Film Study

< Older Entries

Film Study: Spurs Go Iso In Game 5

June 17, 2013  ·  12:26PM

SAN ANTONIO – From an Xs and Os standpoint, these Finals were billed as the San Antonio Spurs’ pick-and-roll game vs. the Miami Heat’s traps. Then came Game 5, when the Spurs switched things up and put themselves on the brink of their fifth championship with isolation basketball.

More isolations were not necessarily a part of the Spurs’ game plan. In many ways, the opportunities presented themselves, beginning with when Norris Cole checked into the game.

Cole replaced Mario Chalmers with 4:32 to go in the first quarter. And on four of the Spurs’ next five possessions, Tony Parker went right at him, getting two buckets in the paint and drawing two fouls. Parker again blew by Cole on the final possession of the first half, going about 55 feet in 4.1 seconds …

On that first possession, while his teammates were running a play, Parker just went straight at Cole. On two others, he didn’t bother using Tim Duncan‘s screen, instead backing out so he could get Cole one-on-one. And in the middle, he went straight at Cole in transition.

Both Parker and Cole checked out after that and the play before the half was Parker’s next chance to go at him. It was a matchup that Parker obviously wanted to exploit, and he did it for nine points on five possessions in the first half.

Cole played just 2:21 of non-garbage time in the second half, entering the game when Parker was taking a rest. But Parker found other matchups he liked, taking advantage of the Heat’s switches on pick-and-rolls to attack Shane Battier, Mike Miller, Dwyane Wade and Miller again …

On each of those possessions, Parker was initially guarded by LeBron James. But on pick-and-rolls involving two non-bigs, the Heat were switching. (Chris Bosh and Udonis Haslem, conversely, would step out, wait for Parker’s defender to get back to him, and then recover to their own man.)

Switching takes some of the bite out of the Heat’s aggressive defense, keeps that second defender *out of Parker’s vision, and allows him to pick which defender he wants to attack. If the Heat are switching and Miller or Ray Allen is on the floor, it should almost be automatic that their man sets a screen for Parker.

* Go back to the Game 2 Film Study and check the screenshot with Chris Andersen keeping Parker from making a penetrating pass.

Parker led all scorers with 26 points and was a perfect 10-for-10 from within 10 feet of the basket on Sunday (James and Wade were each 5-for-14, by the way). Seven of those buckets came via isolations, another two came when he attacked Miller or Chalmers in transition, and the last came when he went away from the screen against James.

So none of the 10 baskets were a result of Parker going with the screen, which has been the bread and butter of the Spurs’ offense for the last few years. Teams make adjustments in a playoff series, and Parker picked a good time to throw a wrench in the Heat’s defensive game plan.

Manu Ginobili also picked a good time to play his best game of the season, scoring 24 points and dishing out 10 assists. He too did a lot of damage in one-on-one situations …

The Heat will have to rethink their switching scheme for Game 6 on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET, ABC). They may need to trap all screens (small-big or small-small) to get the ball out of Parker’s hands, force his teammates to make plays, and avoid the one-on-one matchups that he exploited on Sunday.

“They just absolutely outplayed us,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after Game 5. “At times, they were just picking one guy out at a time and going mano-a-mano. That will change.”

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in 2013 NBA Finals: Spurs-Heat, Film Study / Comments (47) /

Film Study: Big Effort From The Big Three

June 14, 2013  ·  1:16PM

.

SAN ANTONIO – Game 4 of The Finals was the Big Three Game. Facing the prospect of going down 3-1, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh combined for 85 points, 30 rebounds, nine assists, 10 steals and five blocks to lead the Miami Heat to a 109-93 victory.

James gave an MVP performance, Wade turned back the clock to 2006, and Bosh played big. Their numbers were huge, but their performance went well beyond the box score.

In the wake of a rough night from the outside on Tuesday, James said that he hadn’t lost confidence in his shot. And he proved it in Game 4, shooting 7-for-10 from mid-range and 1-for-2 on threes. His eight buckets from outside the paint were more than he had in Games 1-3 combined (7-for-30).

But before he made a single jumper, James set the tone for the game by pushing the ball at every opportunity, looking for easy baskets in transition. After a San Antonio miss or turnover, James was usually in a full sprint toward the Heat basket, whether he had the ball or not.

