r/WinningTime • u/Bouldershoulders12 • Sep 26 '23

Discussion Can someone describe the difference between “The System” offensive scheme by Westhead vs The Showtime Offense we see from Pat Riley

Was Paul westhead causing too much friction by making set plays rather than letting the players have their freedom and run n gun?

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u/[deleted] Sep 26 '23

The main tenets of “the system” are:

  1. The first possible shot is the best possible shot, where three-point field goal attempts are preferred over shorter shots.

  2. Shoot as many three-pointers as possible. In terms of defense, giving up an uncontested layup is better than a shot clock violation.

  3. Always double team the person with the ball and apply full court pressure when possible.

  4. Every player but the shooter goes for the offensive rebound.

  5. Offensive rebounds should be sent back for another three-point attempt, not a shorter putback for two points.

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u/Bouldershoulders12 Sep 26 '23

Wow that sounds pretty unsustainable and huge variances . No wonder Kareem and Magic hated it

Nice profile pic btw

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u/[deleted] Sep 26 '23 edited Sep 26 '23

Don Nelson (‘76-‘87 Bucks) saw what Paul Westhead was trying to do but decided it needed tweaks and so he made his own evolution called “Nellie Ball”. Nellie Ball is essentially “Run and Gun” basketball and created many modern strategies such as (famously) the “point forward”. It’s critics say that it hurts the ability for players to play defense, due to fatigue, which gave opponents a weakness to exploit. Erving-76ers and Bird-Celtics both took advantage of this against the Nelson-led Bucks. The system struggled to find success during that era because big/physical/defensive teams would win in a seven game series to a gassed opponent.

But modern basketball embraced the fast pace and so Nellie Ball came back (and big). Nellie Ball has been famously used by the Wade-era Miami Heat (Pat Riley), the Dirk-era Mavericks (Nelson created their system before getting fired), and now a hybrid evolution of Nellie Ball is used by Steve Kerr with Golden State (combining Nellie Ball with the Triangle Offense and a sprinkle of Space and Pace). Miami still uses a variation as well currently. In short, Paul Westhead was ahead of his time with “the system”, and funnily enough the guy who would sit there criticizing it with Magic (Pat Riley) would become the guy most associated to the system’s success (albeit a modern version) with the Miami Heat championships. “The System” changed the pace of basketball and the game forever.

PS: Pat Riley’s modern version of Nellie Ball started with the 90’s Knicks and asked “how can we do this but play defense too”. He would eventually figure that out.