RealGM

You can merge this with that Princeton thread I made that time but what do you guys think? Again, the only thing I hate about having a new coach is that we are losing the Princeton which I think is unstoppable if we are fully healthy and Gil is passing more. I honestly think we couldve lit it up this year in that system. With that being said, I respect the fact that Flip is also an Offensive genius and that we have great scorers who should be able to score in any system.

The reason why I made this thread and what worries me is will it work in the playoffs? We may have lost in the playoffs to the Cavs but we could put up numbers on them Offensivley and I honestly think that none of the best D's in the East could stop us. If Im right, someone said that Flip basically runs a version of the Flex which Gary Williams runs and in the pros Utah, Atlanta, and Detroit still runs. When I was talking to some Pistons fans, alot of them said that one of there biggest problems was that there O was always dominant during the regular season but anytime they faced a great D in the Post season, they couldnt score. All they shot was jumpers and there O was easy to stop. I remember last year when we played Utah and beat them, I said that even though we won, I felt that Utah had the hardest O in the league to stop with all there cutting & screening inside the paint. Then we played Detroit and I thought they had the 2nd hardest O for us to stop. I thought it was those 2 teams and then everyone else in terms of being hard for teams to stop. However, Ive really started watching it more sense there was speculation that we were going to get Flip and sometimes all those teams seem pretty deliberate. Its like the system is good but it actually looks like a "system". It seems like there isnt much freedom in it and guys are basically robots who have to go whichever way the play is designed while the Princeton seems to have more freedom.

Now Im watching the playoffs and you have Detroit, Atlanta, and Utah whose O all look horrible when there opponents rev up the Defense. Everything they try to do seems difficult and contested. It looks like its hard to stop in the regular season because youre not use to playing against it but during the playoffs when you play a team 4-7 games straight, it starts to get easy for you to read there O if you have a good D. Its easy to take away and it looks slow. The Princeton seems more fluid to where you can run any play from nearly anywhere on the floor but the Flex seems like you have to have everyone get into place and everyone has to run the play perfect or it doesnt work. Its the same thing with the Terps alot of times. There O can be too deliberate and forced. I dont know but Im "slightly" worried. These teams are starting to only look good when they are running or are on a fast break. Other then that there O looks horrible in the half court. I do think it could be better for guys like NY & Blatche but I will feel better if Flip did manage to keep atleast "some" of the Princeton. The good thing is that we have some great Offensive players who should be able to offset some of the problems. The Pistons fans said that a great D can take Flip's O away in the playoffs and force you to beat them 1 on 1 and they didnt have those type of players but it could work for us with guys like Gil, NY, and Caron

Has the crappy princeton offense ever work in the playoffs? Not if you don't have two of the best passing bigman in NBA history (Divac and Webber) as your frontline.

yungal07 wrote:Has the crappy princeton offense ever work in the playoffs? Not if you don't have two of the best passing bigman in NBA history (Divac and Webber) as your frontline.

I think it couldve really worked for us if healthy. It just seemed like a perfect fit, again "when healthy". Besides, you make it sound like alot of pro teams ran the Princeton

yungal07 wrote:Has the crappy princeton offense ever work in the playoffs? Not if you don't have two of the best passing bigman in NBA history (Divac and Webber) as your frontline.

I don't think you can say it was our lack of offense that made us lose in the playoffs.

Flip runs a modified Hawk system, not the flex. His offense grows from Wooden's UCLA tree, as does the Princeton. It'll run just fine in the playoffs.

Aside from that, offensive system matters a lot less than offensive talent in the NBA. Get good players, and you can be successful running Princeton, motion, triangle, Hawk, screen/roll, or just about anything else.

System is a lot more important on the defensive end.

Most NBA style offense are good and will work.

What it comes down to in the playoffs is...

1- Having a player you can feed in the post so you can get the defense rotating
2- Having a player or two who can go off the dribble and create when the clock is low
3- Having player who can nail the outside shoot when spotted up.
4- Rebounding and Defense
5- Coaching. You need to manage the game with rotation, mismatches and time outs.

And were the coach is most important is establishing all of this and managing the personalities during the season so the team is healthy and reaching it's peak at the end of the season.

In the end, it come down to having the right players and right coach more then the right offense. The players all have to buy into it and know their roles. As things slow down and the defenses get more aggressive, everyone needs to execute the game plan.

TheSecretWeapon wrote:offensive system matters a lot less than offensive talent in the NBA. Get good players, and you can be successful running Princeton, motion, triangle, Hawk, screen/roll, or just about anything else.

+1

Detroit's and Atlanta's offenses are suffering in the playoffs because they don't have great 1st option scorers. (Utah is just running into a juggernaut Lakers team.)

Frankly, I think Detroit's offensive success in the playoffs in past season has been a testament to Flip's system. None of their players are really good enough offensively to consistently demand a double team, yet Flip has managed to get them to consistently score with efficiency. Heck, we have two, maybe three better scorers on our roster than Detroit's best scorer.