A 3-point plan: the Rockets' offense gives them an outside shot at winning the title

Sporting News, The, June 13, 1994 by Paul Attner, Ted Rodgers

For all the brilliance of Hakeem Olajuwon, his presence is not what makes these Houston Rockets unique NBA Finalist. Rather, the Rockets are using the final round as a coming-out party for the 3-point shot. In the process, their no-conscience perimeter gunners -- you've got to love their persistence -- might uncover a way for the NBA to gain relief from the muggings that have marred so many of this spring's playoff games.

Wait a second, you say. Hasn't the 3 been around for a while? If so, what's the big deal about the Rockets liking the shot? And what about the 3-loving Suns in last year's Finals?

Yes, the 3 has been part of the NBA rule book for 15 seasons now. But there is something to chew on: No team that has led the league in 3-pointers has won a title, including the 1992-93 Suns, who got to the Finals against the Bulls, then drastically reduced their reliance on the long-range shot. More striking, no club that has won the title over the first 14 seasons of the 3-era has embraced the weapon as an equal partner in its offense. Up to now, the 3 has been a sideshow to the dunks and jumpers and isolation plays that provide the bulk of the NBA's points.

The Rockets want to change all that. They broke records this season for 3s attempted and 3s made and, unlike the Suns, they have seen no reason to stop just because it is playoff time. The Rockets have demolished many of the postseason 3-point records for four-and five-game series, and they teamed with the Suns to wipe out virtually every standard in a seven-game showdown. Sometimes it seems every Rocket but the great Olajuwon is willing to toss up a 3. You know for darn sure that Coach Rudy Tomjanovich, once a star Rockets player, sits on the bench wishing he could suit up again so he could fire away, too.

"I'd love to play in our offense," Tomjanovich says. "I mean, it's just like you were still in the driveway as a kid, shooting the ball with a straight look at the basket. That's how you practiced 90 percent of the time. Someone would toss you the ball, and you'd be facing the basket and shooting. You don't have to get the ball on the move or with your back to the basket or so you have to drive. You just have to get off the shot before the defender arrives."

Tomjanovich now is about to make history with this driveway offense. He is the first coach in the NBA Finals to say, "The 3 is the key to our success." That's right, not rebounding, not defense, not Olajuwon. Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan says, "They can hurt you in so many ways. When they shoot the ball (from the perimeter), they're just awfully tough to beat." Simply, if the Rockets' outside shooters produce in the Finals, the team wins. But if they disappear, it won't matter how well Olajuwon plays. Hail, finally, to the coming out of the 3.

"This is a significant event," says Jerry Reynolds, the former Kings general manager. "In this league, teams that win lead to other teams playing copycat. If you won with a guy hobbing along on one leg, they'd try to copy it. If Houston wins using this system, other teams will be eyeballing it right away. What if you had a great center like in San Antonio? Isn't this a way of winning with him, by making 3s set part of you offense.?

"Maybe it will help loosen things up a bit on offense too. All this bumping and pushing that we are seeing is leading to teams standing around on offense. The 3 opens things up for an offense and lets them use the whole court. If makes defenses spread out. It leads to five-man basketball, which is a lot more exciting for fans than some of what we are seeing now."

It is still a low-percentage shot (the Rockets' 38 percent accuracy this season is considered a display of precision). But just maybe whatever success the Rockets have with the 3 in the Finals will persuade some of these Neanderthal thinkers that they might be able to win from the outside instead of trying to always smash away on the inside. After, all a move back to basketball as it should be played has to start somewhere.

"Obviously, not every team has the personnel to put up a lot of 3s," says Dave Twardzik, the Hornets' director of player personnel. "It's still a low-percentage shot, so it isn't a cure-all for an offense, but this is a trendy league. If Houston wins the title, people will copy what is successful. It will become a priority, if not a top priority."

It is fun to watch the Rockets launch all these long-range shots. Just the anticipation alone can be exciting. And isn't that what the NBA should be about?

"The game itself undergoes a natural evolution, and that is what is happening with the 3," says Bullets General Manager John Nash. "You have coaches in the league who played before the 3 was implemented and it's taken some of them a while to get comfortable with it. Now we have this team with a great inside player that is willing to shoot the 3 every night. The game has changed dramatically over the years; this is part of that change."

Teams for the Eastern Conference will have to scramble the most to catch up. The Pacers' Reggie Miller carved out a bit of NBA history with his five fourth-quarter 3s in Game 5 against the Knicks last week, but his output really was a glitch in the Pacer's otherwise conservative Eastern offense. The Pacers averaged only 7.9 3s against the Knicks and 9.7 over the course of the playoffs. The Knicks, with an offense seemingly designed by Dr. Naismith himself, averaged 14.4 against the Pacers and 16.5 during the playoffs, mostly by John Starks. In contrast, consider the Rockets. Against the Jazz in the Western Conference finals, they put up an average of 19.6 3s in five games; over 16 contests this spring, they've averaged 18. Their 289 attempts already is an NBA playoff record, topping the Suns' 277 last year, established over 24 games. The Suns made 100 of those tries; the Rockets had made 112 entering the Finals.