Here, as soon as Manu Ginobili loses the ball, James takes off, and Norris Cole hits him on the break …


Here’s a leak out after Mike Miller blocks a shot in the third quarter … (yes, Mike Miller really blocked a shot.)

The Heat registered 14 fast-break points (seven from James) on Thursday, their high for the series. But pushing the ball up the floor was also good for getting better shots in their half-court offense. The faster they got the ball across the midcourt line, the more time on the shot clock they had to work with.

The following play was the Heat’s sixth possession of the game. After a made basket on the other end, the ball is passed up the floor and James already has it in the low post with 19 seconds still on the shot clock …


That play resulted in an open baseline jumper for Wade, two of his 32 points. That was Wade’s highest scoring output in more than three months, but he really didn’t shoot well from the perimeter. Wade was 4-for-13 from outside the paint on Thursday and is shooting 32 percent from outside the paint in the postseason.

Of his 32 points, 24 came from the paint (where he shot 10-for-12) or at the free throw line (4-for-4). He made better use of the screens his big men set for him at the elbow and didn’t just take the shots the Spurs’ sagging defense gave him. He attacked the defender going under the screen and kept him on his heels.

Below are some of Wade’s highlights. The first two buckets came via the elbow screen and a crossover dribble. The fourth was a result of James pushing the ball up the floor, and the isolation on Tim Duncan came from a switch on another elbow screen.


More than anything schematic, Wade’s breakout was about energy. He had plenty of it on Thursday and it showed up in the points column.

For Bosh, there were more rolls in his pick-and-roll game, and he had as many baskets in the paint (five) as he had in the first three games combined. But Bosh’s energy really came through on defense, where he registered two blocks, two steals and 11 defensive rebounds. He was denying Duncan in the post, but also able to help his teammates at the basket.

On this possession, Bosh contains a Tony Parker pick-and-roll, helps off Duncan to block Boris Diaw, and then helps again to contest a Parker drive…


The other Bosh block, this time on a Parker drive…


And finally, his denial of Duncan to send Game 4 into garbage time…


As important as Bosh’s defense in the paint was the Heat’s defense on the perimeter. The Spurs had 38 points in the paint (they’ve had 38 or 40 in each of the four games) and 23 at the free throw line (almost twice as many as they averaged through the first three games). But they only got up 16 3-point attempts, half as many as they shot on Tuesday.

Here’s Miller running Ginobili off the 3-point line, Bosh rotating off Duncan, and James helping the helper…


The Heat still haven’t lost two straight games since Jan. 10 and Game 4 was proof of how energy and effort can sometimes change a team’s fortunes.

“I was just trying to keep my foot on the gas,” James said afterward, “and just play until the tank was empty.”

Now, we just have to see if the Big Three can do this two games in a row.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in 2013 NBA Finals: Spurs-Heat, Film Study / Comments (10) /

Film Study: Spurs Dare James To Shoot, And He Does It Poorly

June 12, 2013  ·  11:52AM

.

SAN ANTONIO – Game 3 of The Finals was kind of crazy. The San Antonio Spurs hit 16 3-pointers and blew out the Miami Heat without much production from their best offensive player. Tony Parker scored just six points on 2-for-5 shooting.

But Game 3 was also the continuation of a disturbing trend for the world’s best player. LeBron James shot a brutal 2-for-14 from outside the paint on Tuesday and is now 39-for-164 (23.8 percent) from outside the paint in 18 career Finals games.

In the 2007 Finals, James and his Cleveland Cavaliers were outmatched by the more experienced and talented Spurs. In the 2011 Finals, the Dallas Mavericks vexed James with their zone and zone-ish defenses. James destroyed the Oklahoma City Thunder in last year’s Finals, but almost entirely from the paint.

Interestingly, James’ best jump-shooting Finals was 2011, when he had one really awful game (eight points on 3-for-11 shooting in Game 4) and averaged just 3.0 points on 7-for-21 shooting over six fourth quarters.

In his other three Finals series, James’ jump-shooting ability has fallen off a cliff. And this isn’t a regular season vs. playoffs thing. It’s simply a Finals phenomenon.

