I am still messing around with the posting schedule for this site, and trying to find more daily content I can do (because I don’t want to have just the Possession Breakdowns every day), so don’t hesitate to e-mail me for suggestions.   I really am trying to figure out what to do to preview the NBA nightly.  Should I do one big breakdown (sort of like the game of the week) for one game a night, or do a small preview for each game?

Also, I plan on doing a playcalling/execution top 5 and not top 5 at the end of every week, so if you got something good, hit me with that kind of stuff too!

E-mail me your opinions at sebastian@nbaplaybook.com or hit me up on twitter – @sebastianpruiti with your thoughts.

Every morning (or late-afternoon), I am going to breakdown the some key possessions from the previous night’s games.  Good possessions/bad possessions you can find them all here.

It was a slowish night in the NBA last night (just 4 games), but there was some good action.  I got two plays I wanted to look at this morning.  Chris Paul’s steal to clinch the game, and Juwan Howard’s dunk.

Chris Paul’s Steal

Chris Paul’s steal was great, don’t get me wrong, but the Jazz did play a part in this.  The way they ran the court, allowed for Chris Paul to be in position to make the steal.

The first thing that you notice is that even though this is a 3 on 1 fast break, the Jazz are too bunched together.  All three Jazz players are on the same side, and this allows Chris Paul to cheat over, knowing that the ball is going to end up on his right side, because that is where all the players are.  In a perfect world, you would hope that Deron Williams would be able to dribble the ball to his right a bit so he can force Paul into a tough spot.

The second mistake is where Deron Williams commits to make the pass from.  That’s like 35 feet away from the basket.  I can understand why he wasn’t really able to dribble out to his right (he is unsure who is behind him), but at least make Chris Paul make a decision.  Dribble at him until he stops you, and when he does, then make a pass.  If he doesn’t stop you, go in for the lay-up.  Here Chris Paul is still in the middle of the court, and that makes it easier (still a great display of athleticism to make the steal) to make the play on the ball.

Juwan Howard’s Dunk

This play starts with a pick and roll, and Chris Kamen is trying to hedge the screen (help, and then quickly return to his man).

Roy does a good job of forcing the action though, and this prevents Kamen from getting back to his man, and forcing him to cover Roy.

Roy gets to the baseline.  Notice how all 5 Clippers are just kind of staring at him.  This allows is what allows Juwan Howard to sneak in the middle unguarded.

Howard flashes to the middle and gets the ball.  Kamen does a decent job of recovering, but since nobody is in front of him, it allows him to load up and go up for the jam…