Miami Heat Winning with LeBron James and Playing Don Nelson’s ‘Nelly Ball’

September 1st, 2012 by Frances White Leave a reply »
The road to an NBA championship has always been dominated by half-court execution and having players play traditional roles. Hence the abundance of titles of two storied franchises: the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. They have always been blessed with Hall of Fame players that epitomize traditional roles at a very high level. 

The last champions with a smallish team were the 2004 Detroit Pistons, led by Chauncey Billups. They played the necessary defense, but head coach Larry Brown preferred walking the ball up the court.

The idea that a team could win championships by continuously running is not a new idea. Don Nelson brought it into play as head coach of the 1977 Milwaukee Bucks purely out of necessity. Center Kareem Abdul Jabbar had broken his hand in a fight and Nelson was forced to pick up the tempo of the game with a smallish lineup. 

Nelson's most successful stint with this style of play was with the Golden State Warriors teams of the late '80s early '90s. These teams featured the trio of Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullins, a group known as "Run TMC."

He ran it in& ...

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