Without the slow break....

[wannabGM]

....we would kind of stink.

It leads to our transition 3 pointers.
It has been the most consistent source of offensive production from ET.

Despite averaging less than 90 ppg 10 games into the season, we are in the top half of the league in transition offense and in 3 pointers made. The crazy amount of emphasis on ET getting defensive boards helps us in this regard because it gets us on the slow break more often, allows our PF to sprint down the court and draw a defender closer to the rim, and gets our 3 point shooters in spot up situations with the ball already in the hands of a distributor (ET).

[RickyPrior]

I prefer, of course, the fastbreak.

Outlet the ball, Evan. Outlet the ball.

[BChydro86]

I like when evan runs the point off of rebounds.... Unless hes got a streaking wing with a clear path, why would he outlet the ball?

Odds are young would fumble around. Jrich would pull up for a 3. Unless its hokiday or wright with an open lane, id much prefer evan lead the point.

Just set up a good offense.

[RickyPrior]

Wow.

The whole IDEA behind basketball is to replicate the most comfortable scenario possible for shooting. ie. in a perfect world, you would be by yourself, down at the park, taking layups. Pretty high percentage, eh?

Well, THAT'S what you are trying to replicate. THE most comfortable opportunity for everyone...every time you take possession. THAT'S why teams run: to make the switch (transition) from defense to offense faster than the other team can switch from offense to defense.

Why? To create as much separation as possible. (Which is also why there are screens and cross-overs in the half court - they create separation.)

Fast breaks - when executed "fast" create such opportunities. You get out ahead of the other team...creating this 'space'....which leads to high percentage shots.

It's the whole idea.

And outletting the ball moves it up the court much faster than anyone could possibly dribble it.

[Swashcuff]

I like when evan runs the point off of rebounds.... Unless hes got a streaking wing with a clear path, why would he outlet the ball?

Odds are young would fumble around. Jrich would pull up for a 3. Unless its hokiday or wright with an open lane, id much prefer evan lead the point.

Just set up a good offense.

That made me laugh sad but true

I'm a fan of the outlet pass when the situation permits. As a team we really haven't been turning over the ball much and that holds especially true off of Evan's defensive rebounds.

Ricky sadly doesn't get it. You don't create a fast break by simply rebounding making a pass and you get an easy bucket this is the NBA and unless your team can efficiently run the break on every opportunity you have to firstly and lastly be smart about it. We are currently 12th in the league in fastbreak scoring like Wannab said without being one of the better overall offensive teams in terms of our fast break efficiency however we are ranked 18th.

More so than fast break scoring what is essential for us to improve as an offensive unit is FT shooting. Being able to get to the line and convert. We are 28th in the league in terms of FTA per FGA and 26th in FTM per 100 possessions and 27th in Free Throws Attempted per Offensive Play. Plain and simple we don't get to the line enough to compensate for our not so stellar offense from the field. Why should we then look to run the fast break on every possession Ricky and run the risk of giving up even more costly possessions?

[warfelg]

In a fast break you end up with more players under the rim, reducing their ability to get back onto defense.

In a slow break you generally end up with more players on the perimeter, enhancing their ability to get back onto defense.

Doug prefers that we have players in position to get back onto defense and eliminate the oppositions ability to play a fast break up tempo game. Therefore by using logic I would estimate that Doug prefers the slow break.

I feel like that's pointing out the obvious though...

[BChydro86]

I also think its more effective when ur bigs (kevin love) can outlet to guards/wings.

If evan gets a defensive board, thats 1 less person capable of handling the ball on a 2 on 1 fast break.

Hawes and lavoy are guys who id like to see outlet the ball to holiday, turner, and maybe wright and thad. Cause then u could have holiday on an outlet with at least 1 other guy capable of handling the ball up court....

Take turner out of that equation and holiday is on an island possible looking at 2 or 3 defenders.

