Every once in a while, we take a break out from breaking down possessions to look at some fundamentals.  Late in the Clippers-Bobcats game last night, you had two very similar plays happen back-to-back.  Both teams had their respective point guard attacking the basket with help coming over.  The Clippers scored on their possession while the Bobcats didn’t.  The reason?  Baron Davis stayed under control while D.J. Augustin got caught in the air.

We are going to first look at Baron’s play that happens with under a minute left and the Clippers up 2:

After dribbling the shot-clock down until there was 10 seconds left, Baron Davis starts to attack the basket.  Baron’s defender (Raymond Felton) is playing far too close to him, and this allows Baron to get around him.

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Yeah, the title was an excuse just to post that video. Anyway, after Nazr Mohammed’s bucket with 1:38 left cut the lead to 1, the Bobcats were looking to get a stop to get a chance to win the game:

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There were two really good games with some nice execution late.  The first game that we are going to take a look at is the Lakers-Raptors game from yesterday.  The Lakers had the lead lake, but two plays for the Raptors that lead in fouls were able to help the Raptors get the win.

The Shooting Threat Of Bargnani

The great thing about being a great three point shooter is the way that the defense plays you.  Defenses need to close out hard because they respect the shot, and if you have an ability to attack the basket, this gives you a great advantage.  When you are a shooting threat from the center spot, it is even better, because you are usually matched up against guys who don’t really know how to close-out properly.

Here Pau Gasol is in help position as the pick and roll between Chris Bosh and Hedo goes on.  Hedo then makes the pass to Bargnani.

As Bargnani makes the catch, he doesn’t even need to pump fake, because Pau Gasol is already closing out on him real hard.  Bargnani rips the ball through and has Pau on his hip.  This gives him a lane right to the basket.

The help actually comes on time, but Bargnani is able to avoid it, take the ball under the basket, and hit the reverse lay-up while getting fouled.

The Play To Get Hedo Fouled

Here, the Raptors run a pick and roll late with the goal to isolate Pau Gasol on Hedo (because, as we talked about in the past, most teams switch any screens in the final moments of the game).

The pick gets set and the switch is made.  Hedo explores the right side, but there is nothing there, and he crosses over and goes back to the middle.

Hedo uses another screen from Bosh.  Here, the Raptors actually gave the Lakers a chance to switch back.  Pau and Ron Artest choose not to though.

Because they don’t switch the screen, Hedo is able to use is athletic advantage on Pau to get him on his hip.  He does just that and starts his drive to the basket.

Hedo gets into the lane and as he attempts a lay-up, he is fouled.  He knocks down the two foul shots and the Raptors come away with the win.

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The next game that we arre going to look at is the Magic-Bobcats game from Saturday.  This was another good game (until it got into overtime), but instead of good execution, it was a defensive breakdown that almost cost the Magic the game

Outside Opening Inside

Before we get to the late game play, I just wanted to show what makes Orlando so dangerous.

As the clock winds down to end the quarter, Marcin Gortat sets a screen for Vince Carter.  Look how the court is spread out.  The Magic have 4 legitimate outside threats with the one center.  A great way to stretch the court out.

After he sets his screen Gortat dives to the basket.  This serves two purposes, the first is that it may suck a defender in and allow for an open shot.  The second purpose is that if/when the Magic shoot a three, Gortat diving to the basket makes himself available for an offensive rebound.

As Carter swings the ball to Jameer Nelson, there is a problem.  Stephen Jackson has to decide to go defend Rashard Lewis (who is wide open right now) or stay on Gortat.

Jackson chooses to go out on Lewis, leaving Gortat open.  Nelson makes a great look-away pass to get it to Gortat down low.

Gortat makes the catch in the paint with the defense on his back.  He is able to finish strong with the dunk.

The Defensive Breakdown

Now we get to the defensive breakdown.  This to me looks like a lack of communication either in the huddle or on the court (Maybe both).

This is a nice play run by the Bobcats.  Boris Diaw is going to quickly make himself available, and after the pass is made, Stephen Jackson is going to come off a backscreen set by Raymond Felton.

After Felton sets the screen, he is going to come and get a handoff from Diaw.  For the Magic, this is where the breakdown happens.  You can see Nelson pointing (and most likely yelling) to Vince Carter.  Nelson wants Carter to switch and cover Felton as he covers Nelson.

However, Vince Carter doesn’t here him (or chooses to ignore him), so now the Magic have two defenders on one, and Boris Diaw (it ends up being Diaw because the handoff turns into a screen, and that gets switched by Dwight Howard)  is going to be open.  In this hectic-ness, Carter and Nelson need to figure out who is going to go out on Diaw.  Instead of just one defender going out on Diaw, both do.

This leaves Stephen Jackson wide open under the basket.  Jackson is actually open for a really long time here, but Felton can’t see him, because Dwight does a good job of getting big and closing the court down.  He doesn’t allow for Felton to see how open Jackson is.

As Felton uses his speed to turn the corner, he is able to finally see Stephen Jackson who is still wide open.  Jackson shouldn’t still be this wide open, but again Vince Carter and Jameer Nelson can’t figure out who is going to run to Jackson.  Nelson, decides he is going to stay with Diaw, and this forces Carter to try and cover a longer distance to get to Jackson.

He is unable to do so, and Felton makes the pass to Jackson, and he is able to finish right at the basket, tying the game, and sending it into overtime.

