A few people I know keep asserting that the Suns and Sonics are this year's Mavs or Grizzlies or Nets- fun to watch but no real shot. With the new perimeter hand checking rules, I think I'll wait and see what happens in the playoffs before I judge these teams too harshly. David Stern seems intent on not letting another Pistons-type team (ie JVG) win the championship again. The Spurs have a nice mix of defense, post play, and pushing the ball but in the playoffs, I wonder how effective their defense will be. So with this in mind I think its best we take any major moves slowly- maybe even after the season. There is a definite risk, though. With so many half-court style players on this team, who will want them in a league that has shifted syles so dramatically? If it does come to this, who would we want to keep and who would we want to (try to) get rid of? I guess we would want anyone that is athletic, has strong defensive skills (quick rather than strong- bowen, christie, prince type guys), and would not need to control the ball to be able to make plays. Howard and Taylor seem to need the ball to be effective (although I have not watched Howard enough to be sure) and to some extent, the same could be said of Jackson. Sura is effective already and as bench guys Barrett, Bowen and Padgett are good- but I would hope we could do a little better. This is NOT a "who should we trade for" thread. I'm curious who everyone thinks we have now would do well in a more open style and who would not. As for JVG, I have confidence he would make the changes needed if the playoffs proved his current style is ineffective (either by first hand experience or from watching other teams). So, dawn of a new style or no- and if so, who goes and who stays???
What are you talking about? Detroit winning the championship was the best thing to happen to the NBA in a long time. It put emphasis on defense and unselfish team play. Fans love that type of basketball and the Comish knows that.
I think fans love any type of good play. Detroit didn't score a million points a game, but they still played hard on both ends of the court...fans appreciate that. I have no idea what he was talking about that. What exactly has David Stern done since last year to either hinder or encourage more Detroit Piston type teams???
The referees not letting teams get physical on defense have screwed the pistons big time. Fans don't appreciate the pistons. The pistons are boring just like the spurs are but not quite as boring as the current rockets.
The hand check fouls are the leagues way of trying to compensate for the decrease in scoring due to the new rules of allowing zone defense without having to admit they were wrong in allowing the zone to be legal. They are trying to get the scoring up across the league but the efforts are futile due to the decrease in talented shooters. The league has a lot of "athletic: players but they can't put the ball in the basket worth a flip. Look at the uptempo teams in the leauge and you will see that they also hold the worst defense records. That will kill you in the playoffs...
My recent theory has been, and this may be completely out of whack, that the no-hand check rules actually hurt scoring. I understand the league position that a freer guard should be able to "create" more offense. On the contrary, given the diminishing skill set but increasing athletic ability, all the no hand-check rule really does is encourage players to drive to the basket wildly. Sure, this creates some offense, but it really just results in more fouls and foul shots, etc. Offense is REALLY created by passing. Allowing hand checking means that that PG who wasn't that good but could beat someone off the dribble will now be forced to pass to a guard who may be forced to due to the same. I've only come up with this theory recently though, as it seems to me the league wide decline in scoring actually began around the time (early 90's) that the hand-check became illegal.
What none of us know yet is, will they let up a little on calling perimeter fouls in the playoffs and if they don't, how much will it effect the defensive teams. how intent is stern on getting the scoring up? they have been VERY commited so far. if the trend does continue into the playoffs and it does render teams like the spurs or detroit ineffective, how should we rework the roster?
One way to test your theory would be to see if scoring is up while FG% & assists are flat to down trending. One variable you would have to account for is to deduct fastbreak points (and attempts) from the equation because the hand checking is only relevant in a half court set. I'm probably not the average fan, but I appreciated watching the Pistons D up the Laker$. End to end, race horse BB with no emphasis on valuing a possession or playing a lick of D can get just as boring as the other extreme. If two teams combine for 200+ shots in a game, I'm much more like to channel surf, go to the 'fridge, or check my e-mail. I'm not likely to miss much that won't be repeated.
