How The Grizzlies Defense Stifled The Spurs
When the Memphis Grizzlies tanked to get the San Antonio Spurs, it was safe to say that I didn’t really agree with the opinion. In fact, I predicted that the Spurs would run away with the series in a sweep. The biggest reason why I thought that there was going to be sweep was because I thought that the Spurs offensive system of getting the ball to the middle and kicking it out would cause problems for the Grizzlies’ defense.
At this point, it is safe to say that I was wrong. I don’t know if it was my overestimating of the Spurs’ offense or underestimating of the Grizzlies’ defense, but I obviously didn’t think that the Grizzlies could contain the Spurs. After seeing four games in this series, I think it has become obvious that the Grizzlies are really good at defending passing lanes, taking away what the Spurs want to do, get the ball in the corner and knock down the three point shot.
Game four was more of the same for the Grizzlies:
This camera angle gives us a perfect view of the Grizzlies and their defensive strategy against the Spurs. Here, Parker goes away from the screen and attacks the rim. Most defenses would collapse, giving up an open three to Matt Bonner. Instead of doing that, Zach Randolph stays in the passing lane, taking away the pass to the corner as Mike Conley and Marc Gasol defend Parker at the rim. The Grizzlies are funneling everything back to the middle of the court, where they can rotate and challenge the jumper.
On this play, Tony Parker attacks the rim, driving on Greivis Vasquez and taking him to the hole. Again, all season, the help has been coming from the weakside, allowing Parker to kick the ball to the corner for the three. Here, the defense stays in the passing lanes with the help coming from the top. The Grizzlies were willing to give up the pass back and rotate to it, however that doesn’t happen here, as Darrell Arthur blocks the shot.
Much like the shot that Arthur blocked, the above two clips show the shots that the Spurs were getting in game four (and for much of the series), mid-range floaters that were contested. This is what happens when the Spurs number one option was taken away by the Grizzlies and their ability to play the passing lanes.
Now, there were times when the ball was getting to the corner, but the Grizzlies weren’t giving up on these plays. They were determined to run the Spurs off of the line, and that is exactly what they were able to do:
In the above clip, the Spurs are running their bread and butter offensive set. The pick and roll, with the ball going to the roll man and the quick kick out to the corner. Instead of giving up the three, O.J. Mayo runs hard at George Hill. He doesn’t care about stopping the drive, he just doesn’t want to give up that three point shot. Hill isn’t able to take the shot right away, he is forced to put the ball on the floor, and eventually he missed a contested three point shot.
Here, Manu Ginobil attacks the block with Tony Parker in the short corner. Mike Conley, Parker’s defender, jabs at Ginobili, forcing him to pick up the basketball and kick it out to Parker in the corner. The problem is that Conley didn’t fully commit to helping and he was already on his way to close out before Parker even made the catch.
A lot of people (including myself) were scratching their heads when coach Lionel Hollins were tanking to get the Grizzlies. Turns out, they knew that their ability to play the passing lanes would be able to stifle the Spurs and their offensive attack. All the credit in the world goes to them.
