Nellie Ball is an unconventional offensive strategy in basketball developed by NBA head coach Don Nelson. It is a fast-paced offense relying on smaller, more athletic players who can create mismatches by outrunning their opponents. A large volume of three-point attempts is generally a staple of Nellie Ball as well.[1] This offense is most effective against teams that do not have the athleticism or shooting ability to keep up with the fast pace.
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Background
Coach Nelson most famously used Nellie Ball in three of his coaching stops. Nelson first utilized Nellie Ball with the Golden State Warriors, where his offense was centered around the high-scoring trio of NBA All-Stars Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, and Chris Mullin, collectively known as "Run T-M-C". Nelson used an unconventional lineup that featured three guards (Richmond, Hardaway and Šarūnas Marčiulionis) and two forwards (Mullin and the 6-8 Rod Higgins at center). This incarnation of Nellie Ball led the Warriors to many winning seasons and playoff berths despite an undersized lineup. While coaching the Dallas Mavericks, Nelson employed Nellie Ball once again, utilizing the All-Star trio of Steve Nash, Michael Finley, and Dirk Nowitzki. Nelson often would play Nowitzki, a natural power forward, at the center position, placing him at the three-point line in order to stretch out the defense. His latest success with Nellie Ball came with his second stint as head coach of Golden State, with a lineup consisting of Baron Davis and Jason Richardson, who were both larger-sized guards, and smaller forwards and centers such as Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington.
In the 2007 NBA Playoffs, his 8th-seeded Warriors executed one of the greatest upsets in NBA history by defeating the 1st-seeded Dallas Mavericks.[2] Former Mavericks head coach Avery Johnson, Nelson's protege and successor in Dallas, had abandoned Nellie Ball in favor of a more traditional offensive lineup, which had reached the 2006 NBA Finals.
Opponents of Nellie Ball
Nellie Ball has a fair share of opponents, who claim that the strategy is fatally flawed. Many basketball critics contend that no team can ever win a championship playing Nellie Ball, mainly because the strategy puts such an emphasis on offense and scoring that a team playing Nellie Ball will not have the energy to play defense.[2] Nellie Ball also tends to rely very little on basketball defensive fundamentals. In addition, these critics argue that Nelson's offense, while innovative and exciting, is only successful to a point. Skeptics contend that his offense is unable to disguise deficiencies, such as the inability of an undersized power forward or center in Nelson's system to dominate in terms of defense and rebounding. Plus, they claim that it is even more difficult to play Nellie Ball when guards are on a cold streak in terms of shooting the ball, making it difficult for teams running the offense to win basketball games. Nowhere is this more evident than during playoff time, where teams tend to get more serious and play tougher defense.[3]
Detractors of Nellie Ball could also point out that while Nelson has amassed a huge number of victories (over 1000 total career victories) by running the offense, he has never coached a team to the NBA Finals, let alone won an NBA title. Thus, Nelson owns the rather dubious distinction of having recorded the most coaching victories without making an NBA Finals appearance.
Similar styles
Former NBA coach Paul Westhead is well known for an unorthodox, run-and-gun style. He won the NBA Championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1980. However, he was fired by the Lakers early in the 1981-82 NBA season. His replacement, Pat Riley, went on to earn 4 NBA Championships during the 1980s as Lakers head coach. Most of Westhead's coaching stints with basketball teams have been brief. His tenure at Loyola Marymount rewrote many NCAA records and reached the West regional finals. As coach of the Denver Nuggets, his team averaged a league-best 119.9 points per game in 1990-91, but it also surrendered an NBA record 130.8 points per game, including 107 points in a single half to the Suns, which remains an NBA record. Under Westhead, the Nuggets were sometimes called the "Enver Nuggets" (as in no "D", lacking defense), and he was fired after two seasons with a combined W/L record of 44-120. While coach of George Mason University from 1993-1997, his run-and-gun style did not succeed as he compiled a 38-70 record. However, Westhead found success with his up-tempo style of basketball as head coach of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury from 2006-2007. In 2007, Westhead directed Phoenix to the WNBA Championship, thanks to Mercury superstars Cappie Pondexter and Diana Taurasi. By winning a title with the Mercury, Westhead became the first head coach to win both an NBA title and a WNBA title. Westhead left Phoenix at the end of the 2007 season and was replaced as head coach by Corey Gaines.[4] However, Gaines had prior experience with Westhead's offense, having played for him at Loyola Marymount University and with the Nuggets. Gaines kept the same offense that Westhead employed, and in 2009, he directed the Mercury to their second WNBA title. Diana Taurasi became the second player in WNBA history to win the regular season scoring title, the WNBA MVP Award, the WNBA Championship, and the WNBA Finals MVP Award in the same season.[5]
Former Phoenix Suns head coach Mike D'Antoni used a running style of offense similar to Nellie Ball, featuring Steve Nash who successfully ran Nellie Ball with Nelson himself in Dallas. Just as he had in his days with the Mavericks, Nash thrived as a point guard in an up-tempo style of basketball in Phoenix. He also received major assistance from superstar power forward/center Amar'e Stoudemire, and high-flying small forward Shawn Marion. The Suns went from a 29–53 win–loss record to a league-best 62-20 mark in 2004-05, with Nash being the only significant additional to the team in 2004. Incidentally, while D'Antoni did help elevate Nash into the upper echelon of legendary NBA point guards (Nash won back-to-back NBA Most Valuable Player awards in 2005 & 2006),[3] D'Antoni nonetheless failed to see his style of offense make the NBA Finals lack of defense. His Suns squads made it to the postseason every year after Nash was acquired, and even made back-to-back Western Conference Finals appearances in 2005 & 2006. However, the Suns were eliminated from the NBA Playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs 3 of the 4 seasons he has made the playoffs with Nash (2005, 2007, 2008). In 2005 & 2007, the Spurs ended up winning the NBA title. In the 2006 Western Conference Finals, Nash and the Suns were eliminated by his former team, the Dallas Mavericks, who had abandoned Nellie Ball in favor of a more traditional offensive lineup. D'Antoni resigned from the Suns after being eliminated from the 2008 Playoffs, but shortly afterwards, he was hired to be the head coach of the New York Knicks, beginning in the 2008-2009 NBA season.
References
- ^ Jenkins, Lee (May 13, 2007). "Nellie Ball Energizes Warriors and Confounds Opponents". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/13/sports/basketball/13warriors.html. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
- ^ a b Thompson, Marcus, II (November 2007). "Do You Still Believe?". Oakland Magazine 4 (9). http://www.oaklandmagazine.com/media/Oakland-Magazine/November-2007/Do-You-Still-Believe/. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
- ^ a b Kahn, Mike (May 29, 2008). "Defense dominating playoff basketball". Foxsports.com. http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/8187266/Defense-dominating-playoff-basketball. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
- ^ "Gaines announced as Head Coach of the Phoenix Mercury". www.usatoday.com. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/wnba/mercury/2007-11-06-gaines-coach_N.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
- ^ "Taurasi, Pondexter lead Mercury to second title in three years". www.espn.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/wnba/recap?gameId=291009011. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
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