What I like about this years playoffs

Hope this will open JVG's eyes, and he will not talk about defence in every post game.

 

You can win with situational defense, you still need to play defense but not slow the game down and have the coach call all the plays, that is just egos talking.

Of course the roster that JVG had to work with this year was AWFUL and he had to slow it down in order to try to win.

No way you outscore a YMCA team with Bogans and Rafer and Bowen playing.

DD

 

Generally speaking, balance wins championships...

The Mavs would not be in the WCFs were it not for their improved D.

 

The Mavs talk about defense in every post-game.

And in 2004, when he actually had the personnel to run (Sura, Barry, etc), we ran. We took transition 3's all the time. We regularly scored 100+. JVG shapes his offense to his team - if you have slow personnel, you'd be stupid to try to get into a track meet game. So when your team is centered around Yao (as it was this year), you play a methodical offense.

 

I agree with your point that we need more scoring in the games today. But, I disagree with the trend of many of today's teams in going with a smaller, faster, more athletic team. I still believe that the teams with a dominant center & SG/SF are the best teams around, & will still be winning Championships long after the new kids start sucking wind from all their athletic moves.

Shaq/Kobe, Shaq/Wade, & the up & coming duo of Yao/T-Mac are a proven Championship formula. In fact, 9 of the last 12 Championships have been won by teams with a dominant big man (Duncan, Shaq, & Dream). Detroit was the only exception of the 9, & they ran a big man by comittee with 'Sheed, Wallace, & McDyess. The other 3 Championships, along with the 13th, 14th, & 15th, were won by MJ's teams.

So, unless you've got another MJ tucked away somewhere, I'm putting my money on the East winning it this year. One thing's for sure, assuming Shaq & Zo stay healthy, it'll definitely answer the question as to which system is the future of the NBA.

 

The Mavs talk about defense in every post-game because they already have good offense. JVG always talk defense even when it is the least of the problems. I just hope he will stop talking about defense because there is nothing new he reveal everytime. We can guess what he gonna say already, really.

 

When your roster is depleted and you have only one real offensive player (Yao, after Tracy's injury), you need to talk about what you have control over, which is defensive intensity. Nobody could hit a shot and the last thing JVG needed to do was bash the offense. It wasn't going to get any better because the players weren't any good. Besides, there were several times when JVG did talk about our inability to hit shots.

On the conference finals:

Avery Johnson better keep talking about defense because if they don't improve the Mavs could let a sure fire trip to the Finals slip away. They are clearly better than the Suns (moreso than the Clippers were) but their lapses in focus on defense are troubling.

Flip Saunders is another coach who better talk defense (to his team). If the Pistons don't kick it up a notch they are dead.

 

What I like about this year's playoffs...

1.) Seeing Jason Williams prove the doubters wrong.
2.) Seeing K. Hinrich coming into his own.
3.) The terrific PG play of Billups, Cassell, Kidd, Nash, and Parker.

 

i also enjoyed so many close games. i can't even count on both hands the amount of games that were won by a margin of 5 pts and overtime games. in past years, i only tuned into certain matchups, but since the majority of the games have been so close i watch almost all of them.

 

What I like about this years playoffs: nothing. First the Rockets didn't make it, so that bumps it way down to begin with. Then all the guys I like get eliminated in the second round. Finally, this disgusting new style of play that the "competition committee" which happens to be run by the guy who built the Suns has forced upon us. Please bring back '90s style basketball.

 

This whole debate will be settled in the finals... no matter what happens, it will be an uptempo/no-big man team vs. a team that plays hard-nosed defense, and prides themselves on half-court sets.

Whoever wins between those two will help settle the overall debate... which way is more effective to "win" a championship.

 

I dont see what there is to prove. The issue has been beaten to death a million times in the past and the hard-nosed defense or big man teams have always triumphed. MJ had no big man but they were all good defensive players. Grant, Rodman down low and two perimeter defenders who are in the elite of NBA history.

The reason defense is so emphasized and the bread and butter of championship teams is because a team can have a bad shooting night and not hit their shots. This team is screwed. A team that can play defense on the other hand, can hold the other team to a low shooting percentage every game giving them a chance to turn the game into a dog fight and a chance to win.

 

I'm not sure about that - I think it's been proven both styles work at this point. Dallas beat San Antonio and Phoenix beat the Clippers in those same contrasts of styles. If they lose in the finals, it could just say that Detroit/Miami is simply better at its style.

And, last year the two teams that made the finals played the defensive style, so even if Dallas/Phoenix wins, it could just mean they play their style better than the other team plays it's. Similarly, Jordan winning all his titles didn't mean that the formula to win was guard-oriented with weak big men - it just meant his teams were good enough to win with their style.

The beauty of the NBA now is that multiple ways of winning can work - as long as you're very good at what you do. Detroit uses the no-superstar method; Miami uses the two-superstar method. Dallas features incredible depth, while Phoenix has none. Phoenix uses a unique tempo-to-overcome-talent style. But all of these teams are in the conference finals, which means you CAN win with any of them. And San Antonio, the Clippers, and Cleveland all took these teams to 7 games, so their styles (with a bit more talent or luck) are all possibilities as well.

 

Blue, I don't think people think JW totally sucks, just that he isn't great and has as many limitations as strengths. I think Memphis would prefer to still have Bibby over the years, don't you

One of the best things about this playoffs is the Spurs are out before even the Western Conference Finals [thank you squirks to the playoff seeding ] and this greatest franchise being ran/dynasty garbage is done for a while.

 

The whole defense wins championships is overdone. Most typically the championship winning team is top 5 in FG% and OFG%. Balanced teams win championships.

It is true you need good to excellent defense to win championships, but you also need good to excellent offense. All things being equal defense is slightly more important, but you need both.

 

Balance wins championships...

But the true key to winning the game is to simply score more points then the other team...and to do this you need offense.

IMHO the reason the scores of the games have gone down over the past decade or two s because of two things...

1. the lost art form of the pass

2. the lost art form of shooting

After everyone was introduced to MJ everone wanted to be like Mike. Only problem with that was their not even close. The teams in the 70's and 80's did a lot of running and passing which got open looks for guys who could actually shoot the ball with consistent accuracy. It would be interesting to see a matrix of the annaul average of assists and shooting % through the years starting with like 1970 through modern day...

Having said all that if you don't play strong team defense you won't win anything at all...

 

Doubtful. Their defense is worse than last year. They did slow the game down though.

The reason they're in the WCFs is that San Antonio can't play them the same way, thanks to the rule changes.

 

Hakeem would of had a field day against these "high power offense" teams. It's a joke.