Unfortunately, the cult of Norman Dale has completely hijacked the whole sport of basketball.
And that's probably a good way to describe it: the most hardcore zealots believe (and endlessly foghorn) that "playing the right way" (i.e., their way) is more noble, admirable, courageous, hardworking, virtuous, morally superior, etc etc etc.
Amusingly enough, "the right way to play" they now endlessly trumpet is largely built on clutch-and-grabbing, body-slamming, the creativity and decision-making ability of everybody on the roster being surrendered to one person (the Armani God on the sideline) and the ultimate goal of the entire game plan distilled down to playing as little actual basketball as you possibly can within the confines of the shot clock (i.e., burning as much time as possible on every possession).
It would be insanity if every team played like Loyola Marymount. But it would be fun as hell, and great for the game at every level, if, say, 25% of the teams did.
Instead, 98.887% of all teams everywhere play, with rare and minor exceptions, the sludgeball of the Bad Boy Pistons and Pat Riley's brassknuckle Knicks (now with the added inanity of clock-milking and chucking up 3's as the shot clock runs out). Some teams play better than others, and they win. Other teams play worse, and they lose. But everyone basically plays the same way.
