Players are on notice – efficiency is the key

While some fans (and journalists who should know better!) have been asking for a 16.7% discount on tickets this NBL season because of the reduction to 10 minute quarters, fans who follow international basketball already know that spectators will get just as much bang for their buck.

Think about it – Twenty20 cricket is every bit as good as a one dayer, sevens rugby is as good a spectacle as the game they play in heaven, and no one even noticed when the AFL shortened its quarters (or when it lengthened them again!).

What the fans will get is some fast, furious and more intense basketball than ever before – all they have to do is turn up and provide the atmosphere.

The people the change from 48 minutes to 40 will really affect are the players. The way the NBL game is measured is going to change, from quantity - the North American way – to efficiency, the European way.

Now I’m not saying that Aussie and Kiwi basketball is going to change its spots and become the slow down, low scoring affair we often see in Europe, that’s just not in our players’ makeup.

But eight less minutes means a lot less possessions – up to 50 less per game - making every possession more important.

The players are on notice – efficiency is the key.

Those eight minutes allow for a couple of extra ebbs and flows in each game, and mean that a player missing a few jump shots in a row can easily be made up for. But those misses will be magnified now.

Efficiency is the key to winning 40 minute games, just have a look at Wollongong’s performance at the Top End Challenge.

The Hawks committed 15 less turnovers than their opposition across three games, looking after the ball well and using it smartly. They shot at an ultra-impressive 51% from the floor, and did it by getting the ball inside – scoring 134 points inside to just 94 for their oppo.

Fouls are crucial in 40 minute games. The Hawks forced opponents into committing 77 fouls for the tournament, and efficiently made them pay by shooting their 93 free throws at 74%.

While Gordie McLeod is well known as an offensive genius, his team was efficient at the defensive end too, committing just 55 fouls for the tournament, sending their oppo to the line just 56 times.

In a 40 minute game, every minute that a star player is sitting on the bench in foul trouble becomes more important. And fouls become a more efficient strategic tool.

With two less minutes per quarter, but still five team fouls before the bonus, if a team doesn’t give away cheap fouls through poor fundamental D, they can use those fouls as a tactic to slow fast breaks or stop a penetrating player before he reaches the basket. The damage is limited to a side ball.

Of course, a couple of undisciplined fouls earlier in the quarter and that same foul to stop the break results in two free throws. Cheap fouls are inexcusable this year.

Efficiency can mean a lot of things on a basketball court – shooting a high percentage, taking good shots, restricting turnovers, boxing out, good fundamental defence, getting the ball quickly up the floor to use the full 24 seconds.

The teams who do it best can limit opposition runs, making it hard for teams to establish a big lead or come from behind.

And while teams need to make some subtle adjustments, a number of individual players will too.

Fans offer wonder why James Harvey has not been able to translate his outstanding club form to the international scene. While he hasn’t had a huge amount of opportunities, a strong reason is that Harvs is a volume player.

Everyone knows that he blows hot and cold, but when he gets hot, lookout – he can nail a heap of shots in a row. But you can’t afford to run your offence like that in international basketball – largely because the good teams can efficiently close out a game once they establish a lead.

So while Harvey will no doubt still be an elite player in the NBL this year, and Blaze coach Joey Wright will still run the ball through his hands plenty, Harvs is going to have to be more circumspect about when to fire and when to get his teammates involved, or else his cold patches could cost the Blaze a number of games.

Corey ‘Homicide’ Williams is another star who will need to make some adjustments. When he is on, there is no one that can stay in front of this playground legend - he is very much the key to Trevor Gleeson’s run, gun, stun and have some fun in the sun offence.

But he also goes missing for periods of the game, where he commits silly turnovers and doesn’t hustle back on defence. No question he can lead them back in a hurry, but a smart team can use their fouls to put the woeful free-throw shooting Crocs on the line and kill their momentum.

It will be a challenge for Gleeson to monitor Williams and get Kelvin Robertson or Michael Cedar into the game before his team is hurt on the scoreboard when Williams’ mind wanders.

What about the players who will be right at home in the 40-minute game?

Well, they don’t get much more efficient than Stephen Hoare. The man hits open jumpers, finds open men, makes good decisions, doesn’t turn the ball over, rebounds, switches on defence and rarely misses a box out.

Hoare’s numbers will likely drop more than many players this year, as a greater percentage of offences are geared to star players, but his value won’t.

Same goes for Sam Mackinnon. He rarely takes a bad shot, gets heaps of deflections, is continuously helping on defence, gets steals, blocks, rebounds and is a ‘glue guy’ on offence who sacrifices himself to get good shots for others.

If anywhere near his best this year, his value will be magnified. Now, is there anyone left uninjured at the Tigers to capatilise on his work?

What about CJ Bruton? He is an interesting case.

He makes smart decisions, plays excellent team defence, creates open shots for teammates, and shoots a high percentage himself. Seems like he is well suited to the 40-minute game, and he certainly had no problems dominating the Israeli league in that format.

But I think CJ’s scoring might drop off. He is a classic point guard who picks and chooses his moments to score, usually once he has got teammates involved and the defence is focused elsewhere.

There are fewer moments to pick and choose from in a 40-minute game though, and his time in a Boomers singlet has shown that the games where he hasn’t been aggressive early, he has not put up big numbers.

It will be interesting to see what adjustments he, and other players and coaches around the league, make once the season-proper starts.

Teams that rebound, defend, look after the ball and shoot a high percentage will still win games, but the lapses in these fundamental areas will be shown up to a greater extent this year.

Paulo Kennedy
www.fiba.com