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

Out of all the draft prospects who were projected to go in the early lottery, Brandon Knight was definitely the most interesting.  That’s because he had widest range of projections.  There were rumblings that he could go second or third, but if he got passed up there, who knows where he could fall.  Eventually, he fell to Detroit, who had the 8th pick in the draft.

Strengths

Getting In The Lane/Finishing

Despite not being a crazy athletic ball handler like a Derrick Rose or John Wall, Knight simply has a knack to get into the lane with relative ease.  He has a quick first step and and uses hesitation/misdirection moves very well, allowing him to get his defender on his hip and get by him on his way to the paint.  Off of the catch, Knight loves using the jab step and it is easy to see why, he does a great job of using it to catch his defender leaning one way or the other and then takes advantage, going by him with the dribble:

Again, unlike a Derrick Rose or a John Wall, Knight isn’t going to explode to the rim and finish with powerful dunks.  He’s simply not that type of athlete.  However, that doesn’t mean he isn’t able to score once he gets into the paint.  According to Synergy, on shots around the basket Knight shoots 62.4%.  Knight has a great touch and he loves to use that touch when shooting a variety of floaters over bigger help defenders:

Being able to hit these type of floaters consistently really puts pressure on the defense.  Because he is more of a threat to shoot the floater farther away from the paint (instead of needing to get to the rim to take a lay-up), the help needs to meet Knight farther out away from the rim.  This forces the help defender to take more chances and forces more rotations, essentially opening up many more passing lanes for Knight.

Shot Off The Dribble

In addition to his ability to knock down a floater in the paint, Knight is also a very good shooter coming off of the dribble.  Knight has a strong shooting form and when he rises up off of the dribble, he does a great job of staying on balance and going straight up and straight down and not floating in either direction.  This is what allows him to be so consistent when shooting off of the dribble.  This is a tremendous tool for Knight, especially when he is using it in pick and roll situations:

Since Knight has shown an ability to get in the paint and be a threat in the paint, it forced defenses to try and go under ball screens with Knight as the ball handler.  The problem is that he can knock down shots off of the dribble.  You go under the screen, he rises up and knocks the jumper down.  You go over the screen, and he gets in the paint and knocks down a floater.  That’s extremely hard to defend.

Weaknesses

Shot Selection

Despite showing an ability to be a threat behind the three point line and a capable shooter from NBA-range, Knight’s shooting numbers across the board weren’t the best.  The reason is that poor shot selection really causes Knight to be an inconsistent shooter.  Knight is prone to settling for contesting jumpers, and at times you can tell as soon as he catches it that he wants to go up with the shot and nothing is going to stop him:

These contested shots more often than not result in misses that hurt his shooting percentage and his offensive efficiency.  Poor shot selection also calls into question Knight’s point guard instincts.  At this point, Knight is a much better scorer than he is as a passer, so it makes sense that in certain situations Knight falls back into “score mode” which is something he is comfortable with, rather than trying to find the open man and create open shots for others.

Turnovers

In addition to poor shot selection, Brandon Knight is very prone to turnovers, especially when driving with his left hand.  Knight’s biggest problem is when he goes into “score mode.”  Knight puts his head down and looks to attack the rim, but there are times he penetrates too much and gets in a situation where he doesn’t have any passing options to kick the ball out.

Knight always seems to take one more dribble than he should when he is in passing situations.  He takes a little too long to identify the open player and by that time it is too late to make the pass, but that doesn’t keep Knight from trying.  Also, Knight doesn’t do a great job handling hard traps when coming off of ball screens.  We mentioned how much of a scoring threat Knight can be in PNR situations, and because of that, teams started trapping him coming off of ball screens.  Knight had a really hard time making passes out of these traps, turning the ball over 9.5% of the time when the defense commits to him as he comes off of ball screens.

