What does it mean to be aggressive?

As with any adjective, too much or too little can be a detriment. Balance is necessary to ensure productivity and health. On a basketball court, the same can be said for a team's philosophy.

Coachspeak gets thrown around without regard for balance. "We want to be the most aggressive team on the court", says the coach who sees his team constantly in foul trouble while swinging-and-missing for steals in passing lanes.

"We want to value every possession", says the coach of the team so afraid of committing a turnover that nobody uses their dribble with purpose and the shot clock drops below five each trip down the floor.

These over-simplifications are a symptom of coaching with a lack of nuance. The game is bigger than one teaching point or marching order. As with any double-edged sword, the other end always feels the sharpest when it turns around and cuts you.
​
Unfortunately, the Chicago Bulls are victims of their own blade. Head coach Jim Boylen—seemingly protected by a front office that values his "tough love for millennials" mantra—has turned up his team's defensive aggression dial all the way.

Last season, the Philadelphia 76ers won 51 games and were a Kawhi Leonard miracle away from going to the Eastern Conference Finals. General manager Elton Brand and his staff made two essential deals over the summer to give the Sixers a changed look. One of those moves was the highly publicized Jimmy Butler sign-and-trade to the Miami Heat, taking back Josh Richardson.

The other changed their identity completely.

Essentially swapping JJ Redick (signed with New Orleans Pelicans) in exchange for Al Horford (signed from Boston Celtics) has its tradeoffs. Philly has a brand new defensive firepower never seen before. Joel Embiid and Horford are dual rim protectors and shot blockers that use their immense length to lock down the paint. Ben Simmons as the point guard can fluster other teams. Richardson and Tobias Harris are long, disruptive wings that can slide up or down a position. Even the role players all fit this mold.

But push aside their defensive potential for a moment.
​
This Sixers team features five All-Star-caliber players in their starting group, and yet it feels like they are falling far short of their offensive potential.

For as much as I love to talk about schemes and tactics of team offense and defense, the game really comes down to individuals making winning plays.

Guys have to score the basketball, but the best teams and individual defenders find ways to take away strong suits of their opponents. The best scorers have counter moves to score regardless.
Let's not skip a step here, though. In order to understand those strong suits (or have them), you have to first find out a player's tendencies. What do they do well? What do they do frequently? What are they trying to avoid or mask in their game?
​
We're keying in on three blossoming stars around the league—Pascal Siakam, Markelle Fultz and Karl-Anthony Towns—and their offensive portfolio to see how they utilize their improved skill packages and tendencies, whether due to their sheer talent or the unique deployment of their top tendency.

For better or for worse, Trae Young and Luka Doncic are eternally bound.

During the 2018 NBA Draft, the Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks made a pick swap that essentially sent Doncic to the Mavs and Trae to the Hawks. Both are playing like All-Stars and vaulting their offenses to high-caliber levels.

We're not getting into the "which is better" argument or seeking to anoint one franchise as the trade winner. Instead, let's appreciate their greatness, the value they bring to their teams and the unorthodox nature both utilize in order to dominate.

Among the many things making these guys so special is their mastering of footwork—minutia in the big picture but a legitimate base for all skill. Great players are built from the ground up, with a keen ability to make complex maneuvers look easy while staying on balance and in attack mode.
Young and Doncic are different players, so they utilize different moves and packs of footwork to blow past their adversaries.
​
We can appreciate both, particularly from a fundamental standpoint. As a coach, I've used the footwork of both players as examples when teaching our players how to pay attention to their feet and what angles to take. The exemplary work is of guys their own age.

The pick-and-pop has become one of the NBA's most common plays on offense, even more so as skilled big men continue to get stretchier and the lanes are kept open for ball-handling drivers rather than lumbering rollers. With everyone frequently running this action—even going so far as to invert the look with guards and wings taking turns as the screener—defenses have had to concoct easily repeatable counter schemes.
​
TBW's Coach Adam “Spins” Spinella of Dickinson College details how teams essentially have two different options, and both include involving a third defender for help. But is that assistance the real thing or just a mirage?

Nate McMillan is a product of the tough, rugged 1990s. He was a very good player for the Seattle SuperSonics, serving as a defensive specialist in the backcourt and a high-volume 3-point shooter for the era. McMillan played for George Karl for a chunk of his successes; Karl was known for his high-octane offenses and those Sonics teams were the epitome of up-tempo.
​
Given that context, McMillan's Indiana Pacers are all the more puzzling. In the pace-induced and 3-point crazed league, McMillan's teams are dead last in attempts from beyond the arc. They're also 25th in pace, per Basketball Reference.