[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

This doesn’t seem that long ago but it’s amazing how much the game has changed over the past 10 years. Watching a game from the 2010 playoffs between the Cavs and Celtics. The Celtics (a team that came within a game of winning the finals that year) were at one point playing a lineup of rondo, Tony Allen, Paul Pierce, Garnett and Kendrick Perkins. That’s essentially 2 complete non-threats on offense 4 guys who aren’t really any type of threat from the perimeter. Imagine a team putting a line up like that on the floor today like the Celtics regularly did in those days?
Obviously this was right before the pace and space era and floor spacing became looked at as vital. It’s just amazing how drastically the game changed within a few years.

[sniperParticipant]

It’s true, there was less ball movement, less player movement, more “hero ball.” Both the teams you watched and the eventual champ relied a lot on their best scorer just going iso or maybe creating something off a screen. (I think the Lakers had more of an inside-out offense because Gasol and Odom were such great passers for bigs — but still I remember a lot of Kobe just standing with the ball 25 feet from the hoop before deciding it was time to abuse his defender). The Suns with Nash and Stoudemire were playing a more modern game in 2010, and almost made the finals though.

It’s like offenses had forgotten that the passed ball moves faster than a defense can react. LeBron was already trying to show another way in 2010 (he got criticized back then for passing to wide open teammates instead of forcing a contested shot). But he didn’t have the teammates in Cleveland, that first time, to run a pace-and-space, movement-based offense. He got it started in Miami though, and then the Spurs took it to the next level.

[Deathly HollowsParticipant]

good luck scoring on Thibodeau’s Rondo/Tony Allen/Pierce/Garnett/Perkins unit.on the other hand,Celtics could just field Robinson/Ray Allen/Pierce/Garnett/Wallace lineup that would have no trouble scoring.

[markpionParticipant]

Good points, i’ll add to all that that the decision making is crisper and the stakes have gone up with all the worldwide NBA coverage.

[Author]

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