Inside The Run: Dallas Pulls Away From Charlotte
After a Raymond Felton jumper, the Charlotte Bobcats took a 74-70 with about 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter, and it looked like they were pulling away. The Dallas Mavericks responded with 13-1 run over a span of three and a half minutes, turning a 4 point deficit into an 8 point lead. I thought it would be interesting to take a closer look at the key possessions of the run.
Poss. 1 – Terry Steal/Marion Dunk
After two Jason Terry free throws, the Bobcats started the ball up the court. The Bobcats get in their set, and Gerald Wallace is actually open on the wing. Jason Terry does a great job of leaving his man, jumping the pass, and getting the steal. The ball ends up in Jason Kidd’s hands who quickly tosses it back up court, starting a two on one fast break that ends with a Shawn Marion Dunk. 4-0.
Poss. 2 – Stephen Jackson Missed 3
After a defensive three second call on the Mavericks, the Bobcats inbound the ball to Stephen Jackson at halfcourt. Jackson receives the pass, comes off of a screen, and forces up a contested three point shot. All throughout this run, the Bobcats seemed to settle for too many outside shots and one on one situations. The ball seemed to stick at least once a possession during this run. The ball sticking lead to bad shots, which lead to stops for the Mavericks. This is exactly the case here. 4-1.
Poss. 3 – Jason Terry Jumper
Coming off Stephen Jackson’s missed three, the rebound gets corralled, and this is where the Mavericks really shine. The Mavericks are so good at getting the ball into Jason Kidd’s hands after a defensive rebound, and Jason Kidd is so good at pushing the ball ahead with his passing and trusting his teammates (this was talked about at length during Sunday Night’s Mavericks game on ESPN). Here, Kidd pushes the ball ahead to Jason Terry, who gives it up, but gets it back wide open for the jumper. Terry is left open due to the confusion on the Bobcats’ end because the Mavs pushed the ball up the court. 6-1.
Poss. 4 – D.J. Augustin Missed Three
There is some pretty good ball movement here by the Bobcats, as D.J. Augustine enters the ball and then works off of a double screen on the opposite side. My problem isn’t with the shooter here (Augustine shoots 35.2% from three, which is right at league average), it is with how early in the clock this shot goes up. Augustine takes a contested three with about 14 seconds left on the clock. You can get a contested three at any time in the clock, so why not work it around and see what you come up with? Also, quick shots is what seems to fuel runs like this one. 6-1.
Poss. 5 – Jason Terry Runner
The Mavericks get the rebound off of Augustin’s miss and bring it up court. They get it into Jason Terry’s hands and run a pick and roll involving Dirk Nowitzki. The beauty of this play is involving Dirk, because as you can see, the Bobcats initially defend the pick and roll correctly with Gerald Wallace showing on the hedge. However, Wallace needs to get back to Dirk, and when he retreats, Terry is able to get to the baseline and hit a short jumper. 8-1.
Poss. 6 – Tyrus Thomas Missed Hook
This play here is another example of the ball sticking. Gerald Wallace uses a Tyrus Thomas screen, and as Thomas rolls to the basket, he seals Dirk and calls for the ball. Wallace gets it in to Thomas, who holds onto the ball. After taking two dribbles to try and back down Dirk, Thomas spins baseline and takes an awful hook shot that doesn’t even hit the rim. Tyrus Thomas is a freakishly athletic player, buy his strength isn’t in the post. So to run a post up play for him is kind of silly. If this wasn’t a designed play, then it is on Thomas to understand his weakness and kick the basketball out. 8-1.
Poss. 7 – Dirk Jumper
Jason Kidd gets the rebound on Thomas’ airballed hook shoot. After walking it up, he swings the ball to Jason Terry who comes off of a Dirk screen. Instead of rolling all of the way to the basket, Dirk sets up in his sweet spot, right at the middle of the foul line. Dirk makes the catch with no other Bobcat near him besides his own defender, meaning there can be no double-team. Dirk takes his time, rises up over Gerald Wallace, and knocks down the jumper. 10-1.
Poss. 8 – Boris Diaw Missed Three
After both teams exchange empty possessions (Charlotte turned it over, then Jason Terry missed a jumper going 1 against 4), Raymond Felton jogs the ball upcourt. Thinking he sees a lane, Felton attacks and tries to get into the paint. A second defender comes to help, so Felton kicks it out to Boris Diaw. Boris Diaw is a 31% foul shooter, but he makes the catch and quickly fires a three pointer with 17 seconds left on the shot clock. He clangs it off of the backboard without even hitting the rim. Boris Diaw is a poor 3 point shooter and it is real early in the clock, but what really makes this an awful shot is that Gerald Wallace is standing on the wing wide open. If Diaw makes the catch and swings it to Wallace on the wing, he either has a wide open 3 (he is shooting it at a 38% clip) or if the defender closes out, he has a lane to attack the basket and end the run. 10-1.
Poss. 9 – Jason Terry Three
The Mavs bring the ball up and get it in Jason Terry’s hands once again, and once again, Terry runs off of a Dirk screen, and this time the Bobcats try to switch it. This is a reasonable strategy, but Boris Diaw doesn’t attack Jason Terry hard on defense. He seems passive, backpedaling, and he is unable to get a hand up to contest Jason Terry’s three pointer. Terry knocks it down, and the Bobcats are forced to take their second timeout during this run. 13-1.
