...in the modern bball age.
Some bball coaches have tidy cubby holes they (try to) cram guys into.
But the most effective teams in bball today are filled with "positionless" players who can guard 1 thru 5, play inside or out offensively, can handle the ball, can move without the ball, can pass the ball, can score at all 3 levels, and can shoot off the dribble or the pass.
Some coaches are drawing positionless players like bees to pollen. And others are stuck in the past. It's like watching Army or Navy CFB run the single wing, or whatever version of the wingback triple option they're using this year. Charming, but not going to have the diversity of attack to win big games against elite opponents.
Kevin Love gets it:
"Now, you're getting these guys that are 6-8 plus, 6-10, 7 feet tall, that are just really doing everything out there on the floor," Love told ESPN on Wednesday. "And I think it's just incredibly hard to guard and it's taking the game to a really amazing place as well, because you're seeing these guys that are unicorns out there, guys that are really doing everything and refining their skills, whereas in the past they might not have worked on these things."The growth within the game, it's really amazing to see where it has gone, especially in the skill and player development at an even earlier age."
Love, who surprised (Camron) Boozer with his second Gatorade National Player of the Year award this week, said the two young stars (the other being Flagg) -- and other players like them -- will enter the next stage of their careers with a skill set that was once foreign to players at their positions.
"I mean, he'll grab the ball off the backboard, take it all the way down and, if somebody doesn't stop him from putting it in the rim, he'll pull up, he'll get to that next situation," Love said of Boozer. "He'll work from the midpost. He's handling the ball. He's passing the ball and getting his teammates involved.
"It has really become, like I said, positionless basketball, and guys are able to really do everything out there on the floor. You just didn't see that when I first came into the league."