MTLNOVEL Chapter 226 Carnival Basketball
After returning from Los Angeles, the Bucks had two days to rest and regroup.
George Karl originally just wanted to analyze which of the last stretch of games would be the toughest to play, but then an assistant coach named Jim Todd brought a matter to his attention, "George, this might go against your intuition, but it is true."
Karl nodded, "Go on."
"The more three-point shots we take, the better we perform," Todd said dramatically. "I've compiled the data from every game since last season, and it turns out that whenever we attempt twenty-five threes in a game, we win."
This was "tailor-made" data.
Because they shot accurately, they shot frequently.
And in the Big Ball Era, shooting threes with precision naturally could turn the game around; winning was expected.
If you limit that number to twenty three-point attempts per game, that's not far off from the Bucks' current average (eighteen attempts).
Even so, the conclusion remains correct.
Even when expanding the sample size to include games with twenty three-point attempts, the Bucks' winning percentage was still impressive.
"Jim, what are you getting at?"
Karl looked at his assistant coach seriously.
Todd said, "What if we increase our three-point attempts to thirty?"
"You're crazy!"
Even for 'Madman' Karl, shooting thirty threes per game seemed too outrageous.
But a devilish thought whispered in his heart, "Why not try it? Coward! Why not try it? So what if you fail, it's just a regular season game or two!"
For Karl, this was indeed madness.
When the NBA introduced the three-point line, he was serving as an assistant coach under his elder brother Larry Brown, and he vividly remembered how countless reputable basketball experts believed the three-pointer would not bring any significant change to the game.
Jerry Colangelo, the general manager of the Phoenix Suns at the time, told the Associated Press in October 1979, "As a purist, I'd like to see the game remain the same, but in this case, we'll need to observe for a year. But the basic structure of the game will not change, and that's what's most important."
One year turned into two years, then three, and now it's been 25 years and still counting. For a long time, Colangelo was right. The fundamental structure of the game did not undergo any substantial changes as naysayers feared. Not in 1979, 1989, or even in 1999.
What is a significant change?
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Such change is quite recognizable.
It's like how watching a black and white video from the 1960s, you could easily distinguish between that era's technical skills and physical conditioning from a game video from the 1980s.
But if you were to put a game video from 1979 beside one from 2003, aside from picture quality, the differences wouldn't be stark.
This presented an issue.
Since the introduction of the three-pointer in the NBA in 1979, the evolution of the game had not been as rapid as it had been in the preceding 20 years.
If Jim Todd's so-called thirty three-point attempts per game strategy was viable, that would be terrifying.
For Karl, it represented the destruction and rebirth of his basketball philosophy, not just for him, but for many coaches who had spent years in the game, their views on basketball would be shattered.
"Let's just try it, it's not a big deal," Karl muttered.
The Bucks' next game was at home against the Kings.
Before the game, the players received an unusual game plan from the coaches: "Tonight everything stays the same, but we need to do one thing."
Everyone looked at Karl.
"Take thirty shots from beyond the three-point line."
"!#!￥"
Upon hearing this directive, the locker room naturally erupted into an uproar, for it was typical only during All-Star games to go for such a feat.
For the shooters, it was exhilarating news.
It meant their tactical role for the night had elevated.
After all, if you're going to shoot threes, you might as well have the players with higher accuracy take the shots.
The only one whose eyes lit up at this request was Yu Fei.
While he did not know who had enlightened Karl, nor if increasing three-point production was effective in an era that still allowed defensive players to have an active hand, it was a testament to a progressive philosophy.
An average of thirty three-point attempts per game should touch on the verge of the Small Ball Era twenty years later.
Yu Fei's feeling was not wrong.
Thirty three-point attempts per game in the 2023 NBA was about the second lowest in the league, but in terms of impact on the game and changes in pace, it was revolutionary.
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Since the opponent was the Kings, a team not known for their defense, the Bucks managed to increase their three-point output despite a decrease in their shooting percentage.
That night, the Bucks went 13 for 31 from the three-point line. Even though they didn't create a classic scene of consecutive threes to take the game away, they made the Kings run ragged on defense. Coupled with Yu Fei and others' precise control of the long rebounds, the Bucks ultimately crushed the Kings with offensive boards.
And, their peculiar style of play earned the "thumbs up" from their opponents.