[wannabGM]

Having no less than 3, and potentially 5 players on the roster with a Kyle Korver-like ability to hit the transition 3 might also have something to do with it.

The fastest straight line cup to cup starting PF in the lineup in the NBA coupled with the best rebounding guard in the NBA might also have something to do with it.

From a pure Hoosiers-type X and O basketball purest standpoint, I have to agree with Ricky. From a Sixers basketball standpoint, I have to give Doug Collins a tip of the cap on this one and disagree with Ricky.

[RickyPrior]

Yeeeeeah.

I think I might just mosey on over to some other thread......

[RickyPrior]

...but not before I post one blurb (of thousands) on the topic.

"(Red Auerbach)emphasized the fast-break offense, with lightning-strike attacks before the opposing team could retreat on defense."

Not sure if you young whipper-snappers are familiar with the man. But he was fairly successful.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...102801102.html

[BChydro86]

^^ its a little different when u have bill russell grabbing boards and throwing outlets to hondo and cooz.

and ur talking 1960s nba..... things are a bit different now. defensively, athletically, etc.

and ur also, like wannabe said, not taking into account whos actually on the sixers roster. if hawes, lavoy,kwame, grabs a board... id love him to throw an outlet leading to a 3 or 4 man fast break with thad, turner, holiday.... but if turner grabs the board... the balls already in a capable guards hands.

[RickyPrior]

^^ its a little different when u have bill russell grabbing boards and throwing outlets to hondo and cooz.

and ur talking 1960s nba..... things are a bit different now. defensively, athletically, etc.

and ur also, like wannabe said, not taking into account whos actually on the sixers roster. if hawes, lavoy,kwame, grabs a board... id love him to throw an outlet leading to a 3 or 4 man fast break with thad, turner, holiday.... but if turner grabs the board... the balls already in a capable guards hands.

It's not different. It's the same strategy employed by every coach in the NBA. You want immediate outlets, lanes filled, and the ball in the hands of the player with the greatest opportunity to score.

I have to tell ya...to even argue this is sort of depressing. This is B-ball 101.

Honestly.

I'm not even going to argue IF it's true. It just is and always will be. Simple really.

I'd much prefer people just thank me and use their new-found knowledge to help others understand the game better. But when I read some of the posts here...I gently laughed to myself.

But not in a good way.

[sixer04fan]

I guess I never thought much about this, so I never looked to see what other teams do in these situations. When a guard/ball handler on any other team grabs a defensive board with a chance for a fast break, does he usually look to throw it ahead for an outlet pass (assuming someone is there), or will he usually bring the ball up himself?

What's the norm for these kinds of in-game situations? It's tough to say, because first of all, you rarely see a guard grabbing defensive boards in a game, or no more than a few. And when the guard does get a rebound, you rarely see that many other players on his own team sprinting ahead of him for the fast break anyways, because the guard himself is the one usually running up the floor looking for the pass... While Turner just grabs more boards than just about any other guard in the league.

[RickyPrior]

Turner rarely LEADS the break when he grabs a board. Often, in fact, he ends up being the 4th or 5th guy to cross half court.

It's Jrue's job to get to the wing, on the side the rebound is likeliest to fall and become noticed. So that when one grabs a rebound, they KNOW he'll be there, waiting and ready. Regardless of the position...everyone takes off. Ideally, you have 3 guys filling lanes...a 4th trailing (as an option) and the 5th guy lagging to revert to defense if necessary.

I understand the whole guard-grabbing-a-board thing. But Evan would do well to get it out and take the hell off. He himself becoming the 3rd or 4th guy IN the break. Which makes him every bit as involved as if he had not grabbed the board in the first place.

[sixer04fan]

Ugh...

If Evan were just bigger so he could be a PF, life would be so much easier. Most of his problems come from the fact that he just can't do what most normal guards can do. In fact, a lot of times he looks like a PF trying to play like a SG, if that makes sense. He's like a PF stuck in a SG's body.