James’ Finals shooting from outside the paint

Season Reg. season First 3 rds FGM FGA FG%
2006-07 33.9% 34.1% 8 47 17.0%
2010-11 40.3% 37.1% 17 49 34.7%
2011-12 40.8% 34.9% 7 38 18.4%
2012-13 42.2% 37.8% 7 30 23.3%
Career 36.5% 35.0% 39 164 23.8%

These numbers are from only four games in ’07, six in ’11, five in ’12, and three this year. Still, they’re fascinating and provide fodder for those who still doubt James’ ability to perform on basketball’s biggest stage.

You have to wonder if the fatigue of long playoff runs is a factor. But in three of his four Finals years, James has shot better from outside the paint in the conference finals – where he’s always faced the best defense of his three Eastern Conference opponents – than in the first two rounds.

He shot 32-for-79 (41 percent) from outside the paint against the Pacers’ No. 1 defense in this year’s conference finals after shooting just 19-for-56 (34 percent) in nine games against the Bucks and Bulls.

******

Maybe it’s fatigue. Maybe it’s something mental. Maybe it’s just a fluke.

Whatever the problem is, James has rewarded the Spurs for the way they’re defending him. Basically, they’re not defending him on the perimeter, inviting him to shoot jumpers.

Here are James’ nine mid-range shots (from between the paint and the 3-point line) from Game 3. He was 1-for-9.


On a second-quarter post-up (the second play in the above clip), Danny Green makes James catch the ball about 15 feet from the basket. And then he gives him plenty of space to shoot a face-up jumper …

20130611_green_space

At the end of the second quarter, Green goes under a Norris Cole screen that is set just above the foul line, basically inviting James to shoot from anywhere beyond 12 feet. And his disregard for James’ ability to knock down a pull-up jumper allows Gary Neal to stay at home on Mike Miller in the corner …

20130611_green_under

When James tried to get to the basket is when the Spurs brought help, lots of it.

Here, Green is again defending James on a post-up. And once James puts the ball on the floor, he gets triple-teamed …


.

The next example isn’t a straight post-up, but James backs Green down and once he gets to the block, the Spurs’ swarm arrives, forcing a turnover…


.

Here’s a pick-and-roll example, where Green and Tiago Splitter are in position to help Kawhi Leonard as James comes off a Chris Bosh screen…


.

James was 5-for-7 in the paint on Tuesday, but three of the five buckets came in transition, and a fourth came off a drive-and-dish by Norris Cole. So only once did James get a basket in the paint via one of his own drives or post-ups. It was a post-up jump-hook over Leonard late in the first quarter.

Dwyane Wade, who is 10-for-39 (26 percent) from outside the paint over his last seven games, is getting the same go-ahead-and-shoot-it treatment as James …

20130611_wade_space

At this point, the only guys the Spurs care to guard on the perimeter are Miller and Ray Allen, who are a combined 16-for-20 from outside the paint in the series. And the rest of the Heat — 34-for-117 (29 percent) from outside the paint — aren’t giving them any reason to make an adjustment.

The Heat certainly have defensive issues as well, but if those numbers don’t start to change in Game 4, the champs don’t stand much of repeating.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in 2013 NBA Finals: Spurs-Heat, Film Study, NBA.com/Stats / Comments (93) /

Film Study: Birdman’s Smart Defense Puts Spurs’ Parker In A Game 2 Cage

June 10, 2013  ·  12:25PM

.

MIAMI – Even before the Miami Heat went on a 33-5 run spanning the third and fourth quarters of Game 2 on Sunday, they were enjoying a much more efficient game than they played three nights earlier. Game 2 was played at a glacial pace, keeping the score looking more like a game played in the mid-90s than one played in the mid-80s. But it was a better offensive game than it may have seemed.

Miami’s 50 first-half points were scored on just 39 possessions. And before the 33-5 run started, they had scored 61 points on 54 trips down the floor, an efficiency of 1.13 points per possession, up from 1.02 in Game 1. And this was with LeBron James shooting 2-for-12 at that point.

Other Heat-ers were shooting 23-for-44. They were keeping their turnovers down and giving themselves second chances on the glass. Though the Spurs had already committed more than twice as many turnovers as they had in Game 1 and Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker were all having an off night, San Antonio had a one-point lead.

