Past Editions: Kyrie Irving (#1) | Derrick Williams (#2) | Tristan Thompson (#4) | Jonas Valanciunas (#5) | Jan Vesely (#6)| Bismack Biyombo (#7) | Brandon Knight (#8)

Despite having a similar player in D.J. Augustin, the Charlotte Bobcats took Kemba Walker with the ninth pick when he dropped to them in the draft.  What’s interesting is that even though they play in similar ways, Charlotte’s coaching staff is making noise about playing Augustin and Walker together.

Strengths

Scoring Off The Pick And Roll

When Walker is looking for his own shot coming off of a ball screen, he is a very dangerous player.  He does a good job of creating space for his shot, but what makes him really special is his ability to get to the rim when coming off of a ball screen.  Walker was in the top 15% of all college players (in terms of PPP) when taking it all the way to the rim coming off of a ball screen drawing a foul 33.3% of the time (Basically, every three times Walker attacked the rim off of a screen, he went to the free throw line):

What makes Walker so tough to cover when coming off of a ball screen is that he has a combination of quickness and shooting ability.  Walker is a good enough shooter that if you go under the screen, he is going to pull up and knock down the jumper.  This means that defenses need to try to go over screens while hedging.  Walker is simply too quick and is able to take advantage by driving by the hedge man and getting into the lane (while not shying away from contact).  Finally, he is good enough with the ball that he won’t turn it over often (only turned it over 3% of the time when attacking the rim).

Scoring Using Screens Off Of The Ball

If the Bobcats’ coaching staff is telling the truth and Walker and Augustin will in fact be splitting time, they each are going to have to spend some time working off of the ball offensively.  With Connecticut, Walker was very comfortable and effective doing this.  When working off of screens, Walker posted a PPP of 1 (top 35%), while shooting 41.8%.

When coming off of screens away from the basketball, Walker looks like he is a shooting guard.  What I mean by that is he knows how to use screens away from the basketball properly.  He doesn’t just run off of the screen and look for the basketball, he sets up the screen, faking one way the going the other, changing speeds, and a lot of other little things that help get him open.  After coming off of the screen, Walker does a good job of getting in a position where he can catch and quickly make a move.

Weaknesses

Pass/Shot Decision Making Off Of Ball Screens

Unlike some high-volume scorers in pick and roll situations, Kemba Walker is actually a pretty good passer out of the pick and roll (teammates shoot 45.4% on shots that come from Walker’s passes out of the pick and roll).  The problem with Walker is that he has a tendency not to pass it enough.  Walker shoots the basketball 63.8% of the time he comes off of a ball screen, and while most of the shots are good ones (see the clips above), the real problem is when he comes off of the screen with his mind made up about shooting the ball.  This tends to create some bad shots from Walker.

The problem with Walker coming off of screens with his mind made up is that he is going to be shooting whether or not he is open.  Walker is a good shooter, but when taking jumpers off of ball screens, his shooting percentage is an ok 35.2% (you would expect it to be much higher).  The reason why it is so low is because a good chunk of his misses are bad shots that are contested by bigs hedging over.  Instead of settling for a jumper there, Walker should look to try and find an open man.

Off Ball Defense

While Walker at the SG position makes sense offensively, it doesn’t really make sense defensively.  Not only is his size (which teams would definitely attack) a problem, but but when defending away from the ball, Walker struggles.  Walker is in the bottom half of PPP allowed in both Spot-Up and Off Screen situations:

When in help position, Walker has a tendency to ball-watch, losing sight of his man.  This hurts him when he tries to help and recover, because he is helping and getting back to where he thinks his man is, but because he lost sight of him, he doesn’t notice that his man isn’t in the same spot.  So basically Walker is helping and recovering to a spot on the court where he thinks his man is, but he actually isn’t there.

