From now until the start of the NBA season later this month, we are going to be running our season previews.  Each day, we are going to look at two teams and talk about one thing they did well last year and one thing that they did poorly last year.  Then, we are going to talk about the chances of maintaining what they did well/changing what they did poorly.  In this edition we will look at the Charlotte Bobcats.

One Thing They Did Well

Closing Out On Shooters

The Charlotte Bobcats were one of the best defensive team’s in the NBA no matter how you define “best.”  According to Synergy, they were tied for 1st (with Boston) in opposing points per possession, and Hoopdata.com has them tied (with Orlando) for first with a 100.2.  The Bobcats really excelled holding opponents to low shooting percentage, especially from the three point line.  The Bobcats were 6th in opponent shooting percentage (holding teams to 44.8% shooting),and 2nd in opponent three point shooting percentage (holding teams to33.8% shooting from behind the three point line).

The main reason behind their success in this area was the fact that they close out on shooters very well.  In my opinion, the best way to determine how a team closes out is to look how teams defend spot up jumpers.  According to Synergy, the Bobcats were the best team in the league when it came to “Spot Up” situations, holding opponents to .93 points per possession on just 36.7% shooting (and just 34.8% from the three point line).  Part of the reason they are able to close out well is that they have a lot of long armed athletes on their roster:

In the above clip, you have Gerald Wallace closing out on a shot in the corner, forcing a pass, and then you have Stephen Jackson closing out.  That is a whole lot of length that teams need to shoot over.

In addition to  that, coach Larry Brown has instituted a fantastic scheme for the Bobcats in regard to closing out on shooters (and again this relies on length, athletic ability, and the fact that there are a lot of interchangeable parts on the court).

In the above clip, you can see an example of how the Bobcats pass off opposing players when closing out, and that there is always someone else ready to close out on the extra pass.  In the first clip, Gerald Wallace double teams the basketball.  The Rockets handle this correctly and they pass out of it forcing the Bobcats to rotate.  When Scola makes the catch, Larry Hughes leaves his man to close out on him.  He passes of his man to Tyson Chandler who closes out when the extra pass is made, forcing the miss.

Here is another example.  Here, you have a pick and pop situation where the screener makes the catch.  Gerald Wallace closes out on this man, to make sure he contests a shot.  The extra pass gets made, and Stephen Jackson leaves his man to close out on him.  Another extra pass gets made, and Nazr Mohammed (the man who started out on the screener) closes out on this man forcing the miss.   Watch the clip again and watch Mohammed from start to finish.  Mohammed starts out hedging on the screen, and as the passes get made he starts towards the middle of the lane.  When he sees Jackson close out on Posey, Mohammed works his way to the corner, ready to alter the shot.

One Thing They Did Poorly

Shot/Play Selection On The Offensive End

I talked about this in an earlier post, but the Bobcats really don’t play to their strengths on the offensive end.  In terms of points per possession, the Bobcats were one of the best transition teams in the NBA and one of the worst spot up/ISO teams in the league.  Unfortunately for the Bobcats, they did more of the latter than the former.

The above clip shows a typical Bobcats half-court possession. The Bobcats take spot-up jumpers 20.9% of their possession, and most of them are like this, shots that the team settles for. Getting out in transition forces the issue and it doesn’t allow for guys like Stephen Jackson, Tyrus Thomas, or Gerald Wallace to settle for jumpers.

So other than preventing possessions like we saw above from happening, why should the Bobcats run?  They have a roster suited for it.  Tyrus Thomas, Gerald Wallace, Gerald Henderson, and Stephen Jackson are all guys who can get out and run.  Not only that, they all have a unique skillset for their size that leads to mismatches in transition (well, except for Tryus Thomas who is just a freak athlete):

Despite being a forward, Wallace is able to bring the basketball up quickly and effectively, which is exactly what he does in the clip above.  As he takes the ball into the frontcourt, he sees that he has a height advantage on his man and he easily finishes at the rim.  Any other player, and he has to pull it out and set up the offense.

In addition to that, when the Bobcats get out in transition, they just find ways to score.  They score on about 61% of their transition possessions, and a lot of that has to do with them shooting 63.5% when out on the break.  Again, this is due to all of the athletes on their team that they can send to the rim:

Here, you have Gerald Henderson just streaking down the sideline, and nobody on the Nets can keep up with him.

The clip above is a pretty good example of the Bobcats’ fast breaks. Usually when they get a steal or a rebound, they just send the ball ahead, letting their athletics catch up to it and finish.

Can They Maintain/Improve?

Can They Maintain?

There is no doubt in my mind that the Bobcats are going to be able to maintain their defensive identity and schemes.  Larry Brown is still the coach, and most of the roster (a roster that really seemed to buy into Brown’s system) is still in tact.  There is not a lot of new players with a high learning curve here.

Can They Improve?

While I think the Bobcats are better suited if they run the basketball more, I just don’t know if it will happen this year.  As I mentioned before, they have the wings/bigs to facilitate a running style, but they really lack a point guard who can be successful in a running system.  It seems like they want to acquire one (after all they were involved in discussions that would have brought Devin Harris to Charlotte), and if they do, they will run more.  If not, you may see the same kind of ISO/Spot Up offense that the Bobcats struggle with.