Is the league headed into a run and gun style of play?

To answer the question, "Who is the best team?" you first have to ask the question, "What game are we playing?"

 

I think it is obvious that "quickness" is a trait that is becoming a premium. The "power game" is getting left behind for a quicker game. The Rockets still have a HUGE advantage with Yao in the middle. But just have to get quicker players around him to take full advantage.

I am not sure "Power Forward" is an apt term anymore. Those that are playing that position seem to be more tall and lean and quick than thick and brutes.

 

three words that will put a stop to it (and make everyone remember what kind of ball wins in the playoffs)

Indiana
Detroit
Miami

 

the Heat play an uptempo style of basketball. They've averaged nearly 110 points a game in the playoffs.

 

Even in a run and gun league (if that is what's happening), a dominating post player on offense and a shot blocker on defense is a huge advantage. This is exactly what we hope Yao develops into.

The transition to a speed game can be accounted for in the other positions. Maybe we can get a PF/C combo player (Kwame Brown at the right price) and another decent swingman (SF/SG). We could go big by putting the combo player at the PF with Yao at C; we could go smaller by sitting the PF/C (or Yao sometimes) and playing the new swingman with McGrady along with our new younger backcourt.

The above is actually my pipe dream for this team. We would be versatile enough to beat anybody on our terms or theirs.

 

Run 'n' Gun has yet to prove itself playoff victorious. Most playoff series are determined by the slow and grind it out halfcourt game. The Rox vs. Dallas series was kind of an anomaly given that we were stupid to play to Dallas' tempo. JVG ball is the right way to play. His brother is also playing the half court game with Shaq in Miami. The problem though for us is that we lacked a rebounder which is essential (one and out) for the half court game we prefer. Looking forward, I don't expect the Rox to evolve into some run n gun Sacramento or Phoenix kind of team. I much prefer the half court game and there's no reason we can't dominate once we get that third player.



theSAGE

 

Run and gun rarely translates into playoff success. Look at the teams that have won titles in the last 20 years. Lakers(led by Magic and Shaq), Celtics, Pistons(led by Isiah and Larry Brown), Bulls, Rockets, and Spurs. All great defensive teams and most of them had dominant post players.

The closest to a run and gun champ in that time frame is Magic's Lakers and they had that Kareem guy in the middle to fall back on in the halfcourt set.

Emperor Stern can keep changing the rules all he wants to try and influence the style of play in this league, but the blueprint for winning a championship will never change.

 

Man--with all of Yao's foul troubles in the Rox-Mavs series --it was interesting that Shaq fouled out of the game today with 19 pts.
in 26 minutes. This run and gun style is really making it hard on the big men...

 

Balance.

 

Even if the league does lean more towards the "run 'n gun" style, it will be short lived. Much like the "run 'n shoot" era in the NFL, defense always wins out in the end. The league is at it's best when it finds a happy medium (the 1980's).

 

I have watched Miami frequently this season, and one thing that I think Rockets fans don't really understand is that Shaq, while not getting the full "Yao treatment", is horrendously officiated as well. His size is being used against him by the refs. So he has been in a LOT OF foul trouble this season as well. THAT is why I said before that this is a "traditional big man" bias thing, and not a "Yao" thing. The only diff is, obviously, that Shaq is an established legendary big man, while Yao is still a youngster working his way up.

I have mentioned in previous posts as well that CLEARLY the league's rule changes and new encouragement of "soft play" (no hand checks, no defense basically) is meant to reduce the impact of defense in the playoffs, and allow the "soft" teams like Dallas and the Suns to have as much success as possible. This was mainly in response to the reduced scoring averages in the league for the past few seasons, but instead of blaming the players for poor fundementals like shooting and passing, the league made a "quick fix" and adjusted its rules accordingly.

This DEFINITELY discourages the traditional half-court offense that has proved stellar in the playoffs over the past couple of decades. The goal is to hopefully make the game "more fun" for the casual fan (whom the league is targeting) and thus increase ratings and the entertainment value of the NBA. (and you wonder why NBA fans are starting to see the game as an "entertainment" show rather than a pure sport )

In this sense, a normally great traditional big man like Yao is made to suffer the consequences. What the league wants is more KG and Nowitzki and the entire Suns' offensive style, and less Rockets/Heat or Detroit basketball. The league dislikes defense basically, it is as simple as that.

All these things put the Rockets at a disadvantage with a player like Yao (with his size and physical limitations). Eventually, however, I gotta believe that more and more teams in the league will start to employ the style that proves to win championships. I think for now there is an infatuation with the Suns style of play, so teams are waiting to see whether that system wins in the playoff or not. And for the less successful teams that know they have no shot at winning "it all", they will still employ Phoenix's style just so they can market their product and sell tickets.

 

This IMO is 100% correct. I feel there is enough gray area in how the game is being officiated (which is the driving force between the higher scores), to accomodate Yao's assets within the trend of the current game.

Case in point, imagine how many fewer defensive fouls Yao would have had if David Wesley were younger and taller. That's not a slam of DW, it just emphasizes how having quicker perimeter players can help to shield Yao...whether at SG or PF.

The game may be uptempo, but half-court hoops is far from an endangered species.

 

Duncan and the Spurs aren't having a problem.

 

Which is why as much I hate the Spurs, I kinda wouldn't mind seeing San Antonio get to the Finals. If they and Detroit go head-to-head, it would be David Stern's worst nightmare, a ratings disaster, and prove once and for all that no matter how many rule changes they employ, NBA championships are won with half court execution and solid defense. Not sprinting down the court and launching 3-pointers all game.

 

I disagree...scoring gets the attention of the fans and in this day an age of 1000 channels, it's a lot harder to get fans attention.

Just like Baseball and Football, expect the rules of the NBA to continue to be tweaked to favor scoring.

Well, except for steroids.

 

i really dislike the way the game is called now. superstars don't want to be touched and the refs protect them. i just wish they'd let these men play ball, and not dictate the game with the whistle. they're turning it into pansy ball.

as ugly as people said it was then, i'd love to see a playoff series like the rockets and knicks in 94. can you imagine dirk trying to play then? these guys are p*****s compared to guys like dream, OT, maxwell, mason, ewing. they got to grind it out without the fear of blowing on someone and the whistle stopping everything.

 

The showtime Lakers had probably the most effective half court offensive weapon of the past 30yrs in Kareem so even though their fast break was their bread and butter if teams slowed them down they could beat you that way too.As slow as those Celtic teams of the 80's were they still ran when they had the chance.The fast break gets you easy points for playing good defense and with the lead your post offense can seal the deal.

 

What would happen if it was like it used to be where if you came to the basket you ended up flat on your back.Can you just hear the Mavs crybabies if that happened.Cuban would be crying to ban them from the league.I would love to see Wes Unseld knock those punks to the floor the first time one of them came inside flopping around.

 

The rules that were implemented show such an imbalance between guards and big men. It's ridiculous that you can call a touch foul on a guard on the perimeter while a big man is being killed down low before he even reaches the ball. That goes for all big men and not just Yao.

Big men are the ones who should be protected if anything. They are the ones who fight and jockey for position almost all game long and fight for rebounds down low.

So all of a sudden they are gonna protect perimeter players who see less contact?

Maybe we should start facing Yao above the FT line just so he can get some of those perimeter fouls. Yea...I think not.

I just wish they would call both sides evenly. The art of the big men is out for this last season. All true big men saw their stats take a nosedive, starting when they implemented the zone and now even further with the new rules this season.