When defending shooters off of screens, Walker has doesn’t stay attached to his man’s hips.  Giving him way too much room when making the catching coming off of the screen.  This is important, because in the NBA at the SG position, you are going to be covering guys like Ray Allen, J.J. Redick, and Kyle Korver.  Guys who need only a sliver of space to get a shot off (and even less when their defenders are Walker’s size), so if you can’t stay attached, you can’t defend these guys.

Ball watching hurts Walker here too.  There are times where he gets caught watching the ball and misses his man taking off to use a screen away from the ball.  To try and catch up, Walker tries to go under screens, but instead of helping him, that hurts him even more (especially with a very good shooter).

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So was Walker the right pick for the Bobcats?  It is hard to say if they drafted him to be the guy at the point guard spot, then yes.  If they want him to share the court (both offensively and defensively) with Augustin, them I’m not sure, because I don’t know how effectively they can play together.

Past Editions: Ricky Rubio | Jan Vesely

Bismack Biyombo took the world by storm by posting a triple double in the annual Hoop Summit game featuring the best prospects in the world.  Despite playing just 13 games in the ACB (the Spanish Pro league and maybe the second best league in teh world), Biyombo found himself as the #7 pick to the Charlotte Bobcats.

Strengths

Pick And Roll Offense

Everything that you have read or heard about Biyombo tells us that he is extremely raw on the offensive end.  While that is true, there is one area where Biyombo is slightly better than average, and that is in the pick and roll game.  As the roll man on pick and rolls, Biyombo shot 64.7% and posted a PPP of 1.091 (top 50% of all international players) while drawing a foul 31.8% of the time.

The way that Biyombo sets screens is straight out of the Amar’e Stoudemire/David Lee/Daivd West mold of not really setting a screen, but showing it and then quickly rolling to the rim.  My guess is that Biyombo or his coaching staff had him doing this for a couple reasons.  First, it lets him avoid setting moving screens, and second, it allows him to get to an area where he can catch and go right up with it easily:

In my opinion, Biyombo has better hands than you’d expect (especially when he is ready and waiting for the basketball), and when he makes the catch in the paint or right at the rim, he is able to quickly go up with the shot attempt, allowing him to finish without getting blocked.  That is, unless he gets a clear path to the rim, then he is able to go up and finish lob passes from his point guard.

Defense

Biyombo didn’t get drafted seventh because he is a slightly above average pick and roll player.  He got drafted because he can be an absolute dominant force on the defensive end.  According to Synergy, Biyombo recorded 31 blocks in just 13 games.  While that is impressive on its own, what might be even more impressive is that Biyombo doesn’t foul a lot (something that you associate with raw/athletic defenders).  Averaging 17 minutes per game for 13 games, Biyombo committed just 26 fouls, or 2 per game.  Even if you look at DraftExpress’ numbers adjusting for pace, Biyombo is committing just 4.6 fouls per 40 minutes.  Biyombo has that rare ability to block/challenge a lot of shots without committing fouls:

On most of his block attempts, Biyombo is always going straight up and never really seems out of control (which is what usually leads to blocks).  No wild swings of the arm, just solid hands straight up defense. Also, he doesn’t let smaller defenders jump into his body, drawing contact.

In addition to his ability to block shots without fouling, Biyombo is a very good post defender.  During his 13 games, Biyombo held is opponents to a PPP of 0.524 on just 22.2% shooting.

Biyombo’s biggest strength in the post is his strength.  He simply doesn’t allow the man posting him up to establish strong position in the post, and when they get the ball, they can’t really back Biyombo down because of his strength.  Also on these plays, you see his ability to stay standing straight up, not bite on head fakes, and bother shots without fouling.  Even when players were able to establish good post position, usually with the help of a cross screen, Biyombo was able to recover and contest.

Weaknesses

Offense Outside Of Pick And Rolls

Outside of the pick and roll, where he is slightly above average in my opinion, Biyombo is a very poor offensive player.  The biggest problem that I have with Biyombo is that he is very turnover prone, committing a turnover 25.8% of the time in the halfcourt.  Basically one out of every four possessions that Biyombo uses in the halfcourt ends in a turnover.  In the post, Biyombo struggles to recognize double teams:

He is so focused on his post move (he struggles with his moves so when he does catch the ball down low it seems like he gets tunnel vison when attempting his moves) that he rarely senses or sees the double team coming, and this results in turnovers.