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Will Knight have a successful rookie season?  I think it all depends on how the Pistons use him.  I don’t think he is quite ready to be the full time ball handler for the team (though based on what is out there, Knight is a tremendous worker and I have no doubt in my mind that he will pick it up a late in his rookie season, early in his sophomore season), but if the Pistons put him on the wing and let him use his jab step/misdirection to attack the land and give him PNRs on the wing, he could have a successful rookie season offensively.

We pick up the Pistons’ possession as Tracy McGrady dribbles the ball at the top with 10 seconds left on the shot clock.  McGrady attacks the rim, and when this happens Will Bynum slides to the corner.  This leaves Austin Daye as the man responsible for getting back on defense.  Initially, he makes the right play by sliding towards the top of the key, replacing McGrady.

As McGrady penetrates, he is met by a few Wizards’ defenders so he kicks the ball out to the corner.  Daye remains in decent position to get back on defense.

However, as soon as Tayshaun Prince puts the ball up, Daye dives to the front of the rim, crashing the boards despite the four other Pistons below the free throw line.

Daye doesn’t get the offensive rebound, and as JaVale McGee collects the basketball you have all five Detroit Pistons below the free throw line.  Wall recognizes this and quickly leaks out as soon as he sees McGee securing the basketball.

Nobody on the Pistons is quick enough to catch up with Wall, especially when given a 5-10 foot head start.  Wall finishes with the dunk, and gives his team a 2 point lead with 15 seconds left.  Here is the play in real time:

It’s hard to say what was on Daye’s mind when he attacked the front of the rim looking for a rebound.  Maybe he saw the lane and instincts took over, maybe he was frustrated that the ball didn’t get swung to him and he lost his mind.  Either way, Daye crashing the boards with nobody back on defense denied the Pistons a chance to get a stop and force this game into overtime.

Play #3 (1 point)- John Kuester/Detroit Pistons

For the third place play, the Detroit Pistons ran a very quick hitting play that was designed to open up Ben Gordon.  The play worked, and it forced the defense’s hand, leading to an open basket.

The ball gets inbounded from Ben Gordon to Tayshaun Prince in the post.  Once Gordon inbounds the basketball, he gets a backscreen from a Piston big.  Gordon uses that backscreen to flare out to the high post.

D.J. Augustin gets caught up in the screen, leaving Gordon wide open.  This forces the defense to step up and close out hard on Gordon, who has been shooting very well this game.

With Tracy McGrady’s man stepping up to Gordon, McGrady spots up wide open in the corner, behind the three point line.

McGrady makes the catch and knocks down the open three pointer.  Here is the play in real time:

This is a very nice play drawn up from coach Kuester, and it is also a nice read from Ben Gordon.  Instead of forcing up the jumper, he hits the open man in the corner for the open three.

Play #2 (2 points)- Byron Scott/Cleveland Cavaliers

With the Cavs trailing by 10 points and the game threatening to get out of hand early, coach Byron Scott ran a nice play that took the ball from one side to the other, leading to an easy jumper.

The play starts with Manny Harris getting a downscreen that allows him to flash to the top of the key for the basketball.

Once Harris makes the catch, Alonzo Gee flashes to the wing, and then quickly cuts through to the opposite corner.

Once Gee clears, Harris passes it to his teammate on the wing.  As this happens, Anthony Parker starts walking down his man then quickly changes direction, uses a screen to get to the high post.

J.J. Hickson gets a very good screen on Parker’s man, creating a lot of room for Parker to work with.  The pass is on time and comes as soon as Parker comes off the screen.

The result is a wide open shot for Parker off the catch as Parker’s man tries to get back for the close-out, but it is too late.  Here is the play in real time:

This play is all about timing.  If Anthony Parker makes his cut too early and Manny Harris isn’t done with his cut yet, he isn’t going to be open.  Wait too long, and the defense will sniff out the play.  The timing is perfect here, and that is what leads to the open shot.

Play #1 (3 points)- Rick Adelman/Houston Rockets

With the Houston Rockets down 2 points with 15 seconds left in the 4th quarter, the Rockets needed a play coming to of the timeout to get a basket.

