if you have the best point guard in the league: http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2002/columns/wojnarowski_adrian/1385946.html A selected quote: It's complete crap that you can't run in the playoffs," Cousy said. "You can develop that style. The Nets have done it. Everyone else will walk that sucker up the floor. If we all agree the players just don't pass that well today, then what's to say if they're going to pass the ball five or six times to get a shot that they're not going to screw things up even more?"
Doesn't even take the best point guard -- just a team committed to running. The Kings and Mavs have run all playoffs long as well. I think there was just a period where the bruising slow-it-down style of play was the style of the best teams (Seattle, Utah, Houston, New York, Miami, etc) so everyone decided that was the way to win.
You can run in the playoffs... It's just that if you're a team that's geared to running, then you will get ran over by a team who can slow the tempo. It's much easier to slow the tempo than it is to push the tempo. Simply because it takes 2 teams to make the game fast. And just 1 team to make the game slow.
That's simply not true. If I want to run and I get a rebound and race up the floor there is nothing you can do to slow me down. You can only slow down the game in your offensive set.
many variables in all of this but if one team stubbornly slows it down, usually the other will adopt the slower style of play It takes a real team effort, or someone of really strong will to change the tempo of an entire game (usually a guard- nat.)
Correct me, but isn't that the Cuz's point? From the article: "It's complete crap that you can't run in the playoffs. You can develop that style. The Nets have done it. Everyone else will walk that sucker up". Conventional wisdom says you walk the ball up in the playoffs. "Conventional" wisdom once thought the world was flat.
