I've been noticing that the Rox of this year and last year have had more success playing more uptempo ball than the kind of grind it out ball control game that JVG supposedly emphasizes. Now with both Yao and Mutumbo out IMO we should be playing even more of an open court running style since we can't rely on a strong post presence to grind out games. While many of our players are older and slower we've got at least three players who have or could thrive in the open court game. T-Mac, Swift and Head should thrive in an uptempo game open court game and it would be a way of getting offense without having to rely on post scoring or a post presence to free up outside shooters. The other thing an up tempo game would do is help defeat Zone D's from collapsing on T-Mac. There seems to be three ways of defeating Zones. 1 is outside shooting and the Rox outside shooters are inconsistent. 2 is with crisp passing and lots of movement without the ball which the Rox don't do much and some don't seem smart enough to do. 3 is to run so the zone can't set up fast enough. IMO this is a good reason to rely on it now but also use it more when Yao and Mutumbo do get back and with Sura a running game will only get smoother.
To run you HAVE to have a point guard who can push the ball. That's why the trade with Alston was made. He is out. The next best player we have for that job is Bobby Sura. He is out too. The next in line for that job would be Jon Barry, he's out. It's nice to imagine a fastbreaking up and down game but it's not realistic with the players we currently have. Ryan Bowen, yeah he can run. Swift, he can run. Mcgrady, he can run. Luther Head, he's a runner. But running without the basketball is not the same as running with the basketball. The focal point, the point of attack in any fastbreak, is the player with the basketball, but we don't have a player capable of running with the ball, a player with the talent to really push the ball and break down defenses in transition. when we do, if we do, I promise you will see more easy buckets in transition.
Texas Stoke; I think that Head, T-Mac or Anderson could push the ball and we definately know that Sura can since that's what he did last year. Also T-Mac and Swift are great finishers in the open court. Bowen wouldn't need to run but would be responsible for keying the break by rebounding and outlet passing. Here's how I would imagine a Rox break with the current personel. Bowen or Howard grab a board as soon as they do that T-Mac and Head break for the opposite end with Swift trailing. Bowen then throws an outlet out to T-Mac or Head or even dumps to Swift in the mid court. If T-mac or Head take it they drive to the hoop and either take it themselves or pass it to the other one coming on the wings or even leave it for Swift trailing. If Swift takes it short he outlets it to T-Mac or Head. In addition to taking it to the hoop Head could pull up and pop a three ala John Stockton with Swift and T-Mac converging to pull down a miss. I will agree there are potential problems to this such as can Bowen or Howard make good outlet passes but IMO this would work better than what we do now with the PG almost walking it up, the D collapsing on T-Mac before he gets the ball or the T-Mac bringing it up and having the D collapse on him forcing them to rely on other perimeter players.
Plain and simple, you need a PG who can push the ball to run an up tempo offense like the one you are suggesting.
We don't have the personnel to run more. We don't have the PG to push it up the court right now, our frontcourt don't rebound the ball well enough, and besides TMac, we don't have guys that can beat other players down the court.
I agree, but our defense has been horrid and we can't cause turnovers to help lead a fast break. Also, when they make shots, they can set up before we even get the ball in play.
True True True. Ok Sishir, it's impossible for bowen and wesley to run with the ball since they have GARBAGE handling skills. WHat texas is saying is you need a TRUE PG who can run fast while dribbling the ball. THe last thing i want to see is wesley and bowen trying to run as fast as they can with the ball. Either they'll hit their legs with teh ball and lose control or get it stolen in a split second. You ever notice how when wesley is PG, one guy will give him a hard time while he's trying to bring the ball down to the other side of the court? And do you see wesley struggling a lot? YES HE DOES sometimes he even gets it ripped from him. If a TRUE PG like Alston was handling the ball, he could run like the wind to the other side of the court and flank the defender. Besides true PG like alston are so good he doesn't even have to bother with a defender while bringing the ball to the other side of the court. He's just too fast that he'll flank the defenders if they try to guard him on the other side. Yes we ALL know "uptempo" game is a lot more successful tactics, ALL coaches know that. That's why they always design plays to have the PG push the ball and have their superstar finish off, in rockets case TMAC or YAO MING. Pushing the ball will not only catch the defender not in their ready defending position, but it will give the team a lot more time to execute their plays.
Oh yea, tmac or andersen pushing the ball is just effortless. They'll tire out and play 30 minutes only. Can you imagine a guard pushing the ball, then starting the offense, and then sometimes finishing the offense play? If you've ever played basketball, then you realize that fatigue will kill you 30 minutes into the game if you do all that. THat's why you don't see MJ running down the court every play, the PG would bring down the ball, pass it to him, and he would finish. That alone made him tired after 40 minutes, imagine TMAC doing everything you are suggesting.
well, that's what DENVER doing. They have A.Miller as PG and CAMBY get rebound. Camby is very good rebounder but the their plan si also to let HIM get rebound. You said TMAC can run. nO,I think his speed is much slower than last year due to ingury
Bowen isn't a guard and Wesley is naturally a two guard. If you read my post I didn't mention Wesley handling the ball but mentioned Head handling the ball. From watching him at Illinois he can handle running a fast break. Bowen would just need to grab rebounds and outlet. As I said from previous experience we know that T-Mac and Swift can play and thrive in uptempo offenses. I believe that Head can too and so probably can Anderson. We need not run every time but I believe we should look to run more something that we're rarely doing now. Anyway our current O is too dependent on a strong post presence which is missing at the moment and even with Yao in Zone D's are making it much tougher get good entry passes into the posts. My point is what we are doing now, expecially with key parts of our roster out, isn't working and we should try some different things.
JVG did try putting Luther as a PG for a while and he made a few rookie mistakes. Problem is, if he tires out from PG, who is going to playing 2 and somewhat try to put up a 3point threat to the other team. He runs some fast break, only when he sees an opening or when he steals the ball. But someone inbounding a pass to him with the defender waiting for him is a lot harder. Another thing is, teaching a 2 to play as a 1 is Very hard. You have to remember the plays, get the feel of starting hte offense, and have good passing skills. If you watch, head tends to overthrow his passes on a fastbreak. Andersen on the other hand is pretty good at handling the ball halfcourt but to actually bring it down the court is another story. He's not fast enough to pose as a threat and in trying to appear as a threat, he'd tire himself out and we'd lose a shooter. The reason why we traded for Alston is because we need a TRUE pg since we lost Sura. Fastbreak plays are good but you need someone who can handle the ball, move fast across the WHOLE court, and have good passings skills. The only person who can do that on our current roster is TMAC.