As a Bulls fan, its funny to see Ty Thomas doing the same thing in Charlotte that he did in Chicago. He seemed to have a knack to shoot at the worst times, when the other team is going on a run. And of course…they never go in.
As a Bulls fan, it’s funny to see Ty Thomas putting up 16 and 12 when the Bulls have no bench. Notice that Thomas is averaging 13 and 8 in 27 min a game and shooting north of 50% since the trade. But we have cap room for the next Ron Mercer and Eddie Robinson. Yummy.
If you take a look at the Play-By-Play for this game and the Boxscore, what you should be able to see is that:
1. When the Bobcats used Theo Ratliff [+14] as their Center, they were quite a bit better than the Mavericks.
2. Theo Ratliff played 26:39 of the first 33:39 minutes in this game, and then was not used by Larry Brown for the final 2:21 of the 3rd quarter and the entire 4th quarter.
3. When the Bobcats tried to use the following 5-Man Units, instead, in the 4th quarter, during the midst of this specific run by the Mavs:
i. Felton + Augustin + Jackson + Wallace + Thomas
[A. vs Barea + Terry + Butler + Marion + Najera]
[B. vs Kidd + Terry + Marion + Nowitzki + Haywood]
ii. Felton + Jackson + Wallace + Diaw + Thomas
[C. vs Kidd + Terry + Marion + Nowitzki + Haywood]
they played selfish basketball on offense and got hammered defensively.
4. Poss 1.
Felton keys the breakdown of the Bobcats during this entire sequence by failing to make the correct read when Nowitzki “shows and recovers vs this 1-4 Pick & Pop.”
Instead of making the “throwback pass” to Wallace … which was intercepted by Terry … Felton should have attacked Nowitzki’s “hedge” and, after bellying out towards the centerline, in order to string the play out, made the pass to either Jackson or Augustin, who were open on the weak side of the floor, defended only by Marion.
5. Poss 2.
Jackson jacks-up this shot because he was not passed the ball on the previous possession … when, what he should have done, instead, was make the “throwback pass” to Wallace, who would have been able to attack Haywood on the bounce, to either [i] score or [ii] get fouled.
6. Poss 3.
Felton and Augustin are not the proper defensive match-up vs Kidd and Terry.
Larry Brown made a mistake by using this tandem during this sequence of possessions; and, instead, should have been using either one of Felton/Augustin [vs Kidd] with Jackson [vs Terry].
7. Poss 4.
This is a well executed set play by Charlotte. Augustin was open and should have shot the ball. Unfortunately, however, he missed and, in general, is in the midst of a terrible shooting slump.
8. Poss 5.
Augustin and Wallace miscommunicate their defensive scheme/coverage and do a poor job handling this “Pick & Pop” play by the Mavs. i.e. Dirk changes the angle of his Pick at the last minute and Wallace doesn’t recognize this properly. Instead of steppin up towards Augustin’s right side, he should have stepped up towards his left side, where Dirk actually set the pick, or verbally called for Augustin to “trap” Terry on the play and not allow him to use the pick in the first place.
9. Poss 6.
This is a solid set play by the Bobcats … but, a poor decision to shoot the ball, and a bad miss by Thomas.
10. Poss 7.
It’s important to understand the individual match-ups involved in this set play, based on the way the Bobcats recovered in their defensive transition:
Kidd vs Diaw [who should have been on Nowitzki]
Terry vs Felton
Mario vs Jackson
Nowitzki vs Wallace [who should have been on either Kidd or Terry or Marion]
Haywood vs Thomas
Wallace is too small to defend against Dirk in the High Post [i.e. Nowitzki will simply shoot over him, if Wallace tries to gap him; and, in this case, will "sweep & go" by him to create the space he needs to get off his 1 dribble J going to his right, if Wallace tries to crowd him].
11. Poss 8.
Yes, Waalace is wide open on the left wing. But, he is also being checked there by Marion. Wallace going 1-on-1 vs Marion is not a better match-up for the Bobcats than Diaw going 1-on-1 vs Haywood at the top of the key.
Unfortunately, in this instance, Diaw missed a wide open 3PT-shot.
If this same situation occurred again, Diaw would still be the best Bobcat player to attack his check during this specific sequence of plays.
BTW, if you look at the Play-By-Play what you should be able to see is that on the Bobcats’ very next possession [at the 4:25 mark], it is Boris Diaw who hits a 3PT-shot, to close the gap to just 5 points [78-83] with plenty of time still left to play in the 4th quarter.
12. Poss 9.
Once again, the Bobcats are not in the proper defensive match-up situation coming out of their defensive transition with this “small” [i.e. Centerless] line-up:
Felton vs Kidd [good]
Jackson vs Terry [good]
Wallace vs Marion [good]
Diaw vs Haywood [bad-2]
Thomas vs Nowitzki [bad-1]
Despite his hyper-athleticism, Tyrus Thomas does not have the type of experience it takes to be able to defend properly on the perimeter against a crafty, quick-release jump-shooter like Jason Terry.
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In general:
- until the Bobcats can return 1 of their legitimate centers … i.e. Mohammed, Diop or Chandler … to their line-up, they are going to struggle against solid offensive teams like the Mavs
- until Larry Brown decides that playing Theo Ratliff at center, rather than Tyrus Thomas or Boris Diaw is a better option coming down the stretch of a close game for this crew of Bobcats, they are going to struggle closing out winnable games against other solid teams.
- this lose for Charlotte should be pinned on Larry Brown