Nellie Ball

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Nellie Ball is an unconventional offensive strategy in basketball developed by NBA head coach Don Nelson. It is a fast-paced offense relying on smaller, more athletic players who can create mismatches by outrunning their opponents. A large volume of three-point attempts is generally a staple of Nellie Ball as well.^[1] This offense is most effective against teams that do not have the athleticism or shooting ability to keep up with the fast pace.

Coach Nelson most famously used Nellie Ball in three of his coaching stops. First, with the Golden State Warriors, where Nelson used an unconventional lineup that featured three guards (Mitch Richmond, Tim Hardaway and Šarūnas Marčiulionis), two forwards (Chris Mullin and the 6-8 Rod Higgins at center). This incarnation of Nellie Ball led the Warriors to many winning seasons and playoff berths despite an undersized lineup. While coaching the Dallas Mavericks, Nelson employed Nellie Ball, utilizing the trio of Steve Nash, Michael Finley, and Dirk Nowitzki. Nelson often would play Nowitzki, a natural power forward, at the center position, placing him at the three-point line in order to stretch out the defense. His latest success with Nellie Ball came with his second stint as head coach of Golden State, with a lineup consisting of larger-sized guards and smaller forwards and centers. In the 2007 NBA Playoffs, his 8th-seeded Warriors executed one of the greatest upsets in NBA history by defeating the 1st-seeded Dallas Mavericks.^[2] Former Mavericks head coach Avery Johnson, who replaced Nelson in Dallas, had abandoned Nellie Ball in favor of a more traditional offensive lineup.

Nellie Ball has a fair share of opponents, who claim that the strategy is fatally flawed. Many basketball critics contend that no team can ever win a championship playing Nellie Ball, mainly because the strategy puts such an emphasis on offense and scoring that a team playing Nellie Ball will not have the energy to play defense.^[2] Nellie Ball also tends to rely very little on basketball fundamentals. In addition, these critics argue that Nelson's offense, while innovative and exciting, is only successful to a point. Skeptics contend that his offense is unable to disguise deficiencies, such as the inability of an undersized power forward or center in Nelson's system to dominate in terms of defense and rebounding. Plus, they claim that it is even more difficult to play Nellie Ball when guards are on a cold streak in terms of shooting the ball, making it difficult for teams running the offense to win basketball games. Nowhere is this more evident than during playoff time, where teams tend to get more serious and play tougher defense.^[3] Critics who don't support Nellie Ball could also point out that while Nelson has amassed a huge number of victories by running the offense, he has never won an NBA title as a head coach. Nor has he ever coached a team to the NBA Finals. Thus, Nelson has the rather dubious distinction of having recorded the most coaching victories without making an NBA Finals appearance.

Former Phoenix Suns head coach Mike D'Antoni used a running style of offense similar to Nellie Ball, featuring Steve Nash who successfully ran Nellie Ball with Nelson himself in Dallas. Incidentally, while D'Antoni did help elevate Nash into the upper echelon of legendary NBA point guards (Nash won back-to-back NBA Most Valuable Player awards in 2005 & 2006),^[3] D'Antoni nonetheless failed to see his style of offense produce an NBA championship. His Suns squads made it to the postseason every year after Nash was acquired, and even made back-to-back Western Conference Finals appearances in 2005 & 2006. However, the Suns were eliminated from the NBA Playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs 3 times in the 4 seasons he has made the playoffs with Nash (2005, 2007, 2008). In 2005 & 2007, the Spurs ended up winning the NBA title. In the 2006 Western Conference Finals, Nash and the Suns were eliminated by his former team, the Dallas Mavericks. D'Antoni resigned from the Suns after being eliminated from the 2008 Playoffs, but he was hired to be the head coach of the New York Knicks, beginning in the 2008-2009 NBA season.

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