Everybody talks about how important “two for one” possessions are. While I agree, I tend to believe (at least early in games) that I would rather get a good shot and not have a “two for one” situation, rather than forcing up a bad shot just to preserve the “two for one.” However, one thing I believe is that a team should always get the last shot of the quarter if possible. In the first quarter of game three, the Celtics found themselves in a situation where they could hold for the last shot, but they weren’t able to execute.
In game two, the Celtics offense was predicated on movement, sharp passing, and good floor spacing. In the second half of game three, this Celtics’ offense disappeared and it was replaced by a slow and stagnant offense that really struggled to get into a flow. A lot of it started because of the Celtics inability to get any action or movement off of the basketball.
In the above video, the first thing that you should note is how far away from the basket Ray Allen is when he makes the initial catch. There is no way you can initiate an effective offensive set that far away from the basket. Next, you have both Ray Allen and Tony Allen cutting to the same place (ball side corner), eventually forcing Ray Allen to break off his cut and head to the top of the key. After holding onto the basketball for about 10 seconds, the ball ends up in Kevin Garnett’s hands. Allen makes the catch on the post, but he is blocked. Why? Well, let’s take a look at a second angle that gives us a better idea.
During the early going of the fourth quarter, the Lakers offense was really struggling. They stopped going inside, they stopped moving the ball, and they stopped spacing the floor. It basically turned into a “get Kobe the ball and watch” game, something we haven’t seen during these playoffs:
That was just one of the Lakers’ poor possession in the fourth. However, with about 5:30 minutes left and a four point lead, the Lakers came across a play that started working well for them, and that was the “1-2″ Screen & Roll. The “1-2″ Screen & Roll is simply your point guard (or the “1″) comes off of a screen set by the shooting guard (or the “2″).
After the inbounds play, the ball gets swung around to Derek Fisher on the top of the key. Kobe Bryant, who was ISO’d up on the opposite block, now comes up to set a screen for Fisher.
