With the Rockets-Wizards game tied at 92 with 33 seconds left, the Rockets had a tough decision to make. With 22 seconds on the shot clock, they had to figure out if they wanted to go quick to preserve the two-for-one opportunity, ensuring that they will get the ball back, or if they just wanted to take their time, get the best look possible, and give the Wizards the final shot. The Rockets decided to go quick, and they run a quick hitter coming out of the timeout:
Aaron Brooks comes up the middle of the court, making himself available to the basketball. After Kyle Lowry inbounds the ball, he is going to cut along the baseline, running off of a Luis Scola screen.
Once a week, Maurice Brooks updates his MVP award race page over at ESPN. For this week’s edition I was asked to list the top 5 coach of the year candidates and explain why in a sentence:
1. Scott Brooks, Thunder: It’s rare that you get a young team to buy in on the defensive end, but the Thunder have (fifth in defensive efficiency), and it is because of Brooks.
That’s obviously just a small sample, so you should go ahead and check the rest out. There are lists for MVP, Most Improved, Rookie Of The Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and the Sixth Man race.
This week’s edition features a good amount of TrueHoop Network guys; including Royce Young of Daily Thunder, Jared Wade of Eight Points Nine Seconds, Matt Moore of Hardwood Paroyxysm, and Dan Feldman of Pistoned Powered. In my opinion, this really shows off the high quality of writing that is taking place here at the TrueHoop Network.
Not only did the Nets avoid infamy last night, but they might have also provided the rest of the Western Conference with a blueprint on how to stop Tim Duncan. Duncan really struggled last night, scoring only 13 points on 15 shots in 31 minutes and in my opinion it was because of how the Nets defended him. With Ginobili and Parker out, the Nets were determined to let the rest of the Spurs roster beat them, and they brought a double team just about every time Tim Duncan touched the basketball.
Step 1: Bringing The Double
When you double team a post player, there you have three options when sending the double. You can either go on the catch, on the first dribble, or on the first attack dribble. The Nets decided to bring the double team right on the catch against the Spurs (their strategy most of the season has been to come on the first attack dribble), refusing to allow Tim Duncan to even dribble without two defenders on him:
After Matt Bonner makes the entry pass, he is going to go to the high post to set a screen for George Hill (or at least I think that is the play design here). The double team will be coming from Yi, the man defending Bonner.
The Oklahoma City Thunder found themselves in yet another late game situation. This time, Kevin Durant is able to get the ball in his hands and he eventually gets a shot up. It’s not a good look (contested), and Durant misses.
The play starts with Durant on the ball-side block. Russell Westbrook is going to come down from his position and set a screen for Durant who is going to come up the middle of the floor.
When the Bucks and the Grizzlies went into overtime, it was apparent that one player needed to step up if they wanted to get their team a win. That player ended up being Andrew Bogut, and it didn’t come from scoring the basketball.
With the Bucks up by 1, the Grizzlies set up and ran a very nice play. Mike Conley brought the basketball down and came off of a Marc Gasol screen. As this was happening Rudy Gay, who started in the corner, comes back to the middle of the floor to receive a dribble hand-off from Conley.
Late in a tied game against the Toronto Raptors, the Miami Heat needed a stop and they got one. It wasn’t because of an individual defensive effort though. On this particular play, good team defense and proper rotation is what got them the stop (and eventually the win).
After bringing up the ball the length of the court, Jose Calderon swings it to Jarrett Jack on the wing. After making the pass, Calderon cuts through the lane coming off of a soft backscreen set by Chris Bosh.
Note: This isn’t really a breakdown, more of a rant
Fighting for their playoff lives, the Houston Rockets were down 4 points with 1:06 seconds left. Their opponent the L.A. Clippers just pulled down an offensive rebound and bring the ball upcourt:
Now, it is obvious that the Clippers are trying to kill some clock here, and they effectively do. 20 valuable seconds come off the clock before Baron Davis hits his jumper. This brings up something that has always bothered me when it comes down to coaches strategy, why don’t NBA teams foul earlier when they are losing (not counting the Hack-a-Shaq)? The Rockets don’t foul in this situation, but they aren’t the only one, most teams in the NBA won’t foul here, and I think it’s silly. In my opinion, when you are down by more than 1 possession with a minute left you want to extend the game as long as you can, and one way to do that is you foul.
Going into tonight’s game with the Orlando Magic, the Atlanta Hawks were hoping to clinch a playoff spot with a win. They were in good shape for most of the game, but they allowed Orlando to get back into it late. After Vince Carter hit a fade away three with 9.9 seconds left, Atlanta had one more chance to win the game.
After Vince Carter’s three, the Magic drop everyone back on defense. Maybe this is nit-picking, but I would have loved to see the Magic show a little bit of pressure. Not necessarily press, but at least have one guy pressuring the ball. If the Magic have Carter defending Joe Johnson the full length of the court, he might have been able to speed him up and force him into a mistake. Instead, Johnson is able to walk the ball up the court and let things develop.
After the Wizards hit a three pointer to send the game into overtime, I thought that the Wizards were going to be able to use that momentum to steal the game from the Bobcats. However, the exact opposite happened as the Bobcats outscored the Wizards 13-4 in the final 5 minute period.
The key seemed to be the Bobcats willingness to attack the basket. The Bobcats seemed determined to get themselves inside the paint every possession of overtime. Each time, it resulted in one of two things; a trip to the foul line or an easy basket:
Possession 1 – Gerald Wallace Gets To The Line Using A Screen
On this play, the Bobcats set up what looks to be an ISO set for Gerald Wallace. At the last moment, Tyson Chandler comes up and sets a screen for Wallace. Wallace uses the screen and gets all the way to the rim, where he is fouled.
Kevin Durant scored 45 points against the Spurs last night, so when the Thunder needed a basket to send the game into overtime/take the lead (after a fantastic Serge Ibaka block), it was obvious where the Thunder were going. The playcall (and the execution) weren’t the greatest, but the real reason Durant didn’t get off a shot attempt was because of how the Spurs played defense, getting the ball out of his hands and forcing a teammate to take the shot.
As Thabo Sefolosha receives the basketball to inbounds it, Jeff Green is going to set a screen for Russell Westbrook while Serge Ibaka is going to set a screen for Kevin Durant. This is the one critique I have of the Thunder’s play. Ibaka is standing behind Durant, and they way the play is drawn up Ibaka has to run around in a circle to set the screen.