That’s when the Heat locked down, allowing the Spurs to score just five points over their next 15 possessions, a span that included six turnovers. The stops turned into points on the other end for Miami, and by the time that 15-possession stretch was over, the Heat had a 27-point lead and the Spurs’ big three was done for the night.

The lineup that did most of the damage for the Heat (plus-17 in seven minutes) was a unit of Mario Chalmers, Ray Allen, Mike Miller, James and Chris Andersen. And while the MVP had the ridiculous block on Tiago Splitter, it was Birdman who played the biggest role defensively.

Defensive priority No. 1 for the Heat has been containing Parker, which Andersen did that during the Heat’s run.

With the Heat up seven in the final minute of the third quarter, Andersen stopped two Parker/Duncan pick-and-rolls and then challenged Parker’s short jumper in the lane. After the Spurs got the rebound, Parker isolated on Chalmers, and Andersen was there to help …


.

Duncan would throw the ball away on the ensuing inbounds play.

On the Spurs’ final possession of the quarter, Anderson was there to contain Parker once again …


.

Duncan was open for a flash, but James was on the back line ready to rotate. Getting the ball to Duncan at the dotted circle would have required getting the ball over Andersen, who didn’t leave Parker until he had given up the ball.

20130609_andersen

The Spurs’ first possession of the fourth quarter was one the Heat’s best defensive possessions of the game. Andersen was there to snuff out a Ginobili/Splitter side pick-and-roll (easier said than done when Ginobili is going to his left). Then Mike Miller, after helping on the roll, closed out hard on Gary Neal in the corner. When Neal tried to go baseline, Andersen was there to cut him off and the Heat forced another turnover…


Miller’s defense in this series may be just as important as Andersen’s. We know he’s shooting much better than Shane Battier these days, so if he can hold his own defensively, there are really no questions or issues with Erik Spoelstra‘s rotation. Miller is looking a lot more spry than he did a year ago and he’s busting his tail on defense to make himself even more valuable.

******

Tony Parker in Game 2

Tony Parker’s Game 2 shot chart

Parker was 4-for-9 in the paint in Game 2, not that far off from his 5-for-9 performance in Game 1.

But he had just one bucket from outside the paint, down from the four he had on Thursday, in part because the Heat’s bigs stepped out on those pick-and-rolls and made him give up the ball.

Turnovers were also a big difference. Parker had five of them, with Chris Bosh forcing two straight early in the first quarter by stepping out on screens.

Interestingly, the Heat scored just nine points off the Spurs’ nine live-ball turnovers. So it’s not like the Spurs’ sloppiness really killed them on the other end of the floor. Miami was just much more efficient in half-court situations and on the secondary break.

******

As we saw in the conference finals, the Heat run pick-and-rolls from all angles. They’ll run the standard high pick-and-roll. They’ll set the screen at the elbow (like on Chalmers’ and-one). They’ll run side pick-and-rolls (the Spurs’ bread and butter). They’ll run them toward the baseline. And they’ll run them out of the corner.

One wrinkle we saw on Sunday was the Heat rejecting those screens out of the corner. In fact, here’s a clip of three different Miami ball-handlers — Dwyane Wade, Norris Cole and Chalmers — using a dribble to get their defender’s body moving toward the screen, then crossing over, and taking the open lane on the baseline.

Wade’s drive produces an open three for Chalmers, Cole’s produces an easy tip-in for Andersen, and Chalmers gets a floater for himself…


Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in 2013 NBA Finals: Spurs-Heat, Film Study, NBA.com/Stats / Comments (38) /

Film Study: Spurs Lock Down In The Fourth

June 7, 2013  ·  12:03PM

MIAMI – Game 1 of The Finals was one of the best played playoff games you will ever see. The Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs committed just 13 combined turnovers and 24 combined personal fouls, a Finals record.

But the Spurs took a 1-0 series lead, in part because Tony Parker hit a ridiculous shot and in part because they held down the Heat’s offense in the fourth quarter.

The Heat scored just 16 points on 22 possessions in the final 12 minutes, the only time either team was held under a point per possession in any of the four periods. LeBron James was off the floor for the first 2:59 of the fourth, but Miami still scored just 12 points on 16 possessions after he checked back in.