Biyombo also ends up turning the basketball over when he makes the catch too far away from the rim in pick and roll situations:

Biyombo simply doesn’t have the skill right now to make the catch on the move (while diving to the rim) when too far away from the basket. He struggles timing his steps or even determining when he has to put the basketball on the floor.  This often leads to traveling violations (the two calls in the above clips).  When Biyombo can’t go straight up for the dunk, he struggles.

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It is going to be interesting to see how the Bobcats use Biyombo.  Are they going to play him a lot of minutes, allowing him to be the safety valve on the defensive end, blocking shots from help position.  If they do that, they expose him to much more time on the offensive end, and area where he clearly struggles.  D.J. Augustin was one of the better pick and roll point guards in the league last year, so there could be some success there, but will it be enough to leave him on the court?

I expect him to get the same type of minutes that he got in Spain this season, 15-20 minutes.  This is enough time where it allows him to be a factor on the defensive end, and it isn’t enough time to let his poor offensively play completely destroy the momentum of your offense (though I expect him to see more time when going up against a Dwight Howard or Pau Gasol/Andrew Bynum).  The real question is, is that enough production from the #7 pick in the draft during their rookie season?

Play 3 (1 Point) – Paul Silas/Charlotte Bobcats

This play starts with D.J. Augustin bringing the basketball up the court, kicking it out to the wing, and then coming off of a backscreen to the block.  Augustin curls it to the opposite block and gets in position to set a screen for Stephen Jackson.  The beauty of this play is that Jackson gets to pick one of two screens to use based on how his defender is playing him.  His defender plays him over the top, cheating and trying to prevent him from coming off of the pindown screen, so Jackson simply uses the cross screen, gets open, and knocks down the easy jumper in the paint.

Play 2 (2 Points) – Doc Rivers/Boston Celtics

Here, the Celtics take a play that they use all of the time to free up Ray Allen and add a few more actions to it.  It starts with Rajon Rondo getting the basketball and watching as Ray Allen comes off three screens (including a staggered pindown).  However, when Allen gets the basketball he isn’t looking for his own shot.  Instead, he is looking for Glen Davis who is getting a screen from Nenad Krstic.  Davis knocks down the open jumper.

Play 1 (3 Points) – Doug Collins/Philadelphia 76ers

On this play, Jrue Holiday brings the basketball up and gets it to Andre Iguodala on the wing.  Iguodala gets the ball back to Holiday and then comes off of two cross screens set on each elbow.  This is a normal action ran in the NBA, but the Sixers add a little twist and instead of getting the ball to Iguodala on the wing they have Iguodala curl off the second screen and look for the lob.  He comes off wide open and gets the pass and jams it home.

Updated Standings (Previous)

1. Doc Rivers – 38 points (1st)
2. Erik Spoelstra – 32 points (2nd)
3. Gregg Popovich – 24 points (3rd)
4. Monty Williams – 18 points (4th)
5. Rick Carlisle – 13 points (5th)
6. Frank Vogel – 12 points (6th)
7. Phil Jackson – 12 points (7th)
8. Alvin Gentry –  11 points (8th)
9. Tom Thibodeau – 10 points (9th)
10. Nate McMillan – 10 points (10th)
11. Rick Adelman – 9 points (11th)
12. Avery Johnson – 8 points (12th)
13. Doug Collins – 6 point (19th)
14. Larry Drew – 6 points (13th)
15. Scott Brooks – 6 points (14th)
16. Jay Triano – 5 points (15th)
17. Jerry Sloan – 4 points (16th)
18. Ty Corbin – 4 points (17th)
19. Lionel Hollins – 4 points (18th)
20. George Karl – 3 points (20th)
21. Scott Skiles – 3 points (21st)
22. Mike D’Antoni – 3 points (22nd)
23. Byron Scott – 2 points (23rd)
24. Stan Van Gundy – 2 points (24th)
25. Flip Saunders – 2 points (25th)
26. Paul Silas – 2 point (26th)
27. John Kuester – 1 point (27th)
28. Keith Smart – 1 point (28th)
29. Vinny Del Negro – 1 point (29th)

Nate McMillan uses his game winning play to tie Rick Adelman for 10th place.  Avery Johnson hops two spots to to 12th while Lionel Hollins stays put at 18.

