When Jordan played there was a ban on zone defense. Defenders had to either hard double or stick to their guy. If those rules were in place for this series Kawhi would have averaged either 45+ pts or 10+ assists a game depending on the coverage. GS was sending traps, blitzes, late blitzes and most commonly they packed the paint with 4/5 dudes throwing their limbs everywhere. There's a reason the Raptors had such balanced scoring and so many great looks in the series. The last possession in game 5 was messed because Nurse didn't call timeout, they set up the offense too slow and Gasol screwed up the spacing for Lowry by setting a lousy screen and not slipping to the rim.
Not taking anything away from Jordan's greatness but there are guys like Kawhi and LeBron who can't take over games in the way he did because they almost never get defended 1on1 like he did. And the game is better for it because offenses have to be designed more creatively with more skilled and versatile players on both ends.
I understand what you are getting at, but I am not commenting on guys taking over games (even though modern guys do take over games with crazy performances).
I’m talking about their inability to get easier shots when they only need a 2 point field goal.
The zone helps take pressure off individual defenders to prevent free runs at the rim. The down side is that it results in wide open jumpers when a team swings the ball.
The allowance of weak side help is a defensive advantage, but defensive 3 seconds counters that a bit.
Teams didn’t like double teaming Jordan because he would give up the ball and the Bulls role players would get hot. When that happened, it was no stopping them.
It was kind of like Shaq in the sense that you were better off living with him getting his and trying to shut down everyone else.
These guys don’t have the same skill level inside the arc, especially when it comes to effectively using the triple threat position, fadeaway, and turnaround jumper.
Not just talking Jordan, either. Kobe, A.I., T-Mac, Melo, Paul Pierce and several others.
It’s the drawback of developing so much range from the outside and rears it’s head in tight, clutch games.