Throughout the playoffs, we are going to be looking at the teams that lost their last game and look at what they can do to try and get a win.
Even though Carmelo Anthony went off for 42 points, the game didn’t get out of hand until the start of the 4th quarter. The Jazz went from being tied to being down 8 in a span of 4 minutes. Carmelo Anthony only had 2 points during that stretch. The rest came from J.R. Smith, and that is what the Jazz are going to have to focus on in Game 2, the outside shooters. Melo is going to get his no matter what, but if the Jazz can prevent the other guys from going off (which they were able to do for the first 3 quarters), they can give themselves a chance to win.
Here, Carmelo Anthony comes off of two screens to get the ball in his sweet spot. The elbow at the top of the key is a nice place to get the basketball because it is hard to get a double team there. Also, when the defense starts to focus its attention there, shooters can free up.
Now, I realize that Marcus Camby missed the dunk here, but this was a great play that needs to be shown. With the Suns needing to get a foul or a steal, the Blazers were able to use the Suns’ pressure against them for the lay-in:
After Steve Nash makes his lay-up to pull the game within 4 points, everyone on the Suns need to scramble to pick up their man before the Blazers can get the ball inbounds. Meanwhile, the Blazers are starting to send players to the basketball to set up their play.
Throughout the playoffs, we are going to be looking at the teams that lost their last game and look at what they can do to try and get a win.
The Bulls really struggled on offense against the Cavs’ defense during Game 1. They only scored 83 points, and with 106 total possessions, that comes out to only .78 points per possession. However, there was one set that worked well for the Bulls, and it was the pick and roll. The Bulls ran the pick and roll 27 times, and they were able to score on it 14 times.
In Game 2, the Bulls need to use the pick and roll to make the Cavs pay for playing Shaq. On defense, the Bulls have nobody who can stop Shaq, and in Game 1 Shaq had 12 points on 5-9 shooting in just about 24 minutes. Now, on the other end of the court, the Bulls need to involve Shaq in the pick and roll. To do so, whoever Shaq is defending needs to set a screen for Derrick Rose. Every single time down the court when Shaq is in. Why? Well, because when the Bulls did it in Game 1, it was effective. This is because you are forcing Shaq to move, and at his age and game condition (he only just started playing again recently), that is going to be tough for him. This is the first time the Bulls ran the pick and roll with Shaq in:
After falling behind double digits in the 4th quarter, the Spurs were trying their best to get back into the game. They were playing well offensively and scoring, but the Spurs just couldn’t get a stop. To make matters worse, the Mavericks were hitting three pointers, while the Spurs were getting two.
As Jason Kidd backs down Tony Parker, Dirk sets a screen for Jason Terry who runs down to the block.
With the Bobcats down 5 points with about 2 minutes left, they really needed a stop to try and get back in the game. You know that the Bobcats have good set plays that they run late (with Coach Larry Brown drawing them up), but unless they string together a few stops, it doesn’t matter.
After a dribble handoff from Jameer Nelson to J.J. Redick, Redick makes the catch and comes off of a screen set by Dwight Howard. In this situation, the Bobcats are looking to have the big man hedge the screen to allow Redick’s defender (Larry Hughes) to get back to him. Theo Ratliff is the man hedging, and his goal here is to cut off Redick’s dribble and not let him get around the outside of him.
