It's amazing how "close" a 4-1 series can be though. If Courtney Lee makes a layup or a runner, and if Dwight Howard hits one FT, LA could have been playing for their lives in Game 5. Instead, they blow Orlando out for the second time and polish off a 4-1 win.

 

It's the same deal with the Magic/Cavs series. The Cavs could have easily been up 3-1 heading home with a chance to move on instead of down 3-1 like they were. I think it just goes to show you how fortunate you have to be in addition to being good.

One thing I noticed about Orlando was their lack of aggressiveness on the offensive glass. Seemed like no one was ever underneath battling for a stickback. Once it got dumped to DH they all just stood on the perimeter and watched. If an outside shot was taken no one crashed the boards from the outside. Howard got a couple just due to the fact that he was already in the post. As poorly as they shot the ball (except one game) you'd think they would make an effort to rebound the ball, and get a stickback and or foul. I just didn't understand the lack effort on their part.

 

The team is all perimeter players and jump shooters with Dwight Howard in the paint. It's not their game to go down low and bang and fight for loose balls.

After all the gloating by UKMF after the Eastern Conference Finals, you would think he would at least show up in this thread after telling us all how much smarter he is than us.

 

Like I said in the other thread, some of us have jobs that require us to go to bed early. Sorry, I didn't get here sooner.

Like I said in the other thread, some of us have jobs that require us to go to bed early. Sorry, I didn't get here sooner.

 

Nevermind...

Keep the discussion to the game and the game only.

Sorry Bugatti...

The team is all perimeter players and jump shooters with Dwight Howard in the paint. It's not their game to go down low and bang and fight for loose balls.

 

Hence the outcome..

Hence the outcome..

 

I'm just saying, it's not in their DNA. They can't change their style, especially considering how far it got them. I doubt they'd have fared as well as they did against LA if they'd asked guys like Rashard Lewis to play out of character and focus on being a traditional 4.

 

That's why I said they couldn't beat LA. There were no matchup advantages (like they enjoyed in the eastern conference) and they couldn't play the physical style necessary to counter that. As it was, they fared better than I expected considering they had great chances to build a 3-1 lead.

I'm just saying, it's not in their DNA. They can't change their style, especially considering how far it got them. I doubt they'd have fared as well as they did against LA if they'd asked guys like Rashard Lewis to play out of character and focus on being a traditional 4.

 

That's why I said they couldn't beat LA. There were no matchup advantages (like they enjoyed in the eastern conference) and they couldn't play the physical style necessary to counter that. As it was, they fared better than I expected considering they had great chances to build a 3-1 lead.

 

I'm not a big NBA follower. Besides Howard, I would have had a hard time naming another Magic player. So, unsuspecting as I was I was, I was pretty much in shock to see them turn towards the defensive end before their shot would even hit that rim. Just not my idea of fundemental basketball.

Here's a question for the NBA faithful. Why does no one full court press? I would think with a 24 sec shot clock, the longer it takes a team to get into their half court set, the harder it might be to get a good shot. Just want to know..

Here's a question for the NBA faithful. Why does no one full court press? I would think with a 24 sec shot clock, the longer it takes a team to get into their half court set, the harder it might be to get a good shot. Just want to know..

 

I have wondered this too. Plus with the 8 second backcourt rule, it makes it that much tougher to get the ball across in time. If you do get it across it leaves the team with only 16-17 seconds to get a good shot, not to mention the extra turnovers a full court press would cause. Is there some rule against it?

I'm not a big NBA follower. Besides Howard, I would have had a hard time naming another Magic player. So, unsuspecting as I was I was, I was pretty much in shock to see them turn towards the defensive end before their shot would even hit that rim. Just not my idea of fundemental basketball.

 

Orlando definitely isn't a "normal" team.

I have wondered this too. Plus with the 8 second backcourt rule, it makes it that much tougher to get the ball across in time. If you do get it across it leaves the team with only 16-17 seconds to get a good shot, not to mention the extra turnovers a full court press would cause. Is there some rule against it?

 

One reason I don't watch too much are the stupid defensive rules? No zone? Defensive 3 seconds?? What the ?

Here's a question for the NBA faithful. Why does no one full court press? I would think with a 24 sec shot clock, the longer it takes a team to get into their half court set, the harder it might be to get a good shot. Just want to know..

 

I'm sure there may be other reasons, but my initial thought is the skill level of NBA players.

 

When you press a team, if they can handle the ball and beat it, it usually results in a good shot on the other end. In the NBA, pressing would likely result in a high number of high percentage shots on the offensive end because of the skill level. Unlike college, in the NBA, you frequently have tall frontcourt players who can handle the ball pretty well to go along with their guards (who themselves are often tall)...they have unlimited time to practice in the NBA, so they could prepare better for a press...and, they're better shooters/finishers meaning they'd convert more of the easier shots they'd get from beating the press.

 

In college, teams don't get as much time to prepare, the players aren't as skilled, they're not as big...it's just easier to wreak havoc. You take the tradeoff of giving up a few easy hoops to control the tempo and get some easy ones yourself. The risk/reward in the NBA isn't worth it.

 

Teams occasionally press in the NBA...1) It works better when used in spots and 2) its used, not so much to create TO's, but to make teams start their offense deeper in the shot clock. In that way, it could be used to control tempo, by actually slowing things down a little instead of speeding them up.

 

The great Bulls teams of the '90's had a devastating full-court press that they used quite a bit by NBA standards. But, that was a rare team with size and athleticism almost everywhere, spearheaded by two of the best defenders in league history. Jordan and Pippen were both long, athletic, elite defenders whether they were roaming or playing man-to-man. Additionally, Horace Grant was a long, athletic PF who could cause problems. Later, they had Rodman, a great defender himself. And, Ron Harper, not elite, but at 6'6, he could cause problems. That team had the personnel to pull it off.

 

I'm sure some of the more talented teams could probably press teams like the Clippers and destroy them, but against the top teams it wouldn't work. Why spend an inordinate amount of time on something that would be a liability against elite teams?

One reason I don't watch too much are the stupid defensive rules? No zone? Defensive 3 seconds?? What the ?

 

They're allowed to zone now...but with the defensive 3 seconds, they can't camp out in the paint like you can at the previous levels.

 

Again though, the skill level of NBA players makes playing a zone very risky.