"I don't think their perimeter offense was effective," Rick Adelman, although defeated, stubbornly said, "We lost the game because we didn't control the rebounds. It had nothing to do with their three-pointers. Thirty-one three-point attempts are too many for anyone, that's disrespecting the game. A carnival game like this is not even worth mentioning."
When Karl heard Adelman's feedback, especially his referring to tonight's game as a "carnival," he couldn't help but recall the good old days when the NBA had just introduced the three-point line.
He remembered that the first person to call the three-pointer a carnival shot was none other than the by-then-retired Red Auerbach.
NBA experts are not fools. They know that a three-pointer is worth more than a two-pointer, and they understand in theory that the three-point line could space out the game. But it seemed no one took such crazy measures to experiment like Karl.
The next opponent was the Golden State Warriors, another defensively challenged subject for experimentation.
Tonight, Ray Allen made it rain from outside, taking 13 of the team's 32 three-point attempts by himself, hitting 8 of them, and scoring a game-high 42 points, along with 6 rebounds and 3 assists.
In the midst of Ray Allen's three-point deluge, the Warriors lost their will to resist early on, allowing the Bucks to butcher them and ultimately losing by 34 points.
Afterward, the Bulls and Rockets fell victim to this experiment.
In the four games that the Bucks experimented with, both the Kings and Rockets were playoff-caliber teams.
Against the Kings, the Bucks couldn't find their touch; against the Rockets, Yu Fei acted like he would die if he didn't train his long shot inside the line, his eyes shining whenever he saw Yao Ming and forgetting all about his ethnic camaraderie, persistently going for pick-and-fade threes from the outside.
This led to the Bucks' best performance in their recent experimental games.
Yu Fei racked up 35 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists against the Rockets, leading his team to another victory.
People started to take notice of the Bucks' anomaly.
"Thirty three-point attempts in a game?" Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy said with a cold laugh, "Are you joking with me?"
Karl watched "carnival basketball" play out in four different ways against these opponents but had not yet tried it against a really tough team.
Then the Indiana Pacers came.
Tonight, Karl decided to up the ante, "I know what we've been doing in the last four games is already crazy, but I think we can go even crazier!"
The players were no stranger to Karl's eccentricities and just stared at him, wondering what antics he was planning to pull off this time.
"We should take 40 three-pointers tonight!"
At that moment, Karl's madness escalated.
Taking 40 three-pointers in a single game would just be a normal count for the Warriors by 2023.
But this was 2004, an era when the average NBA team attempted fewer than 15 three-pointers per game.
The Pacers were well prepared for the Bucks' carnival basketball, with Rick Carlisle demanding from the first second of the game that his players take advantage of the rewards of the high-hand era.
You like shooting threes? Then I'll make sure to add some intensity to your upper limbs and see if you still shoot them.
The result was that the Bucks not only shot, but they also shot with terrifying determination.
Watching the Bucks fire three-pointers as if their lives depended on it, the Pacers ended the game with a gruesome 40 attempts and only 11 hits from the Bucks.
The visiting Bucks were beaten by the Pacers by 27 points.
"I don't know what they're trying to do," Pacers' defensive stalwart Ron Artest stated, "They just kept shooting and they weren't hitting."
Yu Fei defended his teammates, "The shots were good, just not in. Next time, we'll shoot the same way."
For a team that refused to change its ways, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle offered harsh criticism, "In my view, Milwaukee's performance was simply an admission that they couldn't do anything against us, so they just resorted to a high volume of mediocre long-range shots. If they feel proud of this kind of game, then I can only think this—you're proud of your own mediocrity."
After tonight, Karl stopped the experiments.
The five-game sample size was enough for him to see whether "carnival basketball" was effective.
His conclusion was that it was effective, but it depended on luck.
They proved that a high volume of three-pointers can be convenient, and the burst against the Warriors further proved that three-point scoring could end the game in a short time. However, the defeat against the Pacers precisely demonstrated the limitations of three-pointers under current rules.
As long as defenders are allowed to close out, purely shooting teams have no guarantee.
Thus, against top Eastern Conference teams like the Pistons and Pacers, the three-pointer is more suitable as an auxiliary tool for core players like Yu Fei.
"However, if used against the Lakers, I think it could be very effective," Yu Fei commented after Karl had halted the experiments.
A glint seemed to flash across Karl's receding hairline as he hadn't expected Yu Fei to still be considering the Lakers. He couldn't help but burst into joyous laughter, "You're right, Frye!"
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