Those 16 possessions were largely a result of the defensive improvement the Spurs have undergone this season. After an evaluation of what defensive numbers were really important, they improved from No. 11 in defensive efficiency last season to No. 3 this year. And they’ve held their opponents under a point per possession in 11 of their 14 playoff games leading into The Finals.

They forced the Heat into 5-for-18 shooting in the fourth quarter (which made for a very bloody shot chart), as well as five turnovers (four of which were live-balls). It was great defensive work by all five guys on the floor, but the Heat also hurt themselves with some sloppiness and poor decisions.

Here are five noteworthy stops from the final seven minutes…

Possession No. 10 – 6:52 left – Bosh misses a three

James attempted just four of his team’s 18 shots (plus two free throws) in the fourth quarter. And if you want to question his aggressiveness, this is the play to point out.

He comes off a Chris Bosh screen and encounters Tim Duncan outside the paint. The rest of the Spurs – other than Gary Neal, who smartly stays attached to Ray Allen in the corner – are in good help position, ready to help on James or a rolling Bosh.

20130606_james_passive

There are two questions for the Heat on this play. First, does James miss an opportunity to drive past Duncan and get to the rim here? He was 5-for-5 in the restricted area in Game 1, but just 2-for-11 outside it.

Second, shouldn’t Bosh be rolling the basket instead of popping out to the 3-point line? If he rolls, there’s only Parker there to stop him. (more…)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in 2013 NBA Finals: Spurs-Heat, Film Study / Comments (61) /

Film Study: Pacers’ ‘Smash-Mouth’ Offense Thriving Against Heat

May 29, 2013  ·  12:08PM

 

HANG TIME NEW JERSEY – The most amazing thing about the Eastern Conference finals thus far is how efficient the two offenses have been.

Based on *an estimate of possessions, the league’s No. 1 defense (Indiana) has allowed 110.9 points per 100 possessions and the league’s No. 19 offense (Indiana again) has scored 111.3. It’s a small sample size, but both of those numbers would have led the league in the regular season.

*Possessions = FGA + (0.44*FTA) + TO – OREB

And my own (unofficial) possession counts have both teams scoring a little bit more efficiently than the estimates.

MIAMI INDIANA
Game PTS POSS OffRtg PTS POSS OffRtg
Game 1 103 98 105.1 102 97 105.2
Game 2 93 87 106.9 97 86 112.8
Game 3 114 86 132.6 96 86 111.6
Game 4 92 83 110.8 99 82 120.7
Total 402 354 113.6 394 351 112.3

The Heat shot just 39 percent in Game 4 on Tuesday, including 14-for-48 from outside the paint. But they were 24-for-27 from the line and committed just six turnovers. They scored on just one of their final nine possessions, but had scored seven straight times before that and still scored more than a point per possession (22/21) in the fourth quarter.

Although the Pacers showed LeBron James more bodies on his post touches and the MVP seemed a little more passive (11 of his 18 shots came from outside the paint and he attempted just six free throws) in Game 4, defense was Miami’s bigger problem … and has been throughout the series.

The Pacers aren’t a good shooting team and they’re turnover-prone. But they score with second-chance opportunities and trips to the free throw line, “smash-mouth basketball” as Frank Vogel calls it.

Indiana has smash-mouthed Miami in this series. In fact, the Pacers have more than twice as many offensive rebounds (61) and more than twice as many free throw attempts (141) in four conference finals games than the Spurs did (28, 66).

Game 4 was a little unique in that the Pacers outscored the Heat, 50-32, in the paint. Roy Hibbert scored 20 of those 50 points, as much a force on offense as he has been on defense throughout the season.

The Heat have been doing a good job of fronting the post, making it difficult for the Pacers to throw direct entry passes to Hibbert or David West. But Indiana has been able to get them the ball using other action to set up entry passes.

Here, in the first quarter of Game 4, George Hill runs a pick-and-roll with Hibbert. This allows Hibbert to establish deep post position against Chris Andersen, who had jumped out to help on the screen. Two passes later, Hibbert scores on a short jump hook …


.

