Olympic Basketball Reminds Us That You Can Allow Defense And Still Make The Game Fun

Basketball was the sport I played the longest growing up, and I love its simplistic beauty. It’s not an overly complicated game, yet if it's played well, it can be such a joyous game to play and watch.

However, I can’t stand the NBA, which is supposed to be the highest and most developed level of the sport. The part that annoys me the most - more than the fact that all superstars act like divas and that it’s a super pro-woke league - is the fact that the league has done everything it can to erase defense from the game.

Guys like Luka Doncic (with ball) have made a living off of being great isolation players. But that style of play - which is pervasive in the NBA - has made games very boring. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

The way in which the league has done this most dramatically is by penalizing players from staying for more than three seconds in the paint (if a defender does this, the other team gets a one-shot technical). When the NBA made this rule official in 2001, it thought this would allow for more explosive plays at the rim and increase the scoring in games.

Instead, it’s turned into, as former NBA guard John Wall said, a glorified pickup game.

He's 1,000% correct.

NBA basketball has turned into an isolation-heavy game that forces most defenders to have to guard the best dribble-drivers in the world one-on-one. Because no one can stay in the paint to help out in those situations, nearly anyone can get to the rim with relative ease at will.

There’s no offensive strategy other than "get it to your best iso guy, let him dribble it for 10 seconds, maybe give him a pick and roll every now and again, and call that good offense." There's no moves and counter moves action (I’ll expand on that in a bit), and it’s completely watered down the beauty of the game I love.

Thankfully, the Olympic format is showing us that you can still play beautiful basketball without eliminating defense.

Allowing Defenders To Stay In The Paint Makes The Game Better

Today, the USA men’s basketball team played its final exhibition match before the 2024 Summer Olympics against Germany. If you just look at the box score - a 92-88 win for the Americans - you might think it was boring basketball to watch. After all, a game can’t be exciting if the teams don’t combine to score at least 230 points and aren't shooting stepback threes all the time, right?

Wrong. So incredibly wrong.

Again, when any teams play in an international format, defenders can stand in the paint as long as they want. This means that spreading everyone out on offensive isn’t as effective, so you have to use other methods to score.

You’ll have to kick out if help comes on your drive. You’ll have to set hard screens and run off them tightly to get open. You’ll have to pass quicker to keep the defense from setting. You’ll have to get out in transition quicker. And for once, guards will have to stop being selfish for a minute and pass down low to big men to get the defense to react (I was a power forward when I played, can you tell)?

All of that leads to some pretty fun offense to watch. (Note: this is just a small sample size. There were many more possessions like these).

To give the Germans their due, they also did all of what I highlighted to make this a highly competitive game. Each side found ways to get guys open even with the increased defense, and did so using so much offensive creativity and unselfishness. 

That is exactly what basketball is meant to be: predicated on consistent ball and player movement, and using that to find the shots you want.

Thank you, Olympics, for reminding us that basketball can be so much more than an isolation-heavy game - and still be so much fun to watch.