3-3-90: Bird - 33/9/7 vs Bad Boy Pistons

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcBZ0ObGQk4

Masterful performance from THE basketball maestro. I think what makes this game "special" is the fact it came against the defending and subsequent champs (maybe the greatest defense ever) with Larry playing on a bad back/removed from his prime.

Dude was making Rodman, a defensive juggernaut, look absolutely clueless.

[Kvnzhangyay]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcBZ0ObGQk4

Masterful performance from THE basketball maestro. I think what makes this game "special" is the fact it came against the defending and subsequent champs (maybe the greatest defense ever) with Larry playing on a bad back/removed from his prime.

Dude was making Rodman, a defensive juggernaut, look absolutely clueless.

Great game but it was more because of the excellent off-ball screens to get Bird open

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

Great game but it was more because of the excellent off-ball screens to get Bird open

Bird did that his whole career; the very fundamentals of being an off-ball guru.

[Rake2204]

Dude was making Rodman, a defensive juggernaut, look absolutely clueless.

Yeah I think I'll have to agree with Kvn on this one. Great performance by Bird and expert use of off-ball screens, so nothing is to be taken from what he did. However, I wouldn't exactly call that clip an example of Dennis Rodman looking clueless.

Nearly half of Bird's points looked to come against Mark Aguirre and Josh Salley while the other half largely came via the aforementioned screens, which is more about what Bird and his teammates did right than what Rodman did wrong. If a player's scoring off screens, there's defensive team adjustments to make and an individual defender is going to be relatively helpless by himself in many cases. And if the offense is doing it right, a defense may not be able to do much either way.

From their straight away matchups, where Dennis was squared up with Bird and not being scraped off on screens, it looked like he played him well. Bird hit a few tough shots that couldn't be defended a ton better. Looked like Rodman did his job when he was able to be there (force contested shots) and Bird did his (make shots).

[Rake2204]

Sidenote, other interesting stats from that game:

-Larry Bird had five blocks. A solid 4 x 5 performance.

-Rodman finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds in just 26 minutes.

-Robert Parish and Reggie Lewis scored a combined 48 points on 18-27 shooting. Yikes.

Maybe a late season wake up call for that bunch.

Full box score: http://www.basketball-reference.com/...003300BOS.html

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

Yeah I think I'll have to agree with Kvn on this one. Great performance by Bird and expert use of off-ball screens, so nothing is to be taken from what he did. However, I wouldn't exactly call that clip an example of Dennis Rodman looking clueless.

We'll have to agree to disagree. When Rodman was on him (without the screens), he either fouled Bird, or got scored on (this is a highlight reel, so we really don't know what happened over the course of the ENTIRE game).

When Rodman defended Bird, and Bird got his positioning at will, that's really dude just getting out-smarted. On multiple possessions, instead of going under the screen, Rodman went over them and, was, basically lost.

I've never seen a better off-ball player than Bird. Slow as molasses, but damn the guy could move without the basketball.

[Rake2204]

We'll have to agree to disagree. When Rodman was on him (without the screens), he either fouled Bird, or got scored on (this is a highlight reel, so we really don't know what happened over the course of the ENTIRE game).

When Rodman defended Bird, and Bird got his position at will, that's really just dude getting out-smarted. On multiple possessions, instead of going under the screen, he went over them and, was, basically lost.

I've never seen a better off-ball player than Bird. Slow as molasses, but damn the guy could move without the basketball.

Well, to reiterate right from the start, Bird deserves all the credit. He earned and skilled his way to every single point in that highlight. There were zero gimmies or "look what I found" plays.

That said, once again, my stance is he did not make Rodman look clueless. Here's a shot-by-shot breakdown:

Shot 1: On Rodman - Bird collects post entry, hits immediate fallaway. Rodman did about all he could have done in that situation.

Shot 2: On Rodman - Bird slips off McHale screen at free throw line, Rodman in hot pursuit, hits baseline fallaway with Rodman right there in his space.

Shot 3: On Aguirre - Via downscreen

Shot 4: On Aguirre - Postup And1

Shot 5: On Salley - Downscreen, Salley caught, easy mid-range J

Shot 6: On Rodman - Downscreen via Parish, Rodman recovers, Bird hits contested elbow shot

Shot 7: On Rodman - Larry big boys Rodman in post; pivots and scores with contact

Shot 8: On Salley - via Parish downscreen; Edwards pops out on switch but Bird knows he won't be able to bother his 18 footer.

Shot 9: On Salley - via screen flare. Salley tried to go over the top, Bird slipped baseline, Edwards no help, open 15 footer

Shot 10: On Salley - via slight Parish screen that Salley trips on (it's a legal screen though). Open 17 footer from baseline.

Shot 11: On Salley - Pull up 3 in transition

Shot 12: On Rodman - Bird squares up via downscreen. Rodman's recovered and right there with a hand in the face. Bird pulls and hits from three.

All told, Bird shot 12-23.

Just 5 of those shots came against Dennis Rodman (Rodman only played 26 minutes) and all of them were played pretty well by The Worm, for he was there and contesting each play.

[Round Mound]

Its amazing how Bird could still play at a very high level despite those injuries!