On this play, Hibbert is stationed on the weak side as Hill and West run a pick-and-roll. This draws just enough of Chris Bosh‘s attention to allow Hibbert to seal his man as the ball is swung. Hibbert misses the jump hook, but Bosh fails to box out, and Hibbert gets one of the biggest baskets of the game …


. (more…)

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in 2013 Conference Finals: Pacers-Heat, 2013 NBA Playoffs, Film Study / Comments (63) /

Film Study: To Help Or Not To Help Is The Question For Knicks And Pacers

May 13, 2013  ·  12:24PM

.

INDIANAPOLIS – Knicks-Pacers isn’t just a series between a great offensive team (New York) and a great defensive team (Indiana). It’s also a contrast in two different defensive styles, and that contrast is a big reason the Pacers have a 2-1 series lead heading into Game 4 on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET, TNT).

The Knicks, who set an NBA record with 2,371 3-point attempts (28.9 per game) this season, took just 11 threes in Game 3, their worst offensive game of the playoffs. Both coach Mike Woodson and center Tyson Chandler talked a lot on Sunday about the need to move the ball more, but the Pacers’ defense had a lot to do with the lack of ball movement and open shots.

The Pacers led the league in 3-point percentage defense and only one team (Chicago) allowed their opponents to take a lower percentage of their shots from beyond the arc. The Knicks have made five or fewer threes seven times this season. They’re 0-7 in those games and three of them were against Indiana.

The key to the Pacers’ 3-point defense is their ability to stay at home on shooters. The Knicks get 3-point attempts by drawing an extra defender to the guy with the ball, whether he’s in the post or running a pick-and-roll, and then moving the ball to the open shooter. The Pacers make that difficult by not sending the extra defender, either as a double-team in the post or as a helper on the pick-and-roll.

The two most important players in this scheme are Paul George and Roy Hibbert, the one-on-one defender and the rim-protector.

In this series, George has the Carmelo Anthony assignment, and he needs no help. Anthony will get his points, but George is a good enough defender to make it difficult (Anthony has shot 39.7 percent in six games against the Pacers this season) and, more important, he allows his teammates to stay with their man. That’s a huge part of the Pacers’ success and an argument for George as their most important player in this series, even though his box score numbers (17.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game, 36 percent shooting) haven’t been that impressive.

Here’s a post-up for Anthony from the first quarter of Game 3. George handles the assignment by himself and his teammates stay at home, giving Anthony little choice but to force a tough turnaround jumper …


Hibbert, of course, is the guy keeping the Knicks away from the basket. On pick-and-rolls, he has the length and smarts to both stay within reach of the roll man and challenge the ball handler if he gets too close to the rim. This is why 16 of Raymond Felton‘s 29 shots in the series have been low-efficiency attempts, coming from outside the restricted area and from inside the 3-point line.

So while the Knicks can talk about better ball movement, it’s easier said than done against the No. 1 defense. Here’s an example of a play where the ball moves quite a bit (four passes in about six seconds), it gets swung to the weak side, and the Knicks still aren’t able to get an open look. The Pacers all stay at home on their man, Hibbert hangs in the paint on the Jason Kidd/Kenyon Martin pick-and-roll, George denies Anthony in the post, and the ball eventually sticks in the hands of Iman Shumpert, who forces a tough shot over Hibbert in the lane…


The Knicks had their best offensive performance of the postseason in Game 2, and Woodson believes that they just need to get back to the way they played in their 105-79 victory.

“In a playoff series, when teams start locking in, you can’t play on one side of the floor,” the coach said Sunday. “That’s what, last night, we went back to that again. So I got to keep screaming and pushing and guys got to recognize that we got to get the ball moving from side to side. That’s the only way we can play and perhaps get out of this series. We can’t just play on one side of the floor with it.”

But the Pacers believe that those 105 points in Game 2 were more about the way they were defending than about what the Knicks were doing offensively. (more…)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in 2013 Conference Semis: Knicks-Pacers, 2013 NBA Playoffs, Film Study, HT News / Comments (15) /

Lakers’ D Still A Work In Progress

December 6, 2012  ·  12:54PM

HANG TIME NEW JERSEY – Kobe Bryant eclipsed the 30,000-point mark on Wednesday, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to do so. He has earned his place in history as one of the greatest scorers the game of basketball has ever seen.