Play 3 (1 Point) – Paul Silas/Charlotte Bobcats

This is a baseline set, but the Bobcats quickly get the basketball to D.J. Augustin at the top of the key so they can run their set.  They quickly run Dante Cunningham off of a pindown screen, with Cunningham curling it to the opposite key.  After Cunningham curls off the pindown, Gerald Henderson comes off the same pindown screen.  Henderson makes the catch and knocks down the jumper.  What makes this play work is the double run off of the screen.  The defense is really focusing on Cunningham as he comes off of the screen, not prepared for Henderson to come off of the same screen.

Play 2 (2 Points) – Avery Johnson/New Jersey Nets

Here, the Nets are able to show a set that they like to run a lot and use that to set up a lob to Kris Humphries.  One of the sets that the Nets like to run is sending Sasha Vujacic from one court to the other getting a number of screens.  That is what this play looks like it is going to be since after Vujacic gets the ball to Gaines, he comes off of a screen set by Brook Lopez.  However, instead of coming off of a screen set by Kris Humphries, Vujacic is the one setting a screen, for Humphries.  Humphries cuts backdoor and gets the lob pass.

Play 1 (3 Points) – Doc Rivers/Boston Celtics

With 12.5 seconds left in the game and with the Celtics trailing by 4 points, they simply need a quick score.  Whether it is a three or two doesn’t really matter at this point, it just needs to come quick.  This set that the Celtics ran gave them a chance at a three, but if it wasn’t there, they had a quick two option.  Ray Allen is the trigger man and he enters it to Jeff Green on the wing.  Allen cuts off of Green as if he is getting the ball on a dribble handoff, but it is a fake and Allen eventually sets a screen for Paul Pierce, who also cuts off the ball, not getting it though.  After setting his screen Allen comes off of a Kevin Garnett backscreen.  Allen gets the ball, as both defenders (Allen’s and Garnett’s men) show to him.  This frees up Garnett on the roll for the easy dunk.

Updated Standings (Previous)

1. Doc Rivers – 25 points (2nd)
2. Erik Spoelstra – 22 points (1st)
3. Monty Williams – 16 points (3rd)
4. Gregg Popovich – 16 points (4th)
5. Frank Vogel – 12 points (5th)
6. Phil Jackson – 12 points (6th)
7. Alvin Gentry –  10 points (7th)
8. Rick Carlisle – 8 points (8th)
9. Tom Thibodeau – 7 points (9th)
10. Rick Adelman – 6 points (10th)
11. Scott Brooks – 5 points (11th)
12. Nate McMillan – 5 points (12th)
13. Larry Drew – 4 points (13th)
14. Jerry Sloan – 4 Points (14th)
15. Avery Johnson – 3 points (22nd)
16. Lionel Hollins – 3 points (15th)
17. George Karl – 3 points (16th)
18. Scott Skiles – 2 points (17th)
19. Jay Triano – 2 points (18th)
20. Byron Scott – 2 points (19th)
21. Stan Van Gundy – 2 points (20th)
22. Flip Saunders – 2 points (21st)
23. Paul Silas – 1 point (NR)
24. Doug Collins – 1 point (23rd)
25. John Kuester – 1 point (24th)
26. Keith Smart – 1 point (25th)
27. Ty Corbin – 1 point (26th)
28. Vinny Del Negro – 1 point (27th)

Avery Johnson cracks the top 15 on the strength of two straight Clipboard Award appearances.  Also, Paul Silas is the newest coach to make their way onto the rankings.  The real news however, is up on top of the leaderboad.  After spending a lot of time chasing Erik Spoelstra, Doc Rivers finally has first place all to himself, now leading by three points.

