When the Bulls hired Boston Celtic assistant coach Tom Thibodeau, they knew that they are getting one of the best defensive minds in the NBA today.  In fact Thibodeau is the man credited for Boston’s top rated defense (according to Synergy, who used Points Per Possession to rank them).  However, just because Thibodeau is coming in doesn’t mean that the Bulls defense was terrible last year (they were in fact ranked 8th), and when you think of their roster, it makes sense.  You have a big physical and athletic point guard in Derrick Rose, long-athletic wings, and a mobile yet physical big man in Joakim Noah.  It’s scary to think about what Thibodeau can do with this roster, and that is without adding LeBron James.  What I wanted to do is take a look at some changes the Bulls defense might make with Thibodeau in charge.  Specifically the pick and roll.

Surprisingly enough, the Bulls were better/equal to the Celtics when defending the pick and roll (both in terms of defending the ball handler and defending the roll man), according to Synergy (Celtics’ stats in the white and Bulls’ stats in the gray):

Despite the Bulls holding their opponents to a lower points per possession number, the Boston Celtics were able to force more turnovers.  Turnovers are important because they allow the team forcing them opportunities to run and get baskets in transition.  With the way the Bulls’ roster is currently set up, the more they can get in transition, the better.  So what do the Celtics do differently to force all these turnovers?

PNR Ball-Handler

For the Celtics, their key to defending the ball-handler on the pick and roll is to swarm the ball handler:

Here, Brook Lopez sets a screen for Devin Harris.  As Harris comes around the screen, Rajon Rondo goes under it, and this is the part that changes depending on the shooting threat.  When defending a good shooter, Rondo tends to go over the screen with someone who is quicker and not really a shooting threat, Rondo goes under.  What doesn’t change is that is the way that the screeners’ defender (in this case Rasheed Wallace) plays it.  Wallace floats away from his man and gets in front of Harris.  This isn’t a hedge, because he doesn’t really worry about getting back to Brook Lopez.  His job is to help double the ball handler with Rajon Rondo coming over.

So who covers the roll man?  This is the job of the defender covering the man in the opposite corner (in this case Marquis Daniels).  He slides over to the middle of the paint, ready to steal any pass to Brook Lopez, who is rolling to the basket.

Daniels finishes his slide, and the defense is now set.  You got two guys defending Devin Harris with the roll man covered.

The result is Devin Harris getting himself caught in the air and throwing the pass out of bounds.

The best example I could find of the Celtics’ “swarming” defense is this play against Deron Williams and the Jazz.

You know how much trust it takes to just leave your man and go double the basketball (or make a play to get the steal)?  I think that is an important factor of Thibodeau’s defense last year.  Sure, the strategy is great, but he got his players to trust their teammates and believe in the system, and that is a large part of the reason it worked as well.

PNR Roll Man

Whether it is the ball-handler keeping the ball or it is the roll man getting the basketball the strategy is basically the same:

Here, Dwyane Wade comes off of the screen and Ray Allen, his defender, comes over the top.  Rasheed Wallace comes over to help “swarm” the ball handler.  Something you notice from this angle is how empty the middle of the lane is.  When most teams run the pick and roll, that’s it, as there is usually no other options or sets coming from it.  It is either the ball handler getting to the rim or the roll man getting the shot.  This totally plays into the hands of the Celtics and this style of defense.

As Dwyane Wade comes off the screen he is now looking at three defenders and he has to choose between forcing up a shot or passing it off.

Wade chooses to make the pass, but look at how he has to pass it.  This is a pass he makes in the air, not looking, over his shoulder, backwards.  It’s hard to make that kind of pass accurately, and it is all because of the defense.

The bad pass gives Brian Scalabrine enough time to get back and effectively defend Beasley.

Beasley then tries to make something out of nothing, but he dribbles the ball off his foot and out of bounds.

Can The Bulls Emulate This Defense?

No matter how good the Celtics PNR defense was at creating turnovers, it would mean nothing if the Bulls didn’t have the players to emulate this defense.  The good thing for Bulls fans is that they do.  If you are the Bulls, you are going to have Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah swarming the basketball, while you are going to have someone like Taj Gibson (props to Zach Harper of Talk Hoops/Cowbell Kingdom for pointing Gibson out) rotating to the roll man with long wing players covering the outside…again, this is all without LeBron James.

This Bulls defense is going to be scary, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it on top of the Synergy PNR defensive rankings next year.