Is the Fast Break a Dying Species?

"IS THE OLD-FASHIONED FAST BREAK AN ENDANGERED SPECIES, OR IS IT JUST IN HIBERNATION? "

That was the subtitle of a Sports Illustrated article in 1991. They interviewed Magic Johnson, Pat Riley, Don Nelson, Paul Westhead and Chuck Daly among others. There were some really interesting quotes from that article.

Magic on Showtime: "I don't think you'll ever see that kind of fast break again. We had all the pieces. Even guys coming off the bench never stopped running. You know something? A fan took a chance if he went to the hot dog stand, 'cause when he got back, it might be all over."

Paul Westhead, former Denver Nugget coach: "The NBA is basically a nonrunning league."

Pat Riley: "It's about philosophy. You have to want to run. I guess enough teams don't want to."

Westhead: "It's just a very, well, comfortable agreement between the coaches and the players. Fans come to a game and see a set play and see teams running things very carefully and think, 'My, this is so orderly. They must be well coached.' And coaches feed on that.

"Players, meanwhile, realize that fast-breaking relentlessly is harder than playing a control game. Sure, they say they want to run, but to do it all the time is hard. Very hard. You have to go to almost another level of consciousness, and players aren't willing to do that.

"A control game is good for the coaches and good for the players, and so it stays the same. When I tried to put in my system last year everybody looked at me like I was Doctor Frankenstein."

Don Nelson: "With a fast-break team you put authority in the players' hands more than in your hands and a lot of coaches aren't comfortable with that.

Rick Adelman: "Every team has two or three main offensive players, and coaches want to make sure they get the shots. A half-court game is the only way to make sure they do."

"Chuck Daly says that even half-court-oriented coaches come to preseason camp talking about fast-breaking and the importance of getting easy baskets. "But," says Daly, "underlying the whole thing is what coaches are thinking in the back of their minds. 'Sure, we can run during the season, but we won't be able to run during the playoffs.' It's a psychological thing, and it begins with the coach."

Chuck Daly: "The Bulls are so good at coming up with loose balls, making steals and rotating to create double teams that opponents have a hard time beating them in half-court situations. Whatever success we had against them in the playoffs—and it wasn't much—came, surprisingly, when we ran. We had no success when we didn't. Look at the problems they gave L.A. in the half-court in the Finals. They took Magic right out of a half-court game.

"The one thing we can say about the fast break over the past few years is that, for whatever reason, big-running teams were not big-winning teams. I'm not saying it's going to be a big revolution, but maybe that's going to change a little bit."

Westhead: "The day will come when highly talented guys finally realize that you can run up and down the court with abandon, while also playing some good fundamental basketball. Coaches will realize it too and on that day even the 24-second clock will become immaterial."

Teams can run the break as good to great as ever,they just can't do it on a consistant constant push all game as in the 70's and 80's.There are alot better athletes,but that doesn't mean they have better endurance,as Sam pointed out.Even the Bulls with Jordan and Pippen weren't really a constant push the ball team either,to play that intense a defense and as intense an effort to constantly run and push the ball is just too much for how the game has evolved.Its a players league,coaches can only get so much out of the players,plus there is great funny smelling gangi,the medical stuff going around and all these players can afford it.

Fast break basketball is a philosophy.

There is however a trend of some of the younger teams to play an uptempo style.

If there is one trend that I have noticed it would be the use of the 3 point shot and less post plays inside for the big men.

dboss