As the ball goes to the triggerman, Aaron Brooks comes off of a screen from Luis Scola, using it to get the ball at the top of the key.

Once Shane Battier inbounds the basketball to Brooks, Battier walks his man down and then quickly flashes to the elbow, looking for the pass.

Battier gets the pass from Brooks, who flashes to the opposite side after making the pass.  As this happens, Kevin Martin comes over and cuts off of Luis Scola, who is posting up on the block.

The key to this play is that Scola isn’t setting a screen, Martin is just simply cutting off of him.  This is important, because Scola is always a threat, meaning that his man can’t leave him like he would if he was hedging off of a screen.  That is what opens up the lane, allowing Battier to hit Martin with the pass.

Martin makes the catch (an incredibly tough catch) and finishes at the rim while getting fouled.  Here is the play in real time:

You can see that Paul Millsap doesn’t want to leave Scola because he is still a threat to make a catch in the post.  That little aspect (Scola staying posted instead of setting a screen) is what makes this play.

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Updated Standings (Previous)

1. Doc Rivers – 5 points (1st)
2. Erik Spoelstra – 4 points (2nd)
3. Rick Adelman - 3 points (NR)
4. Frank Vogel – 3 points (3rd)
5. George Karl – 2 points (4th)
6. Phil Jackson – 2 points (5th)
7. Byron Scott – 2 points (NR)
8. Gregg Popovich – 1 point (6th)
9. John Kuester – 1 point (NR)
10. Keith Smart – 1 point (7th)

Last night saw our first game winning timeout set, and that was enough for coach Adelman to get the win.  Byron Scott and John Kuester (my sleeper for a top three finish if he is in Detroit the rest of the season) round out the top three.

The reason is because there is so much time left on the clock that the Pistons can take a few dribbles before the shot, meaning zone wouldn’t really work.  No, the defensive mistake was a much simpler one against Detroit’s very good set:

The play starts with Chris Wilcox setting a pindown screen for Tracy McGrady who flashes to the top of the key around the three point line.

After Wilcox sets his pindown screen, he sets a screen along the baseline, allowing Ben Gordon to use it to flash to the ball side corner, effectively clearing out the are around the rim.

Once Ben Gordon clears the paint area, Austin Daye fakes towards the basketball and then cuts backdoor to the rim, looking for the lob.

This is where the defensive mistake takes place.  Joel Anthony is covering Chris Wilcox, who is probably the 4th option on this play.  He needs to recognize that there is a possibility of a lob taking place behind him, and he needs to be a few steps backwards in the middle of the paint, with Wilcox still in front of him.  That way, he is ready to stop any lob, and if the pass gets made to Wilcox, he can recover, since Wilcox is in front of him.

As a result of Anthony being out of position, the Pistons are able to get a lob at the rim.  The only reason why the Heat were able to win was because Daye missed the jam, being bothered by James Jones, who recovered quickly.

I am always a fan of John Kuester’s late game playcalls, and here is another example.  Great job of the Pistons to clear the lane and send a cutter who has a height advantage to the rim.  With Anthony’s mistake, the Pistons were almost able to steal a game against Miami.

On the initial screen, you have Al Jefferson setting a screen for Williams and then rolling straight to the rim.  Greg Monroe (Jefferson’s man) shows hard, trying to keep Williams out of the paint as Tayshaun Prince works over the screen.  This forces Richard Hamilton to sink in to help on the roll.

The Pistons actually do a fantastic job on that pick and roll, turning Williams around, keeping him out of the paint, and keeping Jefferson from getting an open look on the roll.  They did such a good job, that it forced the Jazz to reset their entire offense.

Again, Al Jefferson comes with the screen and rolls off of it.  Again, Richard Hamilton needs to sink on the help.

