Pro Sports Press: NBA on Fast Break NBA on Fast Break ================================================================================ Pro Sports Writer on 14 January, 2009 11:55:00 If you haven’t yet noticed, scoring in the NBA is up, way up. Average scoring per team has gone up from 91.65 in the 2000/2001 season to 98.69 this season. That’s a difference of about 7 points per game per team, which adds up to about 14 more points every game. Defense has become an afterthought, and scores are routinely ending up in the 120+ range. It used to be a big deal to score 120, 130, 140 points in a game, but it’s being done at a regular basis now. Why the sudden rise in scoring? There are many reasons for the rise in scoring: -Defense or lack thereof- The high-intensity on defense in the NBA has gone from being the trademark of the 90s to virtually non-existent today. Great team defenses are virtually non-existent, with a few elite defensive players holding the fort. Think of great NBA defenses of recent history and only the San Antonio Spurs, and Detroit Pistons come to mind. It shows how important a good team defense is. The Detroit Pistons have been a dominant NBA team for the better part of this decade, winning the 2004 NBA championship without the presence of a top-tier offensive player. -NBA officiating- The NBA has gone soft. It has become harder to play defense. The league has instituted stricter policies concerning defense, and fouls. Gone are the days of hand checking, and bodying up on offensive players. They have instead been replaced by silly ticky-tac fouls, and scoring bonanzas. -NBA/David Stern- The NBA has looked to switch to a high-octane pace to make the game more entertaining for fans. The theory being, flashy, and fast basketball will fill more seats. European Basketball- With European professional basketball players making the transition to the NBA, the European game made advancements in talent, competition, and marketing. The European game involves less one-on-one play and is played at a faster pace, based on moving the ball and taking quick shots. -USA National Team debacle (2002-2006)- USA basketball has had to face many embarrassing losses in international basketball from 2002-2006. The former crème de la crème of basketball, the United States had now taken a significant hit to their basketball reputation. They lost the 2002 FIBA World Championships in horrible fashion in Indiana, USA finishing a disappointing and embarrassing 6th in the competition. They finished 3rd, winning the bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. If that wasn’t enough, they once again lost the FIBA World Championship in 2006 finishing in 3rd place. The losses pushed the United States to implement some of the European philosophies and tendencies into their Game. -Mike D’Antoni/Phoenix Suns- Mike D’Antoni was hired as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns in 2003, after serving as their assistant coach in 2002. D’Antoni was very familiar with the European style of basketball having spent most his career as a player and coach in Italy, and quickly implemented the run and gun mentality into his Phoenix Suns. After the 2003 season, D’Antoni and the Suns acquired point guard Steve Nash. The point guard position like in any offense, was especially important in D’Antoni’s system. A pass-first, high IQ point guard was needed to push the offense and set-up his teammates in the best position to score. D’Antoni found his man in Nash. Along with Amare Stoudamire, Shawn Marion, and a host of shooters, Steve Nash and Mike D’Antoni ran themselves to 4-straight 50+ win seasons, including two 60+ win seasons, thus bringing ‘seven-seconds-or-less’ to the NBA. -Lack of Effort on Defense- New generation NBA players lack the focus, intensity, and effort needed to be successful on defense. Defense is all about effort. Players choose to work hard on offense, filling up the cosmetic stat-line, resulting in big contracts rather than work hard on defense. There are very few two-way players in today’s NBA, which is a shame. If you are an athlete scoring at the NBA level, you can certainly play defense as well. Call it a change of philosophy, a change of players, the Mike D’Antoni influence, a lack of defense, European basketball, or the NBA changing its image to a faster, and more entertaining league, but the fact remains. For the better or worse, the NBA has changed. New and casual fans will like the quicker, high-scoring games where defense is an afterthought, but to NBA fans from years past, it just isn’t the same. Don’t get me wrong. We will always be fans, and like the NBA’s ad slogan keeps telling us, we do love this game, but the reasons we loved it are slowly fading away.