When a team gives up on defense

[3ball]

It can only happen when the team thinks their offense can't keep up, so putting forth the defensive effort isn't worth it.

Is there any scenario where a team thought their offense COULD keep up, but still decided to give up on defense?

I don't think so.

I think that a team can feel when their offense is sticking, and the other team's is flowing... if the sticking team doesn't think they can get it figured out, the possibility that they will give up on defense enters the equation - once they realize their offense can't keep up, the logical motivation is there to give up defensively.

i think this is what happened to the Heat in the 2014 Finals - why else did the Spurs do so much better offensively against the Heat than they did against anyone else?... they made the Heat quit defensively, which wouldn't have happened if the Heat thought their offense could keep up.

that's what can happen when one team's brand of offense and strength as a team is vastly superior to another's.
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[NZStreetBaller]

I think the spurs wanted it alot more then the heat and always had a better flow then any team. Pop just gave the well oiled machine an oil change.

[3ball]

i guess this one must have hit too sensitive a nerve for stans to respond.

but it makes perfect sense - the spurs went apeshit offensively ONLY against the Heat... they made the Heat quit on defense, which only happens if the Heat players realized their offense couldn't keep up.

if the Heat players thought they COULD keep up offensively, they would have no reason to give up like that defensively.

so it all goes back to the the Heat's suboptimal offense, and how that ultimately had a negative effect on their defense...

in previous threads, i've mentioned a theory about how a bad offense leads to the other team's buckets going unanswered, and unanswered buckets are the source of momentum for teams - it's like a kid administering an ass-whooping whose grin and enthusiasm gets bigger and bigger with each unanswered blow.

in the end, the dynamic just described of unanswered buckets giving the other team momentum, is similar to the situation described in the OP, where a team gives up defensively because they realize their offense can't keep up - it's easy to see how the two scenarios often happen simultaneously.

ultimately, a bad offense makes the other team's offense better... and this happens because of the two reasons just described: 1) the team with the bad offense realizes their offense can't keep up, which provides the motivation to give up defensively, and 2) a bad offense allows the other team's buckets to go unanswered, and the unanswered buckets gives the other team momentum
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