Since Yao Ming of the rockets went down, and since Shaquille O'Neal of the Suns (formerly of the Heat) was traded, I've heard a disturbing assertion; that teams with "slow big men" can't run a fast break. Allow me to dispel that rumor.
Regardless of the level you play on, a fast break opportunity presents itself when your team has "numbers," that is, you have more players running toward your basket than the other team has defenders protecting it. You generally have a fast break opportunity when the numbers are 4 on 3 (or fewer), 3 on 2 (or less), or 2 on 1. Please note that I never said 5 on 4! A basketball team that knows what it's doing will NEVER fast break with all 5 players; it leaves no one back on defense in the event of a turnover and it does not allow for a "trailer;" a guy who brings up the rear to attack the basket as the defense attempts to set up to play in the half-court. This is only one reason why having Shaq or Yao on your team would not hinder a fast break; they would be the fifth guy who would seldom if ever join a fast break in any case!
Fast breaks generally start in one of two ways. First, the other team misses a shot, your team rebounds the miss and starts the fast break by throwing an "outlet pass" to a man on the wing who then either passes the ball to the center of the court or dribbles to that position so he can distribute the ball to either wing as he attacks the basket. The rule being that, when the force player on the other team commits defensively to the ball-handler, he dishes a pass to either wing as he attacks the basket. Fast breaks can also start off of steals. Steals generally occur on the perimeter, but even a steal in the post will result in a fast break in transition if your team has numbers and will occur in exactly the same way as described above.
As the leading rebounders for their respective teams, Yao and/or Shaq would be the guy who starts the fast break by rebounding the ball and throwing the outlet pass. That's the guy who becomes the trailer; the last guy to transition into offensive mode! In the case of a steal, these guys would have been situated on the low post in most cases, which means that they'd be the last guy down the floor in any case, taking the job of "emergency defender" if there's a turnover or a steal that send the other team on a fast break in transition.
To put it in fewer words; Yao or Shaq, as the case may be, would seldom if ever be "running the floor" as a fast break participant in any case, so why would their presence ever hinder their team from running one? The fact is, they are the crucial cog in one of the two ways (rebounding) that their respective teams would be able to fast break in the first place! Without assurance of a defensive rebound, their teammates are more likely to hang around the basket to assist with defensive rebounding and would therefore be much less likely to "release" in transition to fill the lanes and run a fast break. Bottom line: teams are LESS likely to fast break without Shaq or Yao than they would be WITH them, which means that this whole notion of Shaq or Yao killing fast break opportunities is just pure hog-wash!
Hope that cleared that up! - Dan
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