Rick Pitino On Maul-Ball

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                                Don't get sold a bill of goods with
                                All-Star Game tickets

                                By Will McDonough, Globe Columnist,
                                06/12/99
                                <snips>


                                Rick Pitino has been appointed to a new
                                committee to study point scoring in the
                                NBA by commissioner David Stern.

                                ''Stern is very concerned and upset by
                                what is happening,'' said Pitino, who will
                                serve with a dozen other league coaches,
                                general managers, and owners to find a way
                                to get the game back to higher scoring
                                levels. ''He wants the games to go back to
                                both teams scoring more than 100 points
                                each. To get that, I think we have to
                                develop some defensive guidelines. Players
                                are getting away with murder on defense,
                                and this is destroying the flow of the
                                offense and the ability to score points.
                                The game has become too physical. Even on
                                the most simple play, like a pick and
                                roll, the defensive player is just using
                                his forearm to push the offensive player
                                around. This has all slowed the game down
                                and made it a halfcourt game.

                                ''It's not as fast, or exciting to watch,
                                as a game with more speed and plays in the
                                open court. When I coached the Knicks, we
                                averaged 117 points a game, and 28 or 29
                                [fast-break opportunities]. This year with
                                the Celtics, we averaged about 18. We've
                                got to take away some of the things the
                                defense is doing. Some guys are averaging
                                40 percent [shooting] from the floor. It
                                should be up around 48. When McHale and
                                Parish were playing, they both averaged 55
                                percent, and Bird was just under 50
                                percent.''

                                Pitino feels the clutch-and-grab tactics
                                that are being permitted don't allow for
                                big offensive explosions.

                                ''The grabbing and holding throws the
                                timing of the offense away,'' he said.
                                ''It takes eight seconds to get the ball
                                over halfcourt, on average. Then it takes
                                another 12 seconds to run the play and try
                                to set up the shot you want. If the timing
                                is destroyed, you run out of time, someone
                                has to go one on one and try to get off a
                                shot before the buzzer. We've got to get
                                the game back to where these players can
                                make plays in the open court and make the
                                game more exciting.''

                                The ''maul-ball'' type of play dates back
                                to the Detroit Pistons of Isiah Thomas,
                                Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman, etc., who
                                won two titles by getting away with murder
                                on the defensive end. This was the start
                                of the so-called ''Jordan Rules,'' in
                                which the Pistons found the best way to
                                stop Michael was to hold him and never let
                                him use the screen to get off the shot.
                                The problem is that the Jordan rules are
                                still in effect for anyone who has any
                                kind of offensive game: Clutch and grab
                                him so he can't get free to get some
                                space. The Knicks have done it to Reggie
                                Miller throughout the playoffs.

                                
                                Will McDonough is a Globe columnist.

                                This story ran on page G1 of the Boston
                                Globe on 06/12/99.
                                © Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.