Rummpd
01-23-2005, 12:58 PM
Posted on Sun, Jan. 23, 2005 (See Bolded Text down below re Spurs, rest of article copied as it makes good points/re-hashes other news NBA)
(this is available through Philly.com)
On the NBA | Nothing but net as offense takes lead
By Joe Juliano
Inquirer Staff Writer
The purists cried when the lords of the NBA determined nearly four years ago that man-to-man shall not be the only defense allowed in the league. Oh, they wailed, zones and traps will ruin the game, further shut down scoring and restrict the individuality of the NBA's great athletes.
Well, with the 2004-05 season nearing its halfway point, the offenses are handling the defenses just fine, thank you.
According to statistics released by the NBA, scoring and shooting are better than they were at a comparable point last year. Through Monday, the league said teams were averaging 96.1 points and 44.4 percent success from the field, as opposed to 92.7 points per game and 43.5 percent shooting last year.
In addition, eight teams were averaging at least 100 points, the most since 1996-97. The Phoenix Suns' average of 107.7 (entering the weekend) is the highest output since the 1994-95 season, when three teams poured in more than 110 points per game.
In his first year as head coach of the 76ers, Jim O'Brien has his team playing a more up-tempo style. Wednesday night's win in Charlotte marked the 17th time the Sixers have reached the 100-point mark, as compared to 11 times all of last season. They are 14-3 when they score at least 100.
O'Brien points to the decision by the NBA Board of Governors in April 2001 to change the defensive rules and allow zones as helping lead to the improved scoring. The new rules became effective in the 2001-02 season.
"The offenses have caught up with the defensive rules," O'Brien said Thursday in Orlando after a practice. "By virtually allowing any defense, it's forced the offenses to move the basketball, move people and reverse the basketball. I think the offenses are better and more difficult to guard.
"I don't think people are seeing that dramatic of a fastbreak style of basketball. But what I think is aesthetically pleasing is ball movement and player movement. If you consider where it was a few years ago, where it was just a two-man game with three people stationary, you can't do that now.
"You still want to give your Allen Iversons, your [Vince] Carters, your [Tracy] McGradys the basketball, but now you've got to move them more. As a result, and this is just off the top of my head, because everybody is touching the ball more, I think there is a tendency to have better chemistry on teams. That makes our product better."
Teams are going to smaller and quicker lineups with emphasis on the three-point shot. The Suns and the Seattle SuperSonics, two of the league's most improved teams, are moving the ball quickly, then passing out to players spotted along the three-point arc.
O'Brien admires that style, and has said on more than one occasion that it is his dream for the Sixers to play like that. Of course, finding guys who can hit the long-range shot is another story.
"It's a supply-and-demand thing to a certain extent," he said. "Everybody would like to have four three-point shooters on the court, but the supply's not there. I think people would like to have what those teams have. It's very difficult to guard them - their speed, their movement, driving ability, inside-outside concept.
"It's what our team certainly longs for. We'll get there at some point in time."
Sizzling Spurs
So how good are those San Antonio Spurs?
The Spurs reached the halfway point of their season with a 32-9 record, their best-ever first-half effort.
Only four of their victories have been by less than eight points.
They had a 11.0-point scoring differential before Friday night's game against Phoenix. The last team to finish a season with a double-digit differential was the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls.
"If you didn't have to compete against them, you would love them," Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "Just watch them. It's mesmerizing sometimes."
And the Spurs don't even have to rely on two-time MVP Tim Duncan all the time. Point guard Tony Parker had scored at least 20 points in seven of his last eight games entering Friday night.
MVP proof
Speaking of point guards, the Suns' Steve Nash has improved his candidacy for most valuable player in the league just by his absence due to a bruised thigh and a sore back.
The Suns, who started 31-4, lost five straight games entering Friday night's contest against San Antonio. Nash, who sets the Suns' speedy tempo, was on the floor for only the first game and the opening quarter of the second.
The team shot 33 percent and scored 79 points in a loss Wednesday night to Memphis. It marked the second straight game that the Suns had established season lows in both categories.
"Stunning," Phoenix coach Mike D'Antonisaid when asked of the difference in the Suns with and without Nash.
"We gear everything to Steve Nash," he said. "When you lose him, there's no Plan B. It's grind it out and try to get some wins."
