It seems like there may be a disconnect between what McMillan wants (push, push, push) and the way brandon wants to play, which is to slow it down and start with the ball in his hands at the top of the key. this is going to have to get figured out and someone is going to have to change.
I could not agree more. Small and slow sure doesn't seem like a winning combination. It's working so far but I don't know if that can last.
I think a worthy goal would be to get to the middle of the pack in running. The main thing is get as many easy points as you can, but don't depend on the running game for your whole offense. We have too many guys which thrive on speed to not run. Half the reason we don't get as many points out of Aldridge as we should is because we don't run. That dude is always out in front of the pack and we maybe get him the ball 1 out of 5 times, at best.
Maybe that is why Nate is going "Public". It's a rare case when a coach uses pressure from the outside to get his players to do what he wants, but perhaps that is the case here.
I think the reason the Blazers don't push more than Nate would like them too is because he also demands great D... and great D takes effort... and when you are expending a lot of effort on the defensive end you tend to try to rest a bit on offense... and vice versa. You have to play a very deep roster if you expect 100% effort on both... something we have never done even when we had the bodies.
I don't buy that. The whole purpose of playing great defense is to create the said running opportunties.
OK, I'm not claiming youth basketballl and NBA basketball are the same thing, and I'm not applying for Nate's job (should it become available), but... I've spent 8 years coaching youth basketball and the FIRST drill I run at EVERY practice is a 3-on-2, 2-on-1 fast break drill. I started doing this about half way through my first season coaching. I do it for a couple of reasons. First, after a little light stretching, this drill is a great way to get all the kids loosened up, handling the ball and running up and down the court. Second, it instills in the kids the instinct to push the ball and attack the basket whenever they have an advantage. I found out early on that this carries over to the games. Prior to doing this, the kids just didn't look to run. Now, as soon as we get a rebound or steal the kids without the ball automaticaly start sprinting down the court and the player with the ball looks up to see where his teammates are and if we have an advantage. We went from getting no fast break points to it being a major part of our offense after starting this drill. Third, I use this drill for conditioning during the preseason. I push the kids and we do this drill for about half of practice during preseason. They get in a lot of running, but since they get to handle the ball and shoot, it's not as boring as just running lines. Most of the teams I've coached have been undersized, but even now with some bigger kids, I still run this drill every practice. It gets the kids in shape, gets them alert and looking for opportunities and they actually enjoy it. Again, this youth basketball, but in my experience, what you do in practice definitely carries over to the games. If you want to run in the games, you need to do it, and do it regularly in practice until it becomes part of every players' mindset and an innate natural tendency. BNM
Disagree. This team is deep enough (when healthy - and even now at the guard positions) and young enough that fatigue should not be an excuse. When I play and coach, I always preach beating your opponent down the court in both directions. Push the ball when you have an advantage and bust your ass back on defense when the other team gets the ball. It creates easy baskets for your team and takes them away from the other team. BNM
Yeah you coached it boob... but did it happen. =) I don't recall many teams in the NBA that have both really pushed the ball and played great D. Open to ideas on why that is.
The Lakers and Celtics of the '80s ran to varying extents and played very good team defense. The Bulls of the '90s ran quite a bit and played suffocating defense. It's definitely possible to push the pace and still play sound defense in the half-court. You may give up more points, but that's a superficial thing...more possessions are going to lead to more points. But as long as you hold down the other team's efficiency per possession, you're playing good defense.
Magic's Lakers did. Boston did when Ainge was there. Isiah's Pistons ran often, but scored with bigs rather than wings. Westphal's Suns with Dan Majerle... The reason is most coaches are 1 dimensional in their thinking. Offense or defense. And there's the "keep your star happy" problem. The Bulls with Jordan could run with the best of them, but then Pippen and Paxson would have been the first 2 options. Jordan's achilles heel was his habit of ambling up the court, knowing they would wait for him and give him the ball. Roy is the same way. In a running offense he'd get no touches as we'd score quickly while he was still coming down court. Until Roy gets the lead out, or Nate stops calling his name, this team can't run.
The two aren't mutually exclusive. We can push the ball up the court quickly, if there's an easy bucket available, good; if not we can hold the ball, and hand it to Roy to run a halfcourt set.
Question: It has been widely reported and posted that Nate wants the team to run. Why is several poster I talk with are adamant that Nate is telling the PG's to walk it up the floor and never push the ball?
I don't know the answer to that BP... but it may have something to do with Nate's over infatution against a turnover. As poor Sergio learned... nothing will make Nate yank your lease faster.
Heh. It seems there are three different things here: 1. Has he been saying it for all this time? 2. Has he been providing proper incentives to go along with his message?, and 3. Should the team run? If he's been saying it, he's a terrible communicator. It's not just a Brandon Roy problem... his teams were slow in Seattle, too. It is possible that he preached slow basketball until he got Roy, and then he wanted to go up-tempo... but does anyone find that likely? I think it's as others have said: he doesn't reward the benefits of running more than he punishes the negatives of running. A player simply has incentive to play it slow, rather than risking messing up and getting benched. As to whether the team SHOULD run or not? I dunno. Ed O.
You need the right personnel. The Showtime Lakers I already mentioned were a great defensive team. They always had two or three players on the 1st and 2nd all defensive teams. Although known as a running team, they were also great in the half court. Combine all three (great defense, great running game, great half-court game) and it's easy to see why the won 5 titles in nine years and made it to the finals 8 times in 10 seasons. The Bill Fitch coached Celtics also ran quite a bit - not so much under KC Jones. Both versions were great defensive teams. Our own 1977 championship team liked to run, but also played great defense. For the 1977-78 season, Bill Walton, Maurice Lucas and Lionel Hollins were all 1st team all defense and Bob Gross was 2nd team. I'm sure there are other examples, but since I originally mentioned the Showtime Lakers, my feeble brain is stuck in that era. BNM
