One of the criticisms you hear most often from people who dislike the NBA is that teams don't run any sort of offense. The perception is that four players simply stand around the perimeter and clear out so their superstar player can try to break down his man off the dribble.
I'd argue that this perception could not be any further from the reality. If anything, the teams are so well scouted and prepared that executing an offense is incredibly difficult. It's not that NBA teams don't run an offense, it's just that defenses are so good at taking teams out of what they want to do that offenses often must execute flawlessly in order to succeed.
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When a half-court set does work it's a beautiful thing, which leads us to the subject of this post.
Level reader Rob sent us an email gushing about a play the 76ers ran last night against Boston. In his email he mentioned that he hadn't seen a 76ers team run a play as well designed as this one since the Larry Brown era.
He included a link to NBAPlaybook.com, who broke down the video and provided a frame-by-frame anaylsis diagnosing how the play worked. Do yourself a favor and check it out. If you're a basketball fan you'll appreciate the manner in which Collins attacked a Boston team that gives up the second fewest points per game in the league.
After watching the video and breakdown I am inclined to agree with Rob's assessment that this level of offensive play has not been seen around here since LB had Eric Snow executing spin-dribbles at the top of the key to start off an offensive set.
Ever since Larry Brown coached here I by in large base my judgment of a head coach on what he runs coming out of a timeout. I don't necessarily base my opinion on whether the team scores out of a timeout, but did they get a good look?
Brown was a master of getting his team a good look at the basket after a stoppage in play. How many times did you see Theo Ratliff or even Jumaine Jones get free on a backdoor cut for an alley-oop out of a timeout? LB schooled opposing coaches in dead ball situations. I was always confident that Larry Brown would draw something up which gave the 76ers a chance to score.
While I do not yet have the same absolute confidence in Collins as I did in Brown, it's plain that he's done more than just change the atmosphere here. The guy can really coach. He's able to figure out what a defense is likely to do, conjure up a way to counter that defense, install that counter during practice, and have his players execute it during a game. That's no small feat.
It's one of the many reasons people are actually excited about Sixers basketball for the first time in a long time. Needless to say, if they hope to have any modicum of success in the playoffs, when things slow down and transition baskets are at a premium, they'll need to execute plays like this one in the half-court.