In Reply to: Re: Cronin = Howland: Offense only as good as the players posted by traprh on January 13, 2026 at 14:04:41
bball is supposed to be a non-contact sport.
I remember how Rick Mahorn and Bill Lamebeer used to play low-post D. And others like them.
I remember how those two guys "played" (hit) guys like Jordan when he would attempt to get to the rim. And others like them.
I remember how Derek Harper and Arron Afflalo would arm-bar/hand check guys trying to bring the ball up court. And others like them.
I remember how Charles Barkley used to back-down/butt slam guys trying to keep him out of the paint/low block area. And other guys played like Barkley, too.
But nobody. And I mean NOBODY. Does that shiit today.
It is just not allowed. Not only will the refs not allow it. But the fans don't want to see it. The announcers don't want to see it. You think Ucla crowds are small? (Trust me...they are.) But we're talking bball crowds in the micro realm if coaches started having their teams play that way.
So I'm just not buying the assertion that the b10 plays a "more physical" brand of bball than other conferences.
Like every team in a given conference plays exactly the same way. Because they don't. There's a recipe for failure. "Let's do exactly what our hated rival does...but we'll be better at it than they are! Even though their players are bigger/stronger/faster than us, and their coaches are really good at teaching their style of play, while I kinda suck at it, because I hate the way they play the game."
Once upon a time, nobody shot 3s in large volumes. But guess what? some teams saw an advantage in building their O around shooting high volumes of 3s. And they had some success, emphasizing 3s from the corner. So the pendulum starting swinging. Then 'nova won an NC shooting a high volume of 3s. Then the pendulum went ALL THE WAY OVER to the far side. Then some teams really underperformed, and the style of play was UGLY, and the coaches got fired. So new coaches came in, maybe trying to blend the strategy...dunks are ok, guys! You don't HAVE to shoot a 3 when you have a wide-open breakaway...it's ok to dunk! Take the 99% probability 2 (1.98 expected points) over the 40% probability 3 (1.2 expected points)....1.98 > 1.2. #math. (Thx, Captain)
And what does "physical" even mean?
Is it Mahorn/Lamebeer on D?
Or Barkley on O?
Does both have to be demonstrated for a conference to be declared "physical"? Does any empirical evidence have to exist to justify the assertion? Or does Dick Vitale just wave his hands and declare it to be so?
To my eye, Mara was pretty bad his FR year. He was better his SO year. Was it because he as more "physical"? I didn't see him mugging & thugging guys. I saw a kid who was in better physical SHAPE. He could run around more. He could run around longer. Is that what we're talking about? *Fitness level*?
And now as a JR he seems to be even better than he was last year. Is he a more "physical" player? I don't think so. I don't watch much U-M bball. But his game still seems to me to be based more on skill than on brute power.