Ok guys, been thinking about this for awhile. I've been out of work, unfortunately, so I've been watching a TON of NBA basketball.
On this board, the 'old timers' often argue that teams from the 70's could run today's teams off the court, that teams don't run enough, that fast break basketball could come back en masse if coaches weren't so draconian, etc...
I have to conclude that none of these things are true. Observations:
1. The popularity of the 3 point shot helps transition defense tremendously. You have teams that have 3 or even at times 4 guys hanging out all day around the 3 point line. It makes it easier to get back on defense.
2. Besides #1, transition defense is simply better than it ever has been. It's better than it was even 10-15 years ago. BTW the Celtics transition defense is fantastic (but the consequence is that their offensive rebounding is terrible).
3. Probably because of #1 and #2, there are less players that excel offensively on the break coming out of college, which makes it harder for teams to run.
4. I do not believe that stamina is as much of an issue as some on this board make it out to be. You have guys playing balls to the walls defense 100% of the time, and you never had that in previous decades. I believe defense is tougher from a cardio standpoint than up tempo basketball is.
I do see teams trying to run. Maybe not as much as they should, but you do see it. Tommy always talks about advancing the ball with the pass, and there are teams that make an effort to do this. Sometimes it does seem like guys are on too short of a leash when it comes to early offense, but that kind of factors into the whole transition defense theme since missed opportunities in early offense often lead to fast break opportunities for the other team.
I think the whole thing is a kind of vicious cycle. Because teams are emphasizing transition defense, it's tough to run. Because it's tough to run, players and coaches naturally shy away from it. Because players and coaches shy away from it, less guys develop the skills necessary to run, which makes it even tougher to run. My take on it is that after a certain equilibrium is breached, teams won't be emphasizing transition defense anymore, because too few teams will be attempting it. Then the cycle will come back around again.
It may not seem like it, but I do believe in pushing the basketball as much as humanly possible, because it creates easy baskets and gets the other team in foul trouble. Just my take.
ps- Last thing, one 'lost art' that I totally agree with is rebounding. Nobody knows how to block out anymore, it's pathetic.
Topic: The fastbreak in today's NBA (Read 760 times)