Every day we are going to look at an individual performance and examine just what happened.  Was it just a spectacular performance?  Was it poor defense?  Was it brilliant playcalling?  Find out here.

Against the Rockets, Stephen Jackson really went to work.  He scored 43 points on only 22 shots.  The key to Jackson’s efficiency last night (and for most of the year – as a matter of fact) is cutting down the three point attempts while attacking the lane.

Smart Three Point Shots

Jackson was 3-5 from three.  He was so good from deep because he was taking smart shots.  Shots that he got when he was open:

After bringing the ball up, Jackson swings it to the Bobcats big man to get the offense started.  After the post, Jackson does a nice job of floating to the open area.

As the play gets swung around to D.J. Augustine, there is a backscreen set in the lane by two Bobcats.

The backscreen action draws Jackson’s defender, Trevor Ariza, into the middle of the lane.  Stephen Jackson spots up and D.J. Augustine makes the pass.

Jackson makes the catch and steps into a wide open three pointer.  Trevor Ariza doesn’t even get his hands up here, and Jackson knocks it down.

Getting In The Lane

Jackson also did a fantastic job scoring in the paint.  Jackson was 9-12 inside of 10 feet, most of it was his willingness to attack the basket, but some of it was great play design by the Bobcats’ coaching staff.

The Bobcats run a stack play off of an inbounds here.  The play is designed to be a quick-hitter, getting the ball to Stephen Jackson in the paint for an easy bucket.  He starts at the back of the stack formation and swings around the front, uses the stack of guys as a screen.

As Jackson swings around, you can see Luis Scola trying to help.  His ability to help is limited because his man, Boris Diaw, is poping out.  Scola needs to go out on Diaw because he has proven to be a capable shooter.

As Scola steps up, the lane is now clear for a lob pass to be thrown.

Jackson makes the catch, throws a pump-fake, and then finishes the lay-up.

Getting To The Line

The third and final part to Stephen Jackson’s efficient night was the fact that he got to the foul line.  Jackson got to the line 11 times, hitting on 10 of them.  The reason he got to the line so many times was that he showed a willingness to attack the basket.

Here, the Bobcats starts the possession by getting the ball to Stephen Jackson on the wing.  He has a very good defender in Shane Battier covering him.

So the Bobcats run a screen for him on the wing.  Scola comes out to hedge, but he comes out too soft (because he wants to keep Jackson from going baseline), giving a big lane for Jackson to get through in the middle.

Jackson splits the trap, and he could have settled for a jumper right here.  He doesn’t though.

He takes another dribble and goes in for a lay-up even though Chuck Hayes is there defending.  Jackson gives up the body, draws the contact, and gets himself to the foul line.

OK, no Morning Shootaround today (although I am going to be sticking with the format I used yesterday, I liked how it turned out) because the only game yesterday was Knicks-Bobcats.  Because I live in the tri-state area, I couldn’t access the game via LPBroadband to get screenshots for a full game breakdown.

It was a real entertaining game though, and despite the Knicks turning the ball over at a comical rate in the 2nd half (including but not limited to throwing it to the wrong team, running into each other going for a pass, and throwing it to nobody out of bounds) they were able to pull out the win.  Another funny thing about this game is that if you look at the numbers, you would think that the Bobcats won.  Seriously, they hit the same number of 3s, went to the line more, had 11 fewer turnovers, 8 more steals, and had more offensive rebounds.  The Knicks were a tad more efficient of the offensive end (better FG% and 3P%) and got easier shots (more points in the paint).  That was enough to give them the slight edge.

As for the possession we are breaking down, it is the play with the Knicks up 1, around 1:30 left Danilo Gallinari hit a 3 after some nice ball-movement (we aren’t going to look at the 30 footer he drilled without hesitation).  The Knicks and the Bobcats were exchanging deep shots, and the first team to miss was probably going to be the team that was going to lose.  This three by Gallinari was basically the dagger.

The Knicks start the possession with a side pick and roll between David Lee and Chris Duhon.  Lee doesn’t really get a good screen set, but he is so mobile, that the Bobcats have to worry about his roll, so that prevents the Bobcats from getting a good hedge/switch on Duhon.

Because of that, Duhon is able to get his defender on his hip, and that allows for him to get a lane.  The Bobcats defender I underlined is in perfect help position.  He is in the middle of the lane, preventing any lay-up and forcing a pass outwards.

The next step is getting the correct rotation.  The Bobcats defender in the paint did his job and forced the pass out, the rest of the defense sort of fails on this possession.  The Bobcats send two players at Wilson Chandler, who catches the ball on the wing.  Only one player is supposed to run out on him,

The Bobcats defender who misrotated, realizes his mistake and tries to recover, but it is too late.

It’s funny, the mis-rotation by the Bobcats sets up the Knicks play even better.  The two steps over the defender takes allows for Jarred Jeffries’ screen to catch the defender and make the close-out even harder.

Gallinari makes the catch with enough space to pull up and not be effected by the close-out.  He hits the three, putting the Knicks up 4, and effectively winning the game.

Here it is in live action:

Every morning (or late-afternoon), I am going to breakdown the some key possessions from the previous night’s games.  Good possessions/bad possessions you can find them all here.

Last night there were two close games, both ending with the losing team having a chance to tie the game with a 3.  Both teams ended up with a tough look from the corner.

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