In a recent Sports Illustrated poll of 207 players, 55 percent named Nash as the league's best point guard. He is leading the NBA with 10.9 assists per game.
Welcome home... not
McGrady knew he'd have to go back to Orlando at some point. He knew the type of reception he'd get, particularly after he was quoted as saying he had taken some nights off last season, his final one with the Magic.
He wasn't disappointed. The sellout crowd of more than 17,000 at the T.D. Waterhouse Centre booed him upon his pre-game introduction as a member of the Houston Rockets, and booed him just about every time he touched the basketball.
"I was thinking about how I was going to prove them wrong," McGrady said after he scored 27 points in the Rockets' 108-99 win over the Magic. "I knew the reception I was going to get already, but I was out on the court just trying to find ways to get myself going and make my team better.
"I didn't want to come out and make it a Tracy McGrady show by just jacking up shots. I was calm. I was in the flow."
McGrady also contributed six rebounds and four assists.
"It's not as sexy as scoring 50, but I thought it was one of his best floor games," Magic forward Grant Hill said.
Misunderstood Milicic
Ever since Darko Milicicbecame the No. 2 overall selection in the 2003 draft, communication between him and Detroit Pistons coach Larry Brown has gone something like this:
Milicic: Why don't I get a chance to play?
Brown: When you prove you're better than the guys who play, you'll play.
Milicic, 19, got a rare court appearance last week during garbage time of a game against the Suns. But Brown didn't like the fact that he allowed a dunk right after entering, and screamed at him during an entire time-out.
The next day, Milicic talked to Joe Dumars, the team's president of basketball operations, "about finding a solution for me. To not play the whole year, it's very tough on my mind." He said he did not request a trade.
Dumars talked to Brown, and Brown sounded a bit more conciliatory Thursday.
"By watching his body language, I thought he was slipping," Brown said in the Detroit News. "It was important that we sit down and explain ourselves and try to get his side of things and make sure he knows we're here to help him.
"He's 19 years old and he has a huge upside. We have to work together to make sure he understands that he will get an opportunity to play based on what he does in practice and not to give up. I am hopeful that he understands that."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact staff writer Joe Juliano at 215-854-4494 or [email protected].
(this is available through Philly.com)
On the NBA | Nothing but net as offense takes lead
By Joe Juliano
Inquirer Staff Writer
The purists cried when the lords of the NBA determined nearly four years ago that man-to-man shall not be the only defense allowed in the league. Oh, they wailed, zones and traps will ruin the game, further shut down scoring and restrict the individuality of the NBA's great athletes.
Well, with the 2004-05 season nearing its halfway point, the offenses are handling the defenses just fine, thank you.
According to statistics released by the NBA, scoring and shooting are better than they were at a comparable point last year. Through Monday, the league said teams were averaging 96.1 points and 44.4 percent success from the field, as opposed to 92.7 points per game and 43.5 percent shooting last year.
In addition, eight teams were averaging at least 100 points, the most since 1996-97. The Phoenix Suns' average of 107.7 (entering the weekend) is the highest output since the 1994-95 season, when three teams poured in more than 110 points per game.
In his first year as head coach of the 76ers, Jim O'Brien has his team playing a more up-tempo style. Wednesday night's win in Charlotte marked the 17th time the Sixers have reached the 100-point mark, as compared to 11 times all of last season. They are 14-3 when they score at least 100.
O'Brien points to the decision by the NBA Board of Governors in April 2001 to change the defensive rules and allow zones as helping lead to the improved scoring. The new rules became effective in the 2001-02 season.
"The offenses have caught up with the defensive rules," O'Brien said Thursday in Orlando after a practice. "By virtually allowing any defense, it's forced the offenses to move the basketball, move people and reverse the basketball. I think the offenses are better and more difficult to guard.
"I don't think people are seeing that dramatic of a fastbreak style of basketball. But what I think is aesthetically pleasing is ball movement and player movement. If you consider where it was a few years ago, where it was just a two-man game with three people stationary, you can't do that now.
"You still want to give your Allen Iversons, your [Vince] Carters, your [Tracy] McGradys the basketball, but now you've got to move them more. As a result, and this is just off the top of my head, because everybody is touching the ball more, I think there is a tendency to have better chemistry on teams. That makes our product better."
Teams are going to smaller and quicker lineups with emphasis on the three-point shot. The Suns and the Seattle SuperSonics, two of the league's most improved teams, are moving the ball quickly, then passing out to players spotted along the three-point arc.
O'Brien admires that style, and has said on more than one occasion that it is his dream for the Sixers to play like that. Of course, finding guys who can hit the long-range shot is another story.
"It's a supply-and-demand thing to a certain extent," he said. "Everybody would like to have four three-point shooters on the court, but the supply's not there. I think people would like to have what those teams have. It's very difficult to guard them - their speed, their movement, driving ability, inside-outside concept.
"It's what our team certainly longs for. We'll get there at some point in time."
Sizzling Spurs
So how good are those San Antonio Spurs?
The Spurs reached the halfway point of their season with a 32-9 record, their best-ever first-half effort.
Only four of their victories have been by less than eight points.
They had a 11.0-point scoring differential before Friday night's game against Phoenix. The last team to finish a season with a double-digit differential was the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls.
"If you didn't have to compete against them, you would love them," Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "Just watch them. It's mesmerizing sometimes."
And the Spurs don't even have to rely on two-time MVP Tim Duncan all the time. Point guard Tony Parker had scored at least 20 points in seven of his last eight games entering Friday night.
MVP proof
Speaking of point guards, the Suns' Steve Nash has improved his candidacy for most valuable player in the league just by his absence due to a bruised thigh and a sore back.
The Suns, who started 31-4, lost five straight games entering Friday night's contest against San Antonio. Nash, who sets the Suns' speedy tempo, was on the floor for only the first game and the opening quarter of the second.
The team shot 33 percent and scored 79 points in a loss Wednesday night to Memphis. It marked the second straight game that the Suns had established season lows in both categories.
"Stunning," Phoenix coach Mike D'Antonisaid when asked of the difference in the Suns with and without Nash.
"We gear everything to Steve Nash," he said. "When you lose him, there's no Plan B. It's grind it out and try to get some wins."
In a recent Sports Illustrated poll of 207 players, 55 percent named Nash as the league's best point guard. He is leading the NBA with 10.9 assists per game.
Welcome home... not
McGrady knew he'd have to go back to Orlando at some point. He knew the type of reception he'd get, particularly after he was quoted as saying he had taken some nights off last season, his final one with the Magic.
He wasn't disappointed. The sellout crowd of more than 17,000 at the T.D. Waterhouse Centre booed him upon his pre-game introduction as a member of the Houston Rockets, and booed him just about every time he touched the basketball.
"I was thinking about how I was going to prove them wrong," McGrady said after he scored 27 points in the Rockets' 108-99 win over the Magic. "I knew the reception I was going to get already, but I was out on the court just trying to find ways to get myself going and make my team better.
"I didn't want to come out and make it a Tracy McGrady show by just jacking up shots. I was calm. I was in the flow."
McGrady also contributed six rebounds and four assists.
"It's not as sexy as scoring 50, but I thought it was one of his best floor games," Magic forward Grant Hill said.
Misunderstood Milicic
Ever since Darko Milicicbecame the No. 2 overall selection in the 2003 draft, communication between him and Detroit Pistons coach Larry Brown has gone something like this:
Milicic: Why don't I get a chance to play?
Brown: When you prove you're better than the guys who play, you'll play.
Milicic, 19, got a rare court appearance last week during garbage time of a game against the Suns. But Brown didn't like the fact that he allowed a dunk right after entering, and screamed at him during an entire time-out.
The next day, Milicic talked to Joe Dumars, the team's president of basketball operations, "about finding a solution for me. To not play the whole year, it's very tough on my mind." He said he did not request a trade.
Dumars talked to Brown, and Brown sounded a bit more conciliatory Thursday.
"By watching his body language, I thought he was slipping," Brown said in the Detroit News. "It was important that we sit down and explain ourselves and try to get his side of things and make sure he knows we're here to help him.
"He's 19 years old and he has a huge upside. We have to work together to make sure he understands that he will get an opportunity to play based on what he does in practice and not to give up. I am hopeful that he understands that."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact staff writer Joe Juliano at 215-854-4494 or [email protected].