I'm not always the biggest proponent of increased pace because I think turnovers kill us. Increased pace naturally increases unnecessary turnovers. However, last night I noticed something. We were clearly pushing the pace, it made us more sloppy but not too bad. It didn't work for a long while, then all of a sudden it wore them out. When they were worn out they got sloppy on defense and we took advantage. It seems like this is one of the hidden advantages of pace: decreased recovery time for defenses accumulating until it's too much for them. They were ready for the lightning quick attack of Westbrook 2 or 3 or 8 or 10 times, but eventually that 11th pressure got to them and the mistakes happened. It's the first time I've noticed it accumulate like that. When I saw Harden trying to get up court with Brodie, I was shocked. I've never seen him run that hard. The whole team was playing with pace and it just wore them out. They didn't have enough players on their bench to keep up. It was like a boxer throwing punches that keep getting blocked by the opponent's defense, then suddenly the defense of the other boxer gets tired, they lower their hands, punches start landing regularly and the ref has to stop the fight. I'm wondering how effective pace is against the other teams? There are going to be some teams out there that have no problem running with us. I'll be curious to see which teams we deploy this strategy on when it works and when it doesn't. I'd be curious who we don't use it on. Like are there teams it won't work on or (more likely) certain players or lineups? Westbrook is a weapon bringing that ball up. That's how he fits. It seems like the rest of the team running with him is the adjustment. At least it was last night. It'll be interesting to see if that trend continues. Positive vibes for pace.
Exactly. Don't have as a high a net PPP average as you used to? Just increase the P's and you win every time.
This is a great observation. I'm also wondering if the increased pace is also leading to some of the struggles of our guys so far. Like, they're in shape but not in 7-seconds-or-less shape. It was really noticeable when we got shellacked by the Heat. I'm sure the good guys will find their legs as the season progresses, and I think the team can be super scary when they do.
We slowed down a bit last two games to 102/103 pace, before that we were playing 110 pace. Don't know if it is match up or the team is trying stuff.
Increased pace obviously leads to more turnovers but increased pace leads to more everything. But our Turnover% is only 14.6, good for 9th lowest in the league - which I think is surprisingly good considering Harden and Westbrook turn the ball over a lot. It's just natural for high usage players I guess. I think the prevailing wisdom over the last week that we have been playing too fast is correct. Below are the number of teams who have been top 10 in pace AND DRtg over the last few seasons 19/20 - 2 18/19 - 2 17/18 - 1 16/17 - 3 15/16 - 3 14/15 - 2 Very few teams are able to maintain a high pace with a high defense, and with our older personnel I doubt we are one of them. We can play a lot faster than last year and still be middle of the pack in pace, which I think will help out defense.
The problem is that I dont think Westbrook will be nearly as effective without a faster pace. If teams gets set, its might be tough on him to create efficient offense.
Hmm, interesting observation & analogy to boxing. That in your eyes, the defense just grows fatigued and that leads to mistakes in transition. I'm not sure about it though. I feel like Russ' tendency to push push push DOES get us shots at times, and then others, it feels like no one's running with him and it all looks forced and purposeless. You would think the overall youth of teams like GS and Miami would be able to keep up with it, and sure enough Miami did and GS did for the first half ish. But all in all, not sure quite yet. I do agree that Westbrook is best in transition and coming downhill before the defense is set, and he's shown some ability to create his own shot with his fadeaway and bankshots from time to time, but I also think the whole take the ball out ASAP/push push push mentality lends to lackadaisical defense, just like the suns. But ... if Harden makes the effort to run with Russ and fills the lanes and gets more open shots, I'm open.
The reason Harden didn't run hard last year was as follows: Rebound and quick outlet to CP3 Cp3 dribbles quickly over half court, approaching a defender. He then stops and starts trying to bait a reach, turns his back and dribbles sideways a bit He then does one big dribble around the defender, stops, reaches out with his backside to try and draw a foul Then he dribbles towards the lane Despite the lane being wide open, he suddenly changes direction and dribbles across the top of the key Then he dribbles down the far side of the key and along the baseline back under the hoop. Stops under the hoop and tries to draw a foul Keeps dribbling back to the corner Gathers for the corner 3 with a pumpfake, trying to draw a foul Then fires away. Russ is far more direct - if you run with him you might get the ball for a straight line layup!
It is a massive advantage, If you can get in good enough shape to do it. Harden and company need to take cardio far more seriously, and we will dominate...
I love the faster pace. Its much more exciting than walking it back to stand and dribble the leather off the ball until the clock is about to run down. I love how Russ has changed that. Man, until Russ came to our team I never realized how fast he was. We haven't had a guy doing that since the Greyhound.
Too bad not everyone came into this season in shape and ready to play. Its like they need a late summer Boot Camp/Weight Loss Program before the season starts to slim down and get in shape. Its kind of ridiculous to use the regular season for it.
