If there was one issue I had with this team in terms of a gameplan last year it was the slow-pace we played at. We have a ton of athletes and guys that would excel in a faster paced offense... in fact I can't even think of a single player on our team that wouldn't be more productive offensively if we pushed the tempo.
But there's the issue, where it seems that it's difficult for teams to defend well if they pick up the pace on offense, and there is some validity to that. Here were the league's top 10 defenses last season, their pace rankings are in brackets:
1.) Indiana (20)
2.) Chicago (28)
3.) Golden State (6)
4.) San Antonio (12)
5.) Oklahoma City (9)
6.) Charlotte (21)
T-7.) LA Clippers (7)
T-7.) Memphis (30)
9.) Toronto (23)
10.) Miami (27)
So 6 of the league's top 10 defenses were in the bottom 1/3 of the league in terms of pace, but there are examples of teams playing uptempo and still having excellent defenses, namely Golden State, OKC, and the Clippers. I'm not a coach so I don't know how they're able to pull this off, but that would be my aspiration for our team. To be able to have a top 10 defense and still be one of the fastest paced teams in the league. I want guys like Ross and DeRozan getting more runouts for dunks and more transition threes. There's no reason why a team as athletic as ours should be 23rd in pace imo.
But there's the issue, where it seems that it's difficult for teams to defend well if they pick up the pace on offense, and there is some validity to that. Here were the league's top 10 defenses last season, their pace rankings are in brackets:
1.) Indiana (20)
2.) Chicago (28)
3.) Golden State (6)
4.) San Antonio (12)
5.) Oklahoma City (9)
6.) Charlotte (21)
T-7.) LA Clippers (7)
T-7.) Memphis (30)
9.) Toronto (23)
10.) Miami (27)
So 6 of the league's top 10 defenses were in the bottom 1/3 of the league in terms of pace, but there are examples of teams playing uptempo and still having excellent defenses, namely Golden State, OKC, and the Clippers. I'm not a coach so I don't know how they're able to pull this off, but that would be my aspiration for our team. To be able to have a top 10 defense and still be one of the fastest paced teams in the league. I want guys like Ross and DeRozan getting more runouts for dunks and more transition threes. There's no reason why a team as athletic as ours should be 23rd in pace imo.
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