Former NBA players and longtime fans complaining about the lack of offensive variety in today\u2019s league has always been a major part of the sport\u2019s discourse, and one that seemingly becomes more pervasive each year. Critics call the NBA a copycat league, where one team figures out an advantageous offensive scheme or action, and the rest of the teams follow suit and start running the same thing. <\/p>\n
There certainly is some<\/em> truth to that \u2014 basketball teams have always liberally stolen from each other\u2019s most-effective schemes, as organizations in all sports do. But if you actually look around the league, there\u2019s more variation than there\u2019s ever been. The Celtics<\/a> play isolation basketball in order to force defenses to bring two defenders to the ball, while the Cavaliers rely on ball movement and cutting to throw off set defenses. <\/p>\n Oh, and if you think every team is just chucking threes, you should probably watch the Oklahoma City Thunder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who are doing nothing of the sort and are actually living in the mid-range en route to the league\u2019s best record.<\/p>\n But perhaps the best illustration of the league\u2019s offensive diversity will be the Golden State Warriors<\/a>\u2019 matchup against the Houston Rockets<\/a> in round one of the playoffs. This series could be a battle for the prevailing offensive philosophy and the soul of basketball, and the future of NBA offense could rest in the balance.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Photo by Barry Gossage\/NBAE via Getty Images<\/cite><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n On one side of round one\u2019s most compelling matchup are the Houston Rockets, a team fully leaning into old-school tactics and strategy, but with modern-day athleticism and skill. Unlike most teams in the league, Houston starts and plays two big men (Steven Adams and Alperen Sengun) for large portions of the game. Contrary to modern beliefs about spacing and shooting \u2014 which suggest that opening up the floor by playing four or five shooters on the perimeter is the most effective offensive strategy \u2014 the Rockets are going for something totally different: the beat-you-up and out-tough-you approach. <\/p>\n Post All-Star break, lineups with Adams and Sengun are offensive rebounding a ridiculous 49.7% of their own team\u2019s shots while they\u2019re on the floor. They\u2019re practically just throwing the ball at the rim and hoping that one of their bigs will clean it up. Think the NBA is soft and everybody is just shooting threes? Watch the twin towers in Houston, who are both spending lots of time in the paint and beating up anyone bold enough to venture towards the rim after seeing what happens to those who try.<\/p>\n The Rockets\u2019 guard and wing play also exudes toughness and grit. They play ultra-physical on the perimeter and hand-check you into oblivion \u2014 Dillon Brooks is maybe the most 80\u2019s-bad-boy-Pistons-esque player in the league and sets the tone for them defensively (and with his incessant trash talk). They also have Amen Thompson and Fred VanVleet; two physical, handsy defenders in their own right. Oh, and they\u2019re led by a coach who not only embraces but encourages physicality and trash talk, as evidenced by calling out Steph Curry \u2014 one of the NBA\u2019s most beloved and respected stars \u2014 for \u201ccrying.\u201d<\/a> Other coaches might allude to similar points in a passive-aggressive presser, but few would be as unabashed and blunt as old-school Udoka. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n On the other side are the Golden State Warriors, perhaps the league\u2019s most innovative offensive team. Of course, the Warriors being at the forefront of modern basketball tactics is nothing new. They\u2019re credited with starting the small-ball revolution, and their famous \u201cdeath lineup(s)\u201d of the 2010\u2019s are a perfect example of how they moved basketball thinking forward. While the rest of the league was still playing two big men who mostly loitered in or around the paint, Golden State\u2019s most dangerous lineups actually had undersized, 6\u20196 Draymond Green at the center position and a combination of Harrison Barnes, Andre Igoudala, or Kevin Durant (depending on the year) at the wing spots. <\/p>\n This year\u2019s Warriors squad is taking it even further. Not only are they still starting Green at center, but the rest of their lineup is even smaller than they\u2019ve typically been; their \u201cpower forward\u201d is Jimmy Butler, who\u2019s only 6\u20197. They started the small-ball trend, but now they\u2019re pushing it to new heights\u2026 with players who are closer to the ground than ever. <\/p>\n The juxtaposition of these two styles \u2014 with the twin towers on one side and smallball on the other \u2014 presents quite the matchup. Will the Rockets\u2019 frontline manhandle the Warriors to the point where they\u2019re forced to go with Kevon Looney at the 5? Or, conversely, will Golden State\u2019s off-ball movement and positionless versatility force Houston to match them with more speed and quickness? Both teams will likely come into the series attempting to play the brand of ball that\u2019s gotten them to this point \u2014 2000\u2019s ball for the Rockets and modern small ball for the Warriors \u2014 but whoever is forced to adjust first could be telling about not just this series, but the future of basketball teambuilding and tactics.<\/p>\n That might sound hyperbolic, but it\u2019s not crazy to say the outcome of this series could change NBA strategy moving forward. If Golden State wins, the league may lean even further towards having as many shooters and ball handlers on the court as possible, no matter their heights. However, if Houston pulls off the upset \u2014they are the underdogs (+138 at Fanduel<\/a>), despite being the No. 2 seed with home court advantage \u2014 the NBA could continue its shift back to something resembling a more athletic and dynamic version of 2000\u2019s era hoops, highlighted by bullyball and massive front lines. <\/p>\n In short, the dominant offensive scheme in the coming years could be dictated, in some minor way, by whether or not the Warriors can prove they are once again light years ahead, or if Houston\u2019s size can give them problems.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nThe Rockets are a new twist on an old basketball truism<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\n<\/picture>\nThe Warriors are pushing small-ball to its natural endpoint<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\n<\/picture>\nIt all sets up a philosophical clash<\/strong><\/h2>\n