Memphis Looking Lost Out Of A Timeout | NBA Playbook

Memphis Looking Lost Out Of A Timeout

With the ballgame tied at 90 with 17.5 seconds left, the Memphis Grizzlies had possession of the ball coming out of a timeout they called.  When teams come out of a timeout, you usually see there best stuff because the head coach has a chance to draw up a play custom-fit to the situation.  The coaches can’t do anything about players forgetting plays though, and that is exactly what happened last night to the Grizzlies:

As the ball goes to the trigger man, Zach Randolph sets a downscreen for Mike Conley.  This is designed to get him the ball on the top of the key so they can execute their play.

Conley starts to dribble out the clock, waiting for the right moment to pounce.  You can even see Zach Randolph with his hand in the air kind of signaling Conley to “hold on.”

Once the clock hits 10 seconds, the Grizzlies are supposed to start their play, and this is where they screw up.  Sam Young, who was inserted into the game specifically for this play, runs to the low block.  The problem?  It seems like he was supposed to set a cross screen for Zach Randolph (look at him as he tries to call Young over).  My guess was that Randolph was going to curl off the screen and try to get to the rim.  If they doubled him off of the catch, he would have O.J. Mayo in the corner.  However, none of that happens.

Much credit to Randolph here who tries to salvage the play by running over to Mayo and setting a downscreen.

However, there was absolutely no angle for the screen, and it allows for Jason Kidd to get over it easily and deny the pass.

By the time that Mayo gets open to make the catch, there is 2.5 seconds left.

And there is only enough time for Mayo to shoot a running three.  Here it is in real time:

This play was so important because you felt the Mavs taking hold of all the momentum.  If the game was to go into overtime, the Mavs would get the win, and that is exactly what happens here.

01
Apr 2010
POSTED BY
POSTED IN 4th Quarters Dallas Mavericks Memphis Grizzlies Sloppy
DISCUSSION 4 Comments
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  • http://www.thetwomangame.com/2010/04/heard-it-through-the-grapevine-101/ Heard It Through the Grapevine » The Two Man Game

    [...] Sebastian Pruiti broke down the Grizzlies’ final play in regulation over at NBA Playbook, and it’s a sequence so miserable that it’s worth reliving. Plays like that are proof of just how much late-game execution matters; have we seen the Mavs do anything even comparable all season long? [...]

  • JP

    Right near the end of the clip, just after the shot is missed, you can clearly see Randolph upset with what has just transpired. No doubt at least one thing was messed up by the Griz here.

    Another thing the Griz could have been trying to do is getting a mis-match via a switch (Kidd on Randolph for example). I didnt watch this game though so this might only have been a plausable option if the Mavs had been switching a lot on D throughout the game?

  • JW

    Memphis has some decent young talent, but one again we see them have mental lapses in crunch time at both ends of the floor. Millions of dollars are spent on these players and coaches and this is the type of shot the Grizz get in a SLOB ATO situation?

    Why didn’t they just zipper Mayo up the lane and run zipper into high p&r or zipper w/weakside pindown to Randolph or simply zipper Mayo up and run 4 flat ISO or 4 flat ISO w/high p&r late? It’s embarassing if you are a fan of the Grizz

  • http://khandorssportsblog.com/wordpress khandor

    Sebastian,

    1. Young’s cut to the Left block was by design.

    It’s a basic misdirect designed to:

    A. Key the start of the Grizzlies actual “action”;
    B. Fool the defense into thinking that Memphis was going to run a set play on the Left side of the floor involving Young, Gay and Randolph.

    2. Randolph’s cut … i.e. to set a diagonal down screen away for Mayo … was by design, as well.

    3. The actual “problem” in the action involved Mayo, and his inability to:

    i. Set-up screens properly;
    ii. Read the defense properly; and,
    iii. Use screens properly;

    as a still young [i.e. 2nd yr] player in the NBA.

    4. Jason Kidd is still a very smart defensive player.

    Watch closely what Kidd does with his feet, in preparation to defend Mayo coming off Randolph’s screen … knowing that the Grizzlies are actually trying to run a “2-man wing isolation” [i.e. for Randolph & Mayo], after Young has cleared out from the Right side of the floor.

    i.e.

    i. Kidd re-positions himself, well above Mayo, facing the baseline … rather than maintaining a “standard” position on the weak side of the floor [i.e. back to the baseline, pointing at the ball and pointing at his own defensive check];

    ii. Kidd continues to look at Conley over his inside [left] shoulder, with his inside [left] hand in the passing lane, while also tracking Mayo’s movement with his out-stretched right hand.

    iii. Kidd does a great job of completely avoiding contact on Randolph’s down screen.

    iv. Kidd does a great job of denying a back-door pass to Mayo … i.e. if Mayo would have continued his curl cut around Randolph’s screen and gone towards the basket – which is exactly what Mayo starts to do, before he stops abruptly and re-pops out to the Right wing … because he knows that Brendn Haywood is in good position to offer inside help against that specific cut, while still maintain decent individual defensive positioning vs own check on the play [i.e. Randolph].

    5. Mayo does a poor job of mis-directing Kidd, in the first place, prior to making his curl cut off Randolph’s screen.

    i.e. What Mayo should have done was … take a step along the baseline, towards the basket, to fake as though he was going to cut in that direction, in order to set a cross screen for Young.

    6. Mayo does a poor job of reading Kidd’s defensive positioning.

    i.e. Given how Kidd was re-positioned against Randolph’s screen … Mayo should have completed his curl cut towards the basket.

    This would then have allowed Randolph to slide up the lane into the Right side “pinch post” position, with Haywood pinned on his Right inside, in order to complete the “2-Man isolation game” … except, not with Mayo, from the wing but … with Conley from the top of the key position.

    7. Mayo mis-reads the defense, decides not to finish his curl cut towards the basket and, instead, pops out to the Right wing in order to receive the initial entry pass from Conley and, from Mayo’s perspective, finish the expected “2-Man, wing isolation” designed for he and Randolph by Lionel Hollins.

    8. On Mayo’s catch, however, Kidd does a terrific job, once again, reading the sequence properly … as a veteran player should … and squeezes OJ hard on the play, knowing that:

    i. Time is ticking off the clock;
    ii. If he can force a shot fake, drive and kick … time will probably expire on Memphis; and,
    iii. What Mayo really wants to do on this part of the play is feed the ball Randolph, positioned at the Right block for his post-up vs Haywood.

    9. Kidd does a terrific job not committing a foul, playing 1-on-1 D vs Mayo’s different fakes.

    In general … it’s a masterful piece of 1st class NBA defense played by a former ALL-NBA Defensive Player who, although he definitely getting long in the tooth, still knows HOW TO EXECUTE THIS PART OF THE GAME PROPERLY.

    —————————

    FOR MEMPHIS
    Unfortunately, this is all part of the growing pains for the Grizzlies … as Mayo and Gay need to learn how to succeed in these types of situations, against established veterans, by playing with their HEAD and not just their athletic talents.

    FOR DALLAS
    Fortunately, J-Kidd is still a savvy above average defender in off the ball situations.

    —————————————-

    When I look at this specific sequence … that’s what I see. :-)