But at the time Bryant scored points 30,000 and 30,001, his Los Angeles Lakers were losing to one of the worst teams in the NBA and Bryant was getting an earful from teammate Dwight Howard.

Apparently, the Lakers can’t win a game – they eventually blew past the Hornets in the third quarter – and make history without some sort of drama.

Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register has the details from New Orleans …

Not too many people would dare point a finger toward Kobe Bryant’s face and back it up with strong words.

Dwight Howard did that Wednesday night to take a stand regarding the Lakers’ need to help each other on defense — specifically for Bryant to help Howard — and came away concluding it did a lot of good.

“I don’t have a problem with saying anything to anybody, and it should be that way,” Howard said after the Lakers’ victory over New Orleans. “We have to be able to talk to each other. We’re a team. We’re a family. And the more chemistry we develop that way, the better we’ll be as a team.”

Twice in the first quarter, Howard was visibly upset after he moved over to provide help defense against Hornets point guard Greivis Vasquez, but no one — specifically Bryant — rotated over to help cover Howard’s assigned man, Hornets center Robin Lopez. The first time, Howard looked back at Bryant with an anguished look on his face and gestured at him after Lopez scored for a 12-7 New Orleans lead.

Here’s a look at that play, and it’s clear why Howard was upset…

Bryant is the man who should be helping on Lopez’s roll on that play, but he doesn’t move. Perhaps he was concerned about his man standing in the corner? That would be Al-Farouq Aminu, who is 2-for-8 from 3-point range this season.

More from Ding…

Three-plus minutes later, Vasquez penetrated past Chris Duhon again, Howard shifted over to help again, and Lopez was left all alone again with Bryant toward the corner near Roger Mason instead of in the paint. Lopez scored for an 18-14 Hornets lead, and although Earl Clark was the Laker in best position to help Howard, he yelled at Bryant about it — prompting Bryant to yell back at Howard and gesture back.

Here’s that play…

While it was obvious who was at fault on the first play, you can see why there’s a difference of opinion on this one. Bryant was denying Mason, who ran a flare cut, so he wasn’t just waiting on the weak side like he was on the first play. Clark, meanwhile, is in perfect position to bump the roll man, but instead recovers out to Ryan Anderson. Of course, Bryant did completely lose track of where the ball was on the floor by turning his head away from the play.

As Ding notes, Bryant was more conscious of the roll man later in the first half. On this example, he puts himself in position under the basket as the pick-and-roll happens on the opposite side…

Of course, Bryant jumps back out of the lane (perhaps to avoid a defensive 3-second call) just as the shot goes up, allowing the Hornets to crash the glass from the weak side. So, let’s just say that the Lakers’ defense is a work in progress.

Even though they’re 9-10, the Lakers currently rank eighth in defensive efficiency and are one of only four teams to rank in the top 10 on both ends on the floor (see table below). But the defense has been inconsistent and from possession to possession. Just four days ago, L.A. gave up 113 points to the Orlando Magic, who rank 28th offensively this season. The defense was a little better in Houston on Tuesday, but the Rockets hit a big three down the stretch when Bryant got caught up in a screen and then was slow to recover (1:12 mark of the highlights).

Bryant can be a bulldog (sorry, Doberman) one-on-one defender when he wants to be, but he’s certainly not a great by-the-book help defender. He’ll float, take chances and look for the big play. Howard, meanwhile is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year and comes from the Stan Van Gundy school, where there are stricter defensive standards than what you’ll find in a Mike D’Antoni locker room.

So far this season though, the Lakers have been better defensively with Bryant on the floor (allowing 97.8 points per 100 possessions) than with Howard on the floor (99.5). Given the ups and downs of the team’s first 19 games, it’s difficult to take anything away from those numbers.

Any team with Howard on it really should be in the top five defensively. But that takes more than just a guy protecting the paint. It also requires five guys on the same page and a coach who will hold them accountable for breakdowns like the ones above.

