The NBA: Where Everyone Is 1940s Notre Dame

Here’s the thing about basketball: on the surface, it looks like there’s no method to the madness. A casual fan has trouble recognizing the "plays" or prevailing strategies; mostly, it just looks like a bunch of insanely talented athletes making things up as they go. Then, look closer and get more familiar with the game, and you start to realize that each team really does run plays, the coaches actually have greater responsibilities than just "working the refs," and there’s a whole lot more to the free-for-all than meets the eye. A method to the madness.

But there’s not THAT much of a method. In many ways, the best NBA offenses are ones that keep things simple for the players, and put trust in the players to read the defense, beat their man, and make a play. When NBA offenses are micro-managed, it shortchanges the athletes on the floor, and usually ends in chaos. Look at what happened in Phoenix last year; Terry Porter wanted a halfcourt offense, and the team chafed under his attempts to rein in the freewheeling attack that’d emerged over the past few years. What happened when he was fired and interim head coach Alvin Gentry brought back the freedom? The Suns scored 140 points in his debut as coach.

That’s an oversimplified example, but this isn’t: According to the New York Times’ Jonathan Abrams, NBA teams run a pick-and-roll on offense roughly 20% of the time. When you think about it, that’s pretty amazing. Especially when you consider how often they run it in crunch time. For some perspective, the pick-and-roll is the basketball equivalent of the "read option" in college football, and most teams in the NBA play like 1940s Notre Dame, just running variations of the same play, over and over and over again.

via nydailynews.com

Which is ironic, of course, because where Notre Dame’s option would bore even the most rabid contemporary fans, the NBA’s reliance on the pick-and-roll—and the pick-and-pop, and other simple plays that NBA teams run over-and-over again—is what makes the game so exciting. Rather than get bogged down with labrynthine offensive sets, it’s become more and more en vogue to the let the players play, and that’s a good thing. With a good players, it’s really, really difficult to guard.

From Abrams’ excellent piece:

But over all, the Synergy numbers confirm what many in the N.B.A. have witnessed. Offenses now spread defenses thin with mobile big men, quick point guards and long-distance shooters. The pick-and-roll is the orchestrator of all that.

It is also the formula that the Magic used as it made its way to the N.B.A. finals last season. The pick-and-roll allows Howard, the game’s most athletic center, to gain position in the post on the move.

"That way, he can step in and get the ball deep in the post and step in and score," Nelson said. "And we can use it for our shooters to create shots for others and myself."

N.B.A. teams use various methods to combat the pick-and-roll, although none are highly effective. […]

"If it’s Tim Duncan rolling to the basket, you want to take Tim Duncan away with your help," Philadelphia 76ers Coach Eddie Jordan said. "Now, if you have Tony Parker and Tim Duncan, you have to stop the ball, which is Tony Parker, and you’ve got to give help, so you’re leaving somebody open. Probably, Manu Ginobili for a 3. You have to pick your poison."