Knicks’ Difficulties With Switching Screens
It is no secret that the New York Knicks struggle on the defensive end, and during their game against the Indiana Pacers we saw yet another example of that. Late in the fourth quarter when the Knicks were looking to make things interesting, the Pacers knocked down two big threes. Both of these three point shots were wide open looks as a result of bad defense from the Knicks, specifically when it came to switching screens, both on ball and off ball screens. First, we are going to look at a poor ball-screen switch leading to an open three:
With 4:30 left in the fourth quarter, the Pacers decide to set up a pick and roll with Darren Collison as the ball handler and Roy Hibbert as the screener. Collison uses the screen, and instead of attacking the basket, he takes the ball back to the top of the key. Despite it being a fairly weak screen, Shawne Williams and Toney Douglas switch the screen instead of fighting through it.
Noticing the switch, Roy Hibbert immediately does what he should do, and that is take Douglas to the post. The Knicks actually recover very nicely as Douglas switches onto Dahntay Jones and Carmelo Anthony switches to Hibbert before Hibbert can establish position.
However, the mismatch is still there and Collison gets the basketball into Hibbert. Jones cuts off of Hibbert to the opposite corner, taking his man with him and forcing the double team to come from Shawne Williams.
With Williams double teaming Hibbert, Collison slides into an area where he can give Hibbert a very nice passing lane.
Hibbert hits Collison with the pass, and Collison makes the catch, squares up, and knocks down the three before anyone can close out on him. Here is the play in real time:
Like I mentioned above, the Knicks do a decent job of trying to nullify the Douglas-Hibbert mismatch, however the chain of events started with the initial ball screen. It isn’t a very strong screen at all, and most defenses are willing to fight through screens like this. Douglas gets stuck in the screen, and doesn’t really work through it, forcing Williams to pick Collison up and forcing the mismatch.
The second three point shot the Pacers knocked down was due to the Knicks’ poor communication when trying to switch an off ball screen:
Here, Brandon Rush comes from one corner and sets a screen on Dahntay Jones’ man, Carmelo Anthony. Chauncey Billups sees the screen coming and he quickly switches it, picking up Jones before he can break open.
However, the problem is this switch doesn’t get communicated to Carmelo Anthony. Anthony does his best to fight over the screen being set for him in an attempt to stay with Jones. The problem now is that nobody is covering Rush who does a great job of recognizing the fact and then popping out to the corner uncovered.
You know see Billups on Jones and Carmelo Anthony standing in the middle of the court, looking for someone to cover. His responsibility is standing in the corner, waiting for the pass to come.
Rush makes the catch and pulls the three with nobody within 10 feet of him. Rush knocks down the three and essentially puts the game out of reach. Here is the play in real time:
To me, this isn’t a matter of effort (Anthony is willing to fight over the screen), but a matter of communication. It is hard to say who is really at fault here without knowing D’Antoni’s defensive strategy. Are they switching everything? Or does he let the players decide when to switch? If it is the former, then Anthony is to blame for not recognizing he needs to switch. If it is the latter, it is Billups’ fault, because he needs to let Anthony know that he is switching the screen. Either way, this is a defensive error, and it results in another wide open three.