Teams ranking in the top 10 both offensively and defensively

Team OffRtg Rank DefRtg Rank NetRtg Rank
Oklahoma City 110.9 1 99.5 9 +11.5 1
L.A. Clippers 106.5 4 99.2 7 +7.2 3
San Antonio 105.2 6 98.6 5 +6.6 6
L.A. Lakers 105.5 5 99.3 8 +6.1 7

Through Wednesday, 12/6
OffRtg = Points scored per 100 possessions
DefRtg = Points allowed per 100 possessions
NetRtg = Point differential per 100 possessions

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in NBA.com/Stats, HT News, Film Study / Comments (11) /

Film Study: The Cavs’ Bad Defense

November 14, 2012  ·  5:20PM

HANG TIME NEW JERSEY – When Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters combined for 52 points in a road win over the Los Angeles Clippers last week, we started to see some real potential in the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Since then, the Cavs have lost four straight games. And on Tuesday night, they took over as the worst defensive team in the league, having allowed 107.8 points per 100 possessions, eight more than the league average.

The Cavs’ defense actually ranks in the top eight in forcing turnovers and defensive rebounding. But it has major holes on the interior, despite the presence of Anderson Varejao, an excellent defender.

Highest opponent FG%, restricted area
Team OppFGM OppFGA OppFG%
Cleveland 152 199 76.4%
New York 76 116 65.5%
Chicago 114 178 64.0%
Boston 120 189 63.5%
Sacramento 140 222 63.1%

Through Tuesday, 11/13

Through Tuesday’s loss in Brooklyn, the Cavs are allowing their opponents to shoot a ridiculous 76.4 percent in the restricted area

Now, you will notice that teams 2, 3 and 4 in the table to the right all finished in the top five in defensive efficiency last season. And there’s more to defense than keeping your opponent from shooting a high percentage near the basket.

But you will also notice how big of a difference there is between the Cavs and every other team when it comes to defending the rim. Their opponents are shooting almost 11 percent higher than any other team’s opponents and more than 18 percent higher than the league average (58.2 percent).

To make it clear how bad that is, note that only one player (Dante Cunningham) took at least 100 shots from the restricted area last year and shot better than 76.4 percent. He was 89-for-116 (76.7 percent).

On Tuesday, the Nets shot an amazing 24-for-28 in the restricted area, recording 60 points in the paint, their highest total since April of 2010.

A look at the film makes it easy to see why, because the the Cavs’ defensive breakdowns were obvious, plentiful, and almost comical…

Problem: No hustle. Spotlight on: Alonzo Gee

The Cavs are allowing 19.7 fast break points per 100 possessions, second only to Milwaukee. Part of the problem is turnovers, and part of the problem is … well, just watch Alonzo Gee after Irving misses a shot in the paint…

 

 

When Kris Humphries grabs the rebound for Brooklyn, Brook Lopez is at the foul line and Gee is at the 3-point line. And when Lopez scores on the opposite end of the floor, Gee has barely cross the mid-court line.

(more…)

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Film Study, NBA.com/Stats / Comments (5) /

Numbers And Film: OKC Offense Lacks Ball Movement Late

November 2, 2012  ·  11:07AM





HANG TIME NEW JERSEY – It’s hard to find fault in the way the Oklahoma City Thunder played offense last season. They ranked second in efficiency, scoring 107.1 points per 100 possessions.

Lowest assist rate, 2011-12
Team FGM AST %AST
Oklahoma City 2,462 1,224 49.7%
Sacramento 2,490 1,271 51.0%
Indiana 2,354 1,228 52.2%
Washington 2,414 1,262 52.3%
Memphis 2,425 1,290 53.2%

The only team that was more potent was the San Antonio Spurs (108.5). But the Thunder and Spurs were very different offensively. The Spurs’ offense was thought of as a work of hoops art, thriving on ball movement. The Thunder’s offense … not so much. In fact, OKC was the only team to assist on less than half of its field goals last season.

This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Historically, there’s no real correlation between assist rate and offensive efficiency. The Thunder had the talent to thrive without ball movement, as described in this post from March. Russell Westbrook (452) and Kevin Durant (334) ranked first and fourth in unassisted field goals respectively. And when they fell short in The Finals, it was more about their defense than their offense.

Still, Thunder coach Scott Brooks talked a lot about ball movement this preseason, even before his team traded James Harden. For Brooks, it was as much about the abundance of turnovers (OKC ranked 29th in turnover rate) as it was about the lack of assists, as John Rohde of The Oklahoman wrote last month … (more…)

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Film Study, NBA.com/Stats / Comments (30) /

< Older Entries