Let’s play a game! Out of all of Mirza Teletovic’s three-point field goals this season, how many were unassisted? I’ll give you a minute to ponder.
Okay, enough pondering! If your answer was anything but “four”, you’re wrong and stupid and no longer allowed to watch my videos, because “four” is the correct answer. I would also accept “4”.
Armed with the knowledge that Teletovic is mainly a catch-and-shoot kinda guy, we can deduce what he needs to do to take his game to the next level. First, he needs to somehow assume ball-handling duties at least some of the time. Then, when he does get the chance to advance the ball up the court, he needs to stop a few feet before the three point line and do a bunch of strung-together crossover moves. Jab-steps are welcome as well. After his defender is sufficiently shaken, or even if he’s still right there, Mirza then can shoot the three and hopefully it will go in.
This is called “creating your own offense”. I read about it all the time. Mirza is the perfect candidate for doing such a thing. The ability to create offense is the only meaningful measure of how good a player is, so until Mirza is allowed to do this in the Nets’ system, he will remain a role-player.
I keep telling people that I need to be an assistant somewhere. Maybe this is finally the year.