After Raymond Felton left the Charlotte Bobcats this past offseason, the keys to Charlotte’s offense were handed over to D.J. Augustin. Augustin took them, and at the All-Star break, he is having the best offensive season of his NBA career. He has not only seen his Offensive Rating jump from 106 to 116, but his True Shooting Percentage is up (from 51.6 percent to 55.6 percent), his assist percentage is up (21.7 to 31.8), and his turnover rate is down (13.1 to 12.5).

When breaking down the game tape, you notice that this offensive success has come from Augustin’s play in the pick-and-roll game. According to Synergy Sport Technology, Augustin uses a pick as a ballhandler 45.1 percent fo the time (this number combines his passes and shots as the PNR ballhandler). What makes Augustin so successful with the pick-and-roll is because he mixes things up very well. When coming off of screens, Augustin looks for his offense 49.5 percent of the time and he passes out of it 50.5 percent of the time. Because he doesn’t have a tendency, he is definitely a hard cover.

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As the chart illustrates, the Lakers were getting to the rim more than usual last night, as 40% of their total shots were at the rim, compared to 28.5% over the course of the entire season.  The problem with the Lakers’ offense is that they were missing at the rim more than usual.  Los Angeles is 6th in the NBA, shooting 66.9% on shots located at the rim.  Against the Bobcats, that number dropped all the way to 50%, which would be worst in the league by far (the Bucks are worst in the league shooting 57% at the rim).

Forcing offenses into poor shooting at the rim seems to be the Bobcats’ identity on the defensive end.  They are currently 4th in the NBA, holding teams to just 60.5% shooting at the rim.  To me, the key is the length of the Bobcats frontcourt:

Here, Andrew Bynum gets a very nice repost with terrific position.  However Kwame Brown’s length bothers Bynum’s move.  Not only that, but Brown keeping his hands up also bothers Ron Artest’s putback attempt.

In this clip, Ron Artest tries his luck in the post.  However, he too has a long defender on him, Gerald Wallace.  Again, the Lakers get the ball to their post man in terrific position, but Wallace gets his hands up and and forces Artest to shoot over them.

It wasn’t just in the post, but the Bobcats’ length in the frontcourt also bothered the Lakers on penetration.  Here, Lamar Odom attacks the rim and gets by his man.  However, Kwame Brown slides over, gets in front of the rim, and puts his hands up.  This forces Odom to try and sidestep Brown and still get a shot over his extended arms, but he is unable to do so, missing the lay-up.

And finally here, Shannon Brown makes a great initial move and starts to drive baseline.  Even though he beats his man, Brown still has to try and finish at the rim with two long defenders (Brown and Wallace) coming over and helping.  Shannon Brown is forced to try and go underneath the rim for the reverse lay-up, but he misses.

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One thing to take away from all of these clips is that the Bobcats aren’t fouling here.  You don’t see the Bobcats’ bigs leaving their feet, and when they do, they aren’t swinging their arms widely going for the block, they are simply looking to bother the shot.  This is another season-long trend for the Bobcats, as they are 8th in the NBA with an opponent free throw rate 28.9.

Not only do the Bobcats have length in the frontcourt, but they go about using it smartly.  If they are able to give the big Lakers’ frontcourt problems, you can see why they give other teams problems as well.

In this set, Gerald Henderson starts in the middle of the lane, and he has two different options. He can use the single screen set by Gerald Wallace, or he can use the staggered screens set by Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw.  In both instances, Henderson decided to use the staggered screens, and in both instances, Henderson was able to get a wide open look:

The first time that the Bobcats ran this set, Henderson’s defender, Lou Williams, gets caught up in the screen just enough to give Henderson a slim shooting window. They ran it well enough to convince Paul Silas to run the set again later in the 4th:

This time, it is Evan Turner trying his hand at defending this set. He doesn’t do as good of a job that Williams did, and Henderson is able to knock down the wide open jumper.

