or identify one player as responsible for the offense’s problems.
Better movement before better shooting
The adjustment worth considering is when Atlanta asks the defense to move. A drive against five defenders already in position is a different challenge from a drive after a reversal, a cut or a screen that shifts help away from the lane.
The goal should be an advantage that survives the first pass. If the initial action draws two defenders, the next receiver needs a usable option before the defense recovers. Otherwise, the possession can return to the same difficult starting point with less time remaining.
Keep more than one option alive
There is also a difference between giving a scorer responsibility and making that scorer solve every possession alone. Atlanta can still feature its primary threats while using them as screeners, passers or moving targets.
Those possibilities are analytical proposals, not claims about unannounced changes. Their value would be making Golden State defend a sequence of decisions rather than a single attack.
The next development to watch is whether Atlanta’s opening possessions in Game 6 produce movement after the first action is contained. That would offer a more meaningful sign of adjustment than an isolated made jumper.
Related: Dream Game 6 preview.
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