Transition basketball is what separates great teams from good.

Fast break is like breakfast, it’s not just the first meal, it’s the most imporant.

Small W’s
5 min readSep 9, 2021

No great team, in the history of basketball, hasn’t had a lethal transition offence.

As the game has evolved, it has increased in pace. That’s well documented.

What gets neglected, is the importance of the odd man rush. These plays are what separates good teams from great.

It is the single biggest distinguishing factor from the college game to the pros; the ability to execute in the open floor.

Every time.

For that is the standard that the great teams set.

An odd man rush must end in one of two scenarios:

  1. A made bucket.
  2. Free throws.

No exceptions.

No alternatives.

No cap.

The standard for fast break execution becomes more and more demanding the higher you climb in competitive stature.

High-school kids run fast breaks the way Brian Fantana wheels women:

60% of the time it works, every-time.

In college, you need to take advantage of every odd man scenario if you’re going to make it to March.

And that’s not acknowledging the hard fact that, unless you can excel in the open court at the college level, you won’t get drafted to the pros.

NBA athleticism shows itself at the collegiate level in the open court.

Look at any of the recent top 10 picks in the draft the last 10 years. It’s filled with kids who were terrorizing college defenses in transition.

The space and pace increases dramatically in the professional game. Scouts want to see players who can slip the leash and demonstrate the playmaking and physicality that exists during every possession in the NBA.

At least, in the regular season.

Because when the playoffs start, NBA basketball becomes a competition between two teams trying their best to score in the halfcourt.

Fast breaks become novelty. Teams and home crowds pounce on them with fervor.

A loose basketball on the hardwood becomes a gallon of fish chum.

It’s dinner or die time. Your squad needs to take advantage of the opportunity and come away with some points.

I’d even go so far as to call it less of an opportunity, and more of an obligation.

Consistent fast break execution is a pre-requisite for success.

Pace of play is dictated, and heavily monitored, by coaches and point guards during the finals.

Turnovers are a death sentence, regardless of how well every other aspect of your game goes.

Possession doesn’t matter as much in basketball as it does in football, but it’s damn close.

Sure, you might think that this years finals are an exception; the Suns and Bucks were both slow paced teams.

But there’s one thing wrong with that line of thought.

^ this guy is a fast break. And the best in the league at that.

Giannis, like Lebron his whole career, but especially in Miami, is a one man fast break. In transition, with the ball in his hands, crossing the half court line, he is a bucket or a free throw.

Every.

Single.

Time.

Lebron’s the same. He and Wade running the wings in Miami?

Good lord, it was an automatic highlight.

Where Lebron is different, still, is his ability to find the open shooter. He is gauranteed to score, or get fouled. And, if not, it’s an open 3.

For KCP. For Ray Allen. For Mike Miller. For J.R. Smith.

Whomever.

You can’t turn the ball over against Lebron. Easier said than done. Because good defense bleeds into the fast break.

Forcing turnovers was the Heats bread and butter defensively.

Running a pick n roll wasn’t an invitation to get an open look, it was inviting a death trap.

Those dudes flew around causing chaos, and then found the open lane.

But they still aren't’ the cream of the crop in transition basketball. Not in this writers mind.

I’ve never seen a better transition team than Golden State.

They were impossible to guard in the open floor.

Lebron and Giannis are men (as far as we can prove).

The Warriors weren’t human. Because while you can’t stop Giannis and Lebron from getting to the hoop, and if you did stop Bron, he’d always find the open shooter (pray he misses), you can’t cover the amount of space the Warriors could score from in transition.

There is no scheme. There is no player capable.

There is no opponent.

Steph needs to be met at half.

Klay is the greatest catch and shoot player in the history of basketball.

And KD is 7ft tall with an 8"2' release point.

All of them are lethal from 10ft beyond the 3point arc.

All are fast. All are great finishers at the rim.

They are the 3 best shooters in the history of the sport.

If you turned the ball over against the Warriors, you were giving up 3 points.

You’d be lucky if they decided to dunk on you instead.

Look at the past dynasties of the NBA:

The Warriors

The Heat (These first two are debatable dynasties, but lets include them for now).

The Lakers of 03 with Shaq and Kobe.

The Bulls of the 90’s.

The Celtics of the mid 80's.

The Lakers of the early 80’s.

All of them owners of the best fast break in the league.

A great fast break doesn’t always equal a championship:

The Suns of mid 2000’s

The Thunder of the early 2010’s

Any team with John Wall on it.

There is correlation, not causation.

But what you can be sure of, is that a team that thrives in the open floor is one that can win any game.

And as the speed of the sport increases, we can only wonder what is coming next.

And what the league will look like after.

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Small W’s

West coast kid with love for the East. Just out of uni and working on being alive. Will try almost anything once and will definitely write about it. Stay tuned.