Two games in a row, the Milwaukee Bucks’ Summer League team faced similar late game defensive situations. With under a second left, the Bucks’ opponent had the ball on a sideline out of bounds play, and on both occasions the Bucks allowed their opponent to score a game-winning/game-tying bucket (This doesn’t count the basket that Rodrigue Beaubois hit from an ISO set with .7 seconds left to win the Bucks-Mavs game in overtime). Both times, it was due to a defensive blunder, and both times it cost them the game:
Bucks vs. Mavs
With 0.3 seconds left, the Bucks were holding onto a 2 point lead. Here, there is just enough time for a catch and shoot, but more than likely the opposing team would be running a play right at the rim:
As the ball gets to the trigger man, J.R. Giddens gets a staggered double screen set for him from the two Dallas Mavericks’ bigs. These screens are set so Giddens can curl around the screens and get freed up by at least one of the screens.
On Friday, the Dallas Mavericks Summer League squad played in their first game in the Vegas Summer League. One of the players I had an eye on was Dominique Jones, a wing player out of the University of South Florida who was drafted by Grizzlies with the 25th pick and then traded to Dallas.
In case you didn’t know, Jones lead the Big East in scoring last year with an average of 21.4 points per game. Most of his points came from attacking the rim. After watching the Mavericks’ first summer league game, it is apparent that ability to get to the rim is going to translate to the NBA:
Jones makes the catch on the wing and attacks the lane through the middle of the court. Initially, his defender cuts him off, but Jones makes a strong quick crossover. My favorite part about the crossover is how his defender reaches, but Jones is so strong, he just discards the reach in and continues to the basket.
The Dallas Mavericks did all they could to get themselves back into Game 6 after they scored only eight points in the first quarter, and at one point in the fourth quarter, the Mavs were only down 2 points. The Spurs were able to pull away by getting a few key baskets.
The Run Starter
When the Mavs cut the lead to 2 points, the Spurs ran a pick and roll with Duncan and George Hill. However, neither one of them got the key bucket:
After working the ball around, it gets swung to George Hill. After making the pass, Tim Duncan comes over to set a screen for Hill.
In Game 3, the Dallas Mavericks used the 2-3 zone against the Spurs, and they really struggled with it. The Spurs didn’t get a lot of good looks when the Mavs used the zone, however they were still able to pull out the win. In Game 4, Dallas saved the zone for the 4th quarter hoping the Spurs would struggle with it yet again so they can get back in the game. Coach Popovich had his guys ready to attack the zone properly, and they were able to do it three different ways.
1) Crash The Boards
When teams play zone, you always hear about the defense really needing to concentrate on crashing the boards. This is because instead of covering a man, you are covering an area and it is harder to get a body on someone because of it. Playing zone also tends to lead to funny matchups when the ball is in the air.
The Mavs first show the zone down 7, and the Spurs recognize it and start sending the ball around the perimeter. Quick ball movement is another key to beating the zone. You get guys moving around, the zone starts to lose it’s shape.
Throughout the playoffs, we are going to be looking at the teams that lost their last game and look at what they can do to try and get a win.
After the Mavericks cut the Spurs’ lead to 5 in the fourth quarter, the Spurs answered by going to their best player Tim Duncan. The Mavs tried to single cover him with Brendan Haywood, but it didn’t work and Duncan was able to work him.
The Spurs were ahead of the Mavs for the entire game last night, but there were a few times where it looked like the Mavericks were going to get over the hump and take the lead. At one point in the 4th quarter, the Mavs were able to cut the lead down to 5 points after a Jason Terry three pointer. The Spurs answered with a heavy dose of Tim Duncan, and with an 8 point lead, the Spurs close the door on any chance of a Maverick comeback:
Manu Ginobili knocked down a pretty open three point shot to give the Spurs an 11 point lead with under 2 minutes left. How was he so wide open?
Throughout the playoffs, we are going to be looking at the teams that lost their last game and look at what they can do to try and get a win.
Dirk was phenomenal in game 1 against the Spurs, and while 12-14 from the field isn’t going to happen again, I think the Spurs need to change up some things when covering Dirk. The biggest adjustment I would make is I would have the Spurs front Dirk when he is on the post. When Dirk makes the catch on the post with the defender behind him, he is so tall and so good at that little fade away jumper that it is almost guaranteed that he will get a good look when he makes the catch there.
After falling behind double digits in the 4th quarter, the Spurs were trying their best to get back into the game. They were playing well offensively and scoring, but the Spurs just couldn’t get a stop. To make matters worse, the Mavericks were hitting three pointers, while the Spurs were getting two.
As Jason Kidd backs down Tony Parker, Dirk sets a screen for Jason Terry who runs down to the block.
For these playoff previews we are going to take a look at each team individually, and then we are going to look at the match-up.
San Antonio Spurs
Strengths
What the Spurs do well.
Execution
Movement without the ball
Tough defense
Weaknesses
Some problems the Spurs struggle with
Aging stars
Tony Parker’s rust
Tendencies
Some things you are going to notice when watching the Spurs play.
The Spurs aren’t a team that will run you to death, as they like to work in the half court. That doesn’t mean they can’t score. The Spurs are really good at executing their stuff in the half court.
With the ballgame tied at 90 with 17.5 seconds left, the Memphis Grizzlies had possession of the ball coming out of a timeout they called. When teams come out of a timeout, you usually see there best stuff because the head coach has a chance to draw up a play custom-fit to the situation. The coaches can’t do anything about players forgetting plays though, and that is exactly what happened last night to the Grizzlies:
As the ball goes to the trigger man, Zach Randolph sets a downscreen for Mike Conley. This is designed to get him the ball on the top of the key so they can execute their play.
