Every day we are going to look at an individual performance and examine just what happened.  Was it just a spectacular performance?  Was it poor defense?  Was it brilliant playcalling?  Find out here.

Rajon Rondo’s Triple Double

Today we are going to look at Rondo’s triple double from Sunday afternoon.

The Points

As per usual, Rondo was able to get most of his points (and his shots in the paint).  He was 1-1 from 3 (he banked that one in), and was 1-2 on long jumpers.  This is where the Raptors’ defense failed.  You want Rondo to shoot from the outside.  He is a better shooter this year than previous years, but you would still rather him taking jumpers instead of getting in the lane for most of his shots:

Here Paul Pierce gets the ball, and as this happens, Rondo starts to sneak around the defense, cutting backdoor almost unseen.

Pierce gets a screen as Rondo continues his cut.  Paul Pierce is such a threat with the basketball that everyone on the Raptors have to focus on him.

Pierce finds Rondo down low, and this is where the Celtics want to get him the ball.

This is because Rondo is a very good finisher down low, and the more baskets he gets down there, the better he plays.

The Assists

Another way Rondo benefits from having quality teammates around him is in terms of assists.  He has quality scorers all around him.  That isn’t to take anything away from Rondo’s passing ability though:

Here, Rondo gets a kick-out and he starts to attack the basket.  Here is where the Raptors defense makes a mistake.  Rondo does a hesitation dribble, faking a shot.  If Rondo wants to shoot it from here, let him.  There is no need to challenge the shot, and when Bargnani does, it gives Rondo an opening to attack the basket.

Rondo gets Bargnani on his hip, and he gets into the lane.  This is where he creates the most problems for his opponents.  Teams need to rotate to help him out and that leaves openings for his teammates.

As Rondo rises up, Turkoglu is on the wrong side of Rasheed Wallace.  Rondo notices this…

…and he floats a nice easy pass for Wallace.  Wallace makes the catch and finishes at the basket.

The Rebounds

This is the facet of Rondo’s game that most impresses me.  He isn’t a big PG (like Mark Jackson, Baron Davis, or Jason Kidd) that you equate with getting rebounds, but somehow he is always getting a ton of them:

Here, Rondo drives to the basket, forcing Chris Bosh to help out.

As Bosh helps out, Rondo kicks it out to Rasheed Wallace, who attempts a three pointer.  Another reason that Rondo gets a lot of rebounds is that he usually isn’t the man responsible to drop back on defense.  This is because most of his scoring plays and passes have him end up in the lane, so everyone there are other Celtics responsible to get back on defense.

Because PGs aren’t really used to boxing out, there is no real technique here, and Rondo is allowed to stand untouched as the ball approaches the rim.

The ball comes off the rim and bounces right to Rondo.  A little lucky?  Sure, but if there is someone boxing him out, that rebound doesn’t go to him.

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.

After getting blown out in two straight games, the Nets found themselves in a close battle against the New Orleans Hornets Friday night.  The Nets made a big-time comeback to take a 1 point lead with about 11 seconds left.  The Hornets had the ball, let’s see what happened from there:

After getting the ball inbounds (which they failed at doing their last possession), the Hornets quickly go into a pick and roll.  David West comes up and sets the screen, and Chris Paul uses it.

Late in games, teams usually switch every screen.  The Hornets know this, so the purpose of the screen was to get the switch.  Chris Paul takes a dribble or two to isolate the mismatch.

He then attacks.  He quickly gets Jarvis Hayes on his hip, and he has a lane to the basket.  You would like it if Devin Harris was closer to the middle of the lane, but that is the beauty of how the Hornets set this up.  They put Peja (a knockdown shooter that you need to stay with) on the side Chris Paul was going to drive to.  This means that Devin can’t help.

Paul finishes the lay-up, and gets fouled, clinching the win for the Hornets.

Every morning I will take an in-depth look at a game that happened the previous night.  The game that I pick is the one that I think was the best and most interesting one of the night/weekend.

If you look at the numbers, it looks like the Suns had this one all wrapped up.  They shot better from the field, better from 3, and they attempted the same number of foul shots that the Heat did (this is key, some games the Heat get to the line a ridiculous amount).  The key of the game was the number of shots taken.  The Heat took 10 more shots than the Suns.  The reason?  Steals and Turnovers.

What the Heat Did Right?

They got steals

The Heat were able to get 10 steals against the Suns Friday night.  These steals were key, not only because they prevented the Suns from getting an attempt at the basket (remember the Suns were shooting well this game), but because it lead to fast break opportunities for the Heat.  In this video, here are two steals that directly lead to points for the Heat (you could consider this 4 to 5 point swings because the Suns don’t get a shot – where if they would make it they could score 2 or 3 points -  and the Heat score):

They scored in the paint

The Heat also outscored the Suns in the paint (36-30).  A lot of it was the ball movement opening up things inside:

Beasley is going to set a screen for Rafer Alston.  Instead of straight rolling, Beasley is going to half-pop towards the sideline.

Rafer Alston does a very smart thing here.  He gets the ball out of his hands quickly, before Channing Frye can get back after hedging.

Beasley makes the catch as Frye is still trying to recover on Beasley.  Now here is where the Suns broke down on defense.  There are 3 Suns there who can rotate over on Beasley.  All of them are flat-footed though, so none of them can get over in time.

Stoudemire gets there, but is late, and Beasley finishes with the lay-up.

What The Suns Did Wrong?

They were too careless with the ball

Along with the 10 steals the Heat had, the Suns turned it over 7 more times.  In all, the 17 turnovers lead to 23 points for the Heat.  Also, these turnovers limited the opportunities the Suns had at the basket, which is the reason for the 10 fewer shots they had (and it probably cost them the game):

A lot of turnovers that don’t come from steals are from offensive fouls.  Some calls are iffy, but this one was obvious, and just a lack of focus from Channing Frye.  Here, he is setting a screen for Barbosa.

Frye initiates the screen, and Beasley comes out to meet Barbosa.

Beasley shows and then repositions himself behind the screen.  Frye stays initiated with the screen, it is actually a good screen until…

…Frye decides to swing an elbow into Mario Chalmers.  The thing that must bother the Suns’ coaching staff is that it was a very good screen and Barbosa is on his way to the basket.  This was a good chance at points, and it vanished.  The kicker?  The Heat drilled a 3 the next possession.