Which team's are really fast in the NBA?

- The Season's Over -

Fast Team, Slow Pace; Slow Team, Fast Pace

March 4, 2010

Josh Smith Dunk

Quick, name the most exciting team in the NBA. There’s a good chance you said Phoenix or Golden State, two teams that live and die by the fast break. Who doesn’t love to watch Steve Nash effortlessly tossing up a one-handed oop to Amar’e Stoudemire two seconds after a defensive rebound? Who isn’t amazed when Monta Ellis shoots out of a cannon past everyone to embarrass other supposedly fast athletes?

Predictably, both the Suns and Warriors rank near the top of the league in pace (possessions per game) and fast break points. Most teams that play at a fast pace average a lot of fast break points, and vice versa. This makes sense. There are a handful of teams, however, that play by a different set of rules. Some clubs don’t have a high number of possessions, but they still end up with 15 or more fast break points. Other teams keep the game moving, but rarely bring the fans to their feet with a breakaway slam.

Below are four teams that possess this dichotomy: two with a fast pace but low volume of fast break points, and two with a slow place but healthy fast break numbers. Let’s take a look at how each of these clubs ended up in the odd statistical situation they’re in.

Pick Their Spots Well

Atlanta Hawks

Pace: 90.6 (26th)

Fast Break Points per: 16.6 (4th)

One of the keys to a strong fast-breaking team is a 3, 4, or 5 who can motor down the court faster than the other team’s bigs in order to throw down a dunk over the little guards who flew back first. The Hawks are more than competent in this department with PF Josh Smith, who can often beat opponents’ guards down the floor. Throw in F Marvin Williams and 6-7 Joe Johnson, who both have the athleticism and mindset to complete the occasional breakaway, and Atlanta has enough big guys to run an efficient fast-break offense.

Why don’t the Hawks get out and run more often? Their defense isn’t particularly good at making the other team miss shots (which can often lead to easy sprint out opportunities), and they aren’t a good rebounding club. On top of that, they average 7.4 steals per, which is in line with the league average. In short, they just don’t create that many chances for themselves. But when they do force a turnover or they do snare a long defensive rebound, watch out.

Philadelphia 76ers

Pace: 91.7 (21st)

Fast Break Points per: 18.8 (2nd)

The Sixers don’t get a lot of opportunities to run it out for a few reasons. First, their defense doesn’t force a lot of misses or turnovers, the two easiest ways to start the fast break. Second, they made the slow-footed Elton Brand an important piece of their team. You need big men who can run to make a consistently decent, fast-breaking squad, and Brand has never been that guy. Last but not least, Coach Eddie Jordan and GM Ed Stefanski have no clue about the game of basketball. Previous GM Billy King left them a core of players ready and able to run the court for easy dunks (Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young, Samuel Dalembert, Marreese Speights), but the new brain trust had different ideas.

Jordan should know better. He inherited a very slow Washington squad from Doug Collins back in 2003 and made them into one of the fastest teams in the league, finishing in the top-10 in Pace for the next four seasons. Granted, the Wizards didn’t win any more often than they had been, but Jordan knows how to make a team move. Now he has a group of guys who are far more suited to that style of play, and he decides it’s time to run the Princeton offense in earnest. If he ever realizes his bigs are skinny and fast and shouldn’t be standing around in the half-court, this Philly club could actually be good. Thankfully most of the players recognize what they have and absolutely take off when they have the chance.

Two teams who push the pace but refuse to score fast, after the jump …

Hurry Up and Wait

New York Knicks

Pace: 94.0 (7th)

Fast Break Points per: 9.9 (28th)

We all know why they play fast: Mike D’Antoni. He’s not quite Paul Westhead, but he loves coaching 94 feet of track. So there should be no confusion why they play at such a fast pace; they run…a lot (Remember “Seven Seconds or Less”?) The problem arises when you look at their roster.

Who on New York is particularly fast for their position? There are plenty of guys who hustle (“C” David Lee, SF Danilo Gallinari) and guys who are decent athletes (forwards Wilson Chandler and Al Harrington), but absolutely no one strikes you as being built for the fast break. Also, they are poor rebounders and don’t get steals at an above-average rate, so they’re often forcing themselves to run in situations that aren’t prime. Frankly, D’Antoni’s system doesn’t fit this squad. Now if only he and Jordan would switch places …

Los Angeles Lakers

Pace: 93.6 (9th)

Fast Break Points per: 11.8 (26th)

The Lakers just aren’t built to get easy buckets in transition. Their fastest big man is probably Lamar Odom, and that’s not saying much. On top of that, PG Derek Fisher is slowing down with age and Kobe Bryant is more first-step quick than down-the-court fast. Their most efficient scorers are their plodding group of big men: Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Odom, and Ron Artest lead the Lakers (of those who average over 20 minutes per) in eFG%.

So why do they play so fast? Their defense forces bad shots and grabs a lot of rebounds. This provides the opportunity. And unlike LeBron, Kobe won’t hang out on the perimeter dribbling for 15 seconds before hoisting a fade-away 3. If he sees a shot he likes (which is often), he pulls up and takes it. Sometimes he drives and finds an open Fisher or Artest, who also aren’t shy about pulling the trigger. When the ball goes inside, it’s normally for a quick move and a shot – no Charles Barkley backdowns for this frontcourt. As it turns out, Los Angeles really doesn’t run that much; they just don’t pussyfoot around with the ball.

Zachariah Blott cannot recommend Rick Telander’s “Heaven Is A Playground” enough.