Over the course of a game, the time a team spends on the fastbreak could be less than 90 seconds of actual game time. The average fastbreak takes about five seconds. That's roughly 12 transition possessions in a minute.That's one important minute. Winning the transition game, a product of both defensive and offensive efficiency, can go a long way toward winning the game itself. Individually, a well-rounded transition game can give a player's scoring average a sizable boost and force the defense to account for him at all times.
Fastbreaks aren't just about dunks. They require a player's entire skill set and can tip the balance of a game. Here's a look at six of the best transition players in the game and how they get it done.
LeBron James | F | Miami Heat
Transition stats: 6.12 ppg, 1.459 PPP, 76.6 percent
Strength: Power, great hands
James Harden | G | Houston Rockets
Transition stats: 6.77 ppg, 1.256 PPP, 58 percent
Strength: Craftiness
Blake Griffin | PF | Los Angeles Clippers
Transition stats: 3.61 ppg, 1.414 PPP, 81.8 percent
Strength: Leaping ability
Russell Westbrook | PG | Oklahoma City Thunder
Transition stats: 5.60 ppg, 1.088 PPP, 55 percent
Strength: Full-court speed
Stephen Curry | PG | Golden State Warriors
Transition stats: 4.63 ppg, 1.235 PPP, 56 percent
Strength: Versatility
O.J. Mayo | G | Dallas Mavericks
Transition stats: 4.72 ppg, 1.283 PPP, 66 percent
Strength: Hustle
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/ ... on-players
Blake's conversion rate is of no surprise, but what is surprising is how perception differs from reality. If you asked many people, they would assume that Blake scores much more in transition than he actually does, but Blake is last amongst these guys in PPG in transition, and considering his PPP is second to only Lebron, he's clearly behind in transition attempts too. Houston plays a crazy pace, and Harden plays more minutes but still, Harden almost doubles him. Blake should be scoring more than 3.61 PPG in transition.
The Clippers are still primarily a half court team, and Blake scores a lot more in the half court than the general person thinks because of highlights, but what this tells me is that his transition abilities are underutilized. Transition baskets are easy baskets for Blake. I think an improvement for the future will be to utilize his transition abilities more. Blake has the ability to pull off the Shawn Marion where he grabs the rebound, sprints down the court, and gets a long pass. He will only consistently make that run though if Paul will look for him and give him the ball. But it is also something that will have to be practiced. While teams can try to take away transition baskets, this is hard to limit, but what it does do is that it will discourage teams from going on the offensive glass because they know that of they lag behind on offense they will get scored on.