However, instead of trying to use the screen to get into the lane, he quickly swings the ball to Paul Millsap.  This creates confusion between Greg Monroe, Jefferson’s original man, and Hamilton, the man helping on Jefferson. As this is happening, Raja Bell recognizes that Hamilton is occupied with Jefferson, and he slides to the wing.

As Millsap takes a dribble drive to the lane, you notice that there are two defenders on Al Jefferson.  Prince can’t leave Williams, meaning Bell is wide open on the wing.

Millsap makes a great pass and hits Bell on the wing.  Bell calmly knocks down the three.  Here is the play in real time:

While this was definitely a mix up on the defensive end by Detroit, you have to love the adjustment that the Jazz made in their PNRs. The first one, Williams tried to attack the lane and Raja Bell stayed planted in the corner.

On the second PNR, Williams quickly swung it to Millsap as Bell moved from the corner to the wing (getting away from his helping defender). Those adjustments created the confusion on the Pistons’ end.

As soon as the ball gets handed to the trigger man, Tayshaun Prince goes from his spot at the top of the key and uses the two screens that the Pistons’ bigs set for him.

Once Prince clears the area that Hamilton wants to get to, he uses the two screens.  Now, this is where the skill of Richard Hamilton and his ability to use the screen comes into play.  Look at how close Hamilton comes off the bigs’ screen.  The fact that he is rubbing off the bigs’ hip is that it forces Hamilton’s man (in this case Deron Williams) to trail him.

Because Williams needs to trail the screen, look at how far off of Hamilton he is.  Also, Hamilton curls his screen enough where he is able to catch and go straight up.  He doesn’t need to adjust his body at all.

Because Hamilton’s body is in position, he goes up with it so quickly that Al Jefferson can’t get his hands up to try and challenge on the shot.  Here is the play in real time:

Yes, this play call is simple, but I think it does enough to get Richard Hamilton open, allowing for Hamilton to put his skills on display, which is exactly what he does here, using the screens set for him very well.

Charlie Villanueva is initially open, but there are two reasons why he is unable to get a shot off. The first is the way that Charlie Villanueva slides up and uses the screen (He starts from a standing position, then he backpedals, then turns to face the ball. After making the catch, he needs to turn to face the basket). Also, Villanueva has a long and elongated shooting form, and by the time he is able to get into his form, it is too late.

The next night, the Pistons were in almost the same exact situation as the night before, down three and needed to get a clean look from a side out set. Kuester knew that the play he drew up the night before has the potential of working, and he made a few adjustments to it.

As you can see, this is exact same action (a pindown for a shooter to come free at the top of the key) as the play from the Bulls game, with a few slight adjustments. First, he drew the play up for Ben Gordon, a player who is known for his quick release. Second, he put Ben Gordon on the move, allowing him to curl to the top of the key, make the catch, and in rhythm get the shot up. The result is a wide open three, unfortunately, it doesn’t go in.

Despite the result, this is a great job by the Pistons’ coaching staff. After the play against the Bulls, hey knew they had a general action that would work, and after watching the tape they were able to make the correct adjustments.

As Derrick Rose brings the basketball up, Kurt Thomas comes from one elbow to set a screen for Carlos Boozer on the opposite elbow.

Boozer is going to use the screen to come to the top of the key and set a screen of his own for Derrick Rose.

As Boozer tries to get himself in position to set the screen, Charlie Villanueva makes his defensive error.  Villanueva jumps to the opposite side of Boozer and hedges hard.  The problem with this is that Villanueva shows his hand way too early.

Both Derrick Rose and Carlos Boozer see that Villanueva is hedging early, and they both read it and do a terrific job of “freelancing” off of it.  Rose takes a dribble backwards and Boozer slips the screen, creating distance between each other.  This forces Villanueva to commit to either Rose or Boozer.

Villanueva chooses to try and double team Rose, but Rose is able to use his athleticism to get in the air and hit Boozer with the pass.  Now look at the situation the Pistons have to try and defend.  They have two shooters in the corner, Kurt Thomas in the low block, and Boozer right in the middle of the lane with the slender Tayshaun Prince on him.  There are three defenders trying to cover four players.