One of the things you may have noticed is Elton Brand. In both plays, he backs up off of his man with his hands straight up:

Now, Elton Brand wasn’t just putting his hands up in the air to look cool. The reason that he did that and backed off of his man was to give the man chasing Henderson room to “shoot the gap” or go through the middle to try and beat Henderson to the spot instead of chasing Henderson around the screen. If you notice in the first clip, Lou Williams does this, and that is part of the reason he is able to contest the shot (granted, Henderson still makes it).

The second time the Bobcats run the play, Evan Turner decides to chase Henderson around the screen despite the fact that Elton Brand is giving him room to “shoot the gap.” Because of this, I think it is fair to assume that is what Turner was supposed to do on the defensive end. This error contributes to the wide open look for Henderson the second time.

As the ball gets handed to the trigger man, Andre Iguodala, Lou Williams sets a screen for Jodie Meeks.

Meeks uses the screen and then comes off of another screen set by Elton Brand.  At the same time, Jason Kapono sets a screen for Lou Williams.

Williams gets the ball in the corner.  Williams’ man, D.J. Augustin gets caught up on Kapono’s screen, so he really needs to sell out on the closeout.  Because of this, a simple pump fake sends Augustin flying.  Williams is able to knock down the open three.  Here is the play in real time:

One thing to notice when watching Lou Williams on this play is how he sets up the screen.  Williams turns as if he was following Meeks around Brand’s screen, and then quickly flashes to the corner.  The way Williams sets up the screen is the reason why Augustin gets caught up in it.

The second play came from the Charlotte Bobcats, who had 4.7 seconds to get off a shot.  They were able to get a clean look for Stephen Jackson.

The play starts once Stephen Jackson gets the ball from the referee.  Once that happens, Boris Diaw pops out to make himself available for the inbounds pass.

Once Diaw gets the basketball, D.J. Augustin flashes up to the top of the key (while getting a screen from Gerald Wallace).

Diaw makes the pass and goes to set a pindown screen for Stephen Jackson.  As this happens, Matt Carroll gets set to set a backscreen for Jackson.  This means that Jackson now has two options.  He can either use the pindown screen or the backscreen.

Jackson uses the pindown screen, comes off of it, and gets a wide open three pointer.  Unfortunately for the Bobcats, he can’t get the shot to drop.  Here is the play in real time:

When Jackson walks his defender down, you can see that he is a little worried about the backscreen.  That and a subtle little pushoff is what allows Jackson to get wide open.

As someone who hates to see ISO sets late, it is quite refreshing to see two coaches draw up plays that result in open shots rather than just giving the ball to the team’s best scorer and seeing what happens.

As the Bobcats bring up the basketball, both Matt Carroll and Gerald Wallace go from the corner to the block.  Wallace to set a screen and Carroll to use it.

After using Wallace’s first screen, Boris Diaw steps in and sets a pindown screen for Carroll, who curls off of it into the lane.

Because Carroll’s man stumbles, it puts pressure on Andrea Bargnani to show or give Carroll an open jumper.

Bargnani shows, and this opens up the quick bounce pass off of the pindown screen.  It is the pass shooters like Ray Allen, J.J. Redick, and Kyle Korver has mastered.

Carroll quickly dumps the basketball into Boris Diaw, who finishes at the rim.  Here is the play in real time:

Probably a moving screen by Gerald Wallace here, but it doesn’t get called. Carroll’s man stumbling forces Bargnani to show and opens up the pass. Nice little quick hitter from the Bobcats late.

At the end of the half the Bobcats led 33-32.  65 combined points.  Usually, when one team is bad, their opponent is there to take advantage of the mistakes.  This first half was both teams failing to take advantage of the other’s mistakes.  The final score of this game?  91-84.  After overtime.