It is no secret that ever since “The Decision”, the Miami Heat have been a defensive nightmare for the entire NBA. This season’s numbers speak for themselves. According to NBA.com, Miami ranked in the top 5 in six major defensive categories:

#5 Opp FG% (43.4%)
#5 Opp PPG (91.3)
#4 Def Rating (97.1)
#3 Opp TO (16.6)
#3 Steals (8.8)
#1 Opp Rebs (39.3)

Miami’s performance in the playoffs thus far has been no different. Although the sample size is only three games, even the most novice of basketball minds can see that the Heat have completely shut down New York’s offensive attack. This one possession in Game 3 personifies Miami’s entire attitude towards team defense.

To begin this defensive possession, all five Miami defenders have their eyes on the ball while simultaneously taking away any logical passing lane. Offensively, the Knicks attempt a slot pick and roll with Anthony and Chandler. This will be the only concrete offensive decision that the Knicks will make as Miami’s defense will control the rest of the possession.

Bosh calls to “tight zone” the screen. This means that he is going to contain the ball handler’s dribble while his teammate (Battier) will go over the top of the screener and cause ball pressure from the backside. Battier’s backside ball pressure eliminates any possibility for a retreat dribble by Anthony which forces him to drive into Bosh’s containment.

On Anthony’s drive, Chalmers stunts at him to give Anthony the illusion that three Miami defenders are guarding him. Bosh is still in his “tight zone” containment and is taking away any direct passing lanes to the screener Chandler who has now rolled to the basket. Wade has shifted over to jam Chandler’s roll. Wade has not fully committed to jamming Chandler’s roll because he knows he is guