There really aren’t two sports more diametrically opposed and unsuitable for comparison than football and basketball. One favors brute force while one favors smooth actions. One requires careful strategizing and the other is more suitable to on-the-fly adjustments. One is potentially remarkable while one is potentially disappointing. Nonetheless, future Super Bowl Champions the Chicago Bears have taken to comparing their defense to the Lakers’ Run and Gun fast break1. And while I whole-heartedly support both the Chicago Bears and irrational comparisons, I can’t seem to get behind this at all.
For starters, the Lakers fast break relied primarily on the creativity and decision making of Magic Johnson. This contrasts greatly with the Bears consistent use of the Cover 2 defense. Typically content to sit back, they judiciously blitz and when they do it is only at the most opportune times2. Sure Brian Urlacher is the heart of the defense, but his contributions, while astounding, fall intellectually short of the artistry of Magic. The plays Urlacher makes are often out-of-this-world but this is more a symptom of his freakish athleticism than an expression of creativity. Furthermore, in what way can we compare the defensive line play to the front court of that particular Lakers team? The loss of Tommie Harris has removed all creativity from the Bears defensive front3. Without his knifing antics inside we are left with no realistic comparison to the majesty of Kareem’s skyhook.
True, the Bears’ defense has a desire to play fast, the one true similarity between these two teams. However, even the speeds of these two conglomerates differ. The Bears use of quickness and agility is a depth charge to the conventional wisdom that defenses must be composed of terrifically huge men. The Lakers of yesteryear were simply the elite manifestation of the speed obsessed 80s4. A team such as the Nuggets possessed the same mindset to simply outscore other teams, but they were significantly less successful.
Aside from the fact that this is comparing a football defense to a basketball offense, it is so impossible for the Bears to consider their defense the gridiron equivalent to the Showtime Lakers. Who knows though? Maybe I’m totally wrong about this and the Bears defense and the Lakers fast-break are truly analogous. And if I am wrong, Mike Brown is totally James Worthy.
1 I’m assuming this refers to the Showtime Lakers rather than the current Kobe Lakers, but you’d have to ask Nathan Vasher to be sure.
2 In this manner, they are similar to the Spurs of today.
3 This is not necessarily a bad thing.
4 Not just in sports. See the concurrent cocaine explosion.