Both outside defenders stay home to be able to close out on any shot, meaning Prince needs to try and stop Boozer one-on-one.  Boozer is able to muscle is way into a clean look and makes the lay-up.  Here is the play in real time:

The beauty of this play is that this was the second straight time that the Bulls ran it.  The first time they ran it, the Pistons switched everything, and the result was Will Bynum defending Carlos Boozer in the post:

Even though the result was a turnover, the Bulls got a match-up that they wanted while the Pistons probably don’t want Bynum on Boozer.  So the Bulls ran the play again, knowing they were forcing the Pistons into a decision how to defend it.

They knew they didn’t want to switch again, but because there was no timeout in between these two possessions, the Pistons’ players couldn’t really get on the same page or discuss it with the coaching staff.  That is what forces Villanueva into his defensive error.

As the ball goes to trigger man Tayshaun Prince the Pistons are set up in a box set.  The play starts with the two men closest to the basketball turn their backs to the ball and set screens for Ben Gordon.  Gordon splits the two screeners as if he is going towards the sideline.

Once Gordon clears the two screeners, he quickly turns around and starts heading back towards the middle of the court, uses another Jason Maxiell screen (Maxiell turns around to get a better angle on a screen).  As this is happening, Charlie Villanueva sets a screen and Will Bynum uses it to get to the corner.

Now, Will Bynum isn’t the first option here, but the screen and his use of it is just as important as Gordon’s.  Why?  Well, because Bynum heading to the corner forces his man to follow him instead of just sitting back in help position.

This clears out the back side for Gordon, and with no help coming, he is able to take a dribble and pull up from three.  Here is the video in real time:

Just a brilliant play from Kuester here. The Ben Gordon action is great on its own, but Kuester is able to recognize that if he doesn’t move Will Bynum, the Hornets can bring help to Gordon, and sends him to the corner. Great job of moving the defense around and getting them to go where you want them to go.

To start the play, Rodney Stuckey attacks the basket and gets by Jamal Crawford.  This attack forces Damien Wilkins to help.

It looks like the Hawks have Stuckey corralled, however Stuckey is able to squeeze the ball out to Ben Gordon in the corner.

As Gordon makes the catch, he has three Atlanta Hawks running at him, trying to close out.  We all know that Ben Gordon is a good shooter, but you don’t need to send three defenders at him.  Gordon smartly gets the ball out of his hands quickly.  This blown rotation puts the Hawks in a position where they are now forced to chase the passes along the perimeter.

The ball gets out to Tracy McGrady, forcing Al Horford to rotate over to him.  Again, McGrady makes a quick pass, forcing the rotation again.  This time, Damien Wilkins has to try and make is way to Charlie Villanueva.

However instead of sprinting to Charlie Villanueva, Wilkins kind of jogs through his rotation.  Credit to Jamal Crawford for recognizing this and closing out hard, but he can’t make up the distance.  Villanueva knocks down the wide open three.  Here is the play in real time:

After two Rodney Stuckey free throws and an Atlanta Hawks miss, the Pistons brought the ball back down the court looking to extend their lead even more.

On this play, there isn’t really much that Detroit tries to do here.  Stuckey tries to attack the basket, but he is cut off.  Josh Smith is in help position at the foul line, sinking off of his man, Tracy McGrady.

After taking a few more dribbles, Stuckey picks up his dribble, pauses, and then kicks it out to McGrady.  This should be enough time for Smith to get back to his man, but instead, he decides to pivot around and simply put his hands up.  That isn’t going to bother McGrady’s jumper.  Here is the play in real time:

You have two really poor/lazy rotations from the Atlanta Hawks that helped power the run that allowed Detroit to stretch their lead out.  When people look at this score, they are going to wonder how the more talented Hawks lost to the Pistons.  This is how.