McMillan, "Push, push, push"

[Paxil]

Yeah you coached it boob... but did it happen. =) I don't recall many teams in the NBA that have both really pushed the ball and played great D. Open to ideas on why that is.

 

[Minstrel]

Yeah you coached it boob... but did it happen. =) I don't recall many teams in the NBA that have both really pushed the ball and played great D. Open to ideas on why that is.

The Lakers and Celtics of the '80s ran to varying extents and played very good team defense. The Bulls of the '90s ran quite a bit and played suffocating defense. It's definitely possible to push the pace and still play sound defense in the half-court. You may give up more points, but that's a superficial thing...more possessions are going to lead to more points. But as long as you hold down the other team's efficiency per possession, you're playing good defense.

 

[MARIS61]

Yeah you coached it boob... but did it happen. =) I don't recall many teams in the NBA that have both really pushed the ball and played great D. Open to ideas on why that is.

Magic's Lakers did. Boston did when Ainge was there. Isiah's Pistons ran often, but scored with bigs rather than wings. Westphal's Suns with Dan Majerle...

The reason is most coaches are 1 dimensional in their thinking. Offense or defense.

And there's the "keep your star happy" problem.

The Bulls with Jordan could run with the best of them, but then Pippen and Paxson would have been the first 2 options. Jordan's achilles heel was his habit of ambling up the court, knowing they would wait for him and give him the ball.

Roy is the same way. In a running offense he'd get no touches as we'd score quickly while he was still coming down court. Until Roy gets the lead out, or Nate stops calling his name, this team can't run.

 

[Sean.ivity]

"same old sh*t dog just a different day".

-DMX

 

[DUB]

It seems like there may be a disconnect between what McMillan wants (push, push, push) and the way brandon wants to play, which is to slow it down and start with the ball in his hands at the top of the key.

this is going to have to get figured out and someone is going to have to change.

The two aren't mutually exclusive.

We can push the ball up the court quickly, if there's an easy bucket available, good; if not we can hold the ball, and hand it to Roy to run a halfcourt set.

 

[BlayZa]

he's been saying it for years? wtf

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2010/01/pregame_homework_for_miller_bl.html







Is anybody buying this? By that, I don't mean buying whether or not he actually wrote the 3x5 cards, but this whole "I want to run and "I've been saying it for years." stuff? He never ran much in Seattle, He's always been hyper sensitive to turnovers. I dunno, color me skeptical.

Question: It has been widely reported and posted that Nate wants the team to run. Why is several poster I talk with are adamant that Nate is telling the PG's to walk it up the floor and never push the ball?

 

[Paxil]

I don't know the answer to that BP... but it may have something to do with Nate's over infatution against a turnover. As poor Sergio learned... nothing will make Nate yank your lease faster.

 

[Ed O]

he's been saying it for years? wtf

Heh.

It seems there are three different things here:

1. Has he been saying it for all this time?
2. Has he been providing proper incentives to go along with his message?, and
3. Should the team run?

If he's been saying it, he's a terrible communicator. It's not just a Brandon Roy problem... his teams were slow in Seattle, too.

It is possible that he preached slow basketball until he got Roy, and then he wanted to go up-tempo... but does anyone find that likely?

I think it's as others have said: he doesn't reward the benefits of running more than he punishes the negatives of running. A player simply has incentive to play it slow, rather than risking messing up and getting benched.

As to whether the team SHOULD run or not? I dunno.

Ed O.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Yeah you coached it boob... but did it happen. =) I don't recall many teams in the NBA that have both really pushed the ball and played great D. Open to ideas on why that is.

You need the right personnel. The Showtime Lakers I already mentioned were a great defensive team. They always had two or three players on the 1st and 2nd all defensive teams. Although known as a running team, they were also great in the half court. Combine all three (great defense, great running game, great half-court game) and it's easy to see why the won 5 titles in nine years and made it to the finals 8 times in 10 seasons.

The Bill Fitch coached Celtics also ran quite a bit - not so much under KC Jones. Both versions were great defensive teams.

Our own 1977 championship team liked to run, but also played great defense. For the 1977-78 season, Bill Walton, Maurice Lucas and Lionel Hollins were all 1st team all defense and Bob Gross was 2nd team.

I'm sure there are other examples, but since I originally mentioned the Showtime Lakers, my feeble brain is stuck in that era.

BNM

 

[LittleAlex]

Question: It has been widely reported and posted that Nate wants the team to run. Why is several poster I talk with are adamant that Nate is telling the PG's to walk it up the floor and never push the ball?

Because during games you can see the players look over at the bench a huge percentage of the possessions. I can only assume they are getting instructions.

 

[the ob]

The two aren't mutually exclusive.

We can push the ball up the court quickly, if there's an easy bucket available, good; if not we can hold the ball, and hand it to Roy to run a halfcourt set.

I agree, but this does not seem to happen often. All I am saying is that there seems to be a disconnect somewhere.