Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 9, 1993 TAG: 9305090063
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Hornets' coach can't like what he sees in the New York Knicks, against whom Charlotte opens today in the Eastern Conference semifinals. That's not just because the Knicks have a legitimate chance to sweep the Hornets.
Bristow's notion is as much about style as substance. He'd say what he said a few days ago in his Charlotte Coliseum office, no matter his team's opponent. Asked about the lower numbers on NBA scoreboards during the playoffs, Bristow pointed out that it's only taking a regular-season trend "another step in the wrong direction."
Play is more intense, more physical in the playoffs. As games become tougher, they turn slower in tempo. New Jersey Nets coach Chuck Daly said a playoff game has about half the fast breaks of a regular-season game. Bristow thinks that's generous.
"Even the great Lakers teams, with Magic and Kareem, in the playoffs they played mostly a half-court game," Bristow said. "Portland was a running team in recent years. In the playoffs, they weren't. But it just isn't in the playoffs now that you see this kind of game."
Bristow pointed out that this regular season, among 27 NBA teams, only Phoenix and the Hornets averaged 110 points per game. As recently as 1986-87, more than half of the teams averaged 110.
Bristow would be expected to be an up-tempo philosopher, coming from the Doug Moe school of motion offense. He also has the youngest group of regulars in the league.
He also has a point about not so many points.
"To me, when you have fewer possessions, when people aren't moving, there's more pushing and shoving," Bristow said. "How can that be good? It provokes more fights. When teams are running that isolation stuff, there's more chance for someone to tee off on someone.
"Basketball is supposed to be a game of movement. The more teams that are successful with a half-court game, the more we're seeing it. There seem to be more `control' coaches now, too. Pro basketball is supposed to be a players' game. But the more we see former players becoming head coaches, the more scores continue to go down.
"We had more fights than ever this year. In my opinion, there's a direct correlation between that and the style of basketball that most teams are playing, that isolation stuff."
Why play that style?
"Most teams are going to play the way they have the best chance to win," said NBC analyst Quinn Buckner, who is headed for the Dallas Mavericks' coaching job next season.
Bristow said that because of the competitiveness in the playoffs, spectators don't mind watching the shot clock reach single digits on virtually every possession. However, during an 82-game season, it's different.
"If I'm a season-ticket holder," Bristow said, "and I have to sit 30 times a year and watch teams play that half-court stuff, then I'm not coming."
He will be standing and watching it for the next week.
The Hornets are going to have a much tougher time running their offense against the Knicks than against the Celtics. That's not just because the Broadway Bullies play tougher defense, but because New York averaged only 101.6 points while winning 60 regular-season games. Every possession becomes more crucial.
In 31 playoff games entering Saturday's doubleheader, only eight of the 62 team scores reached 110. Phoenix, which led the league with 62 wins and a 113.4-point average, is averaging 98 in its four playoff games against the Lakers. The average score in the Seattle-Utah series was 94-84.
"It gets more like that every year," Bristow said, summing up a pointed opinion. "We need it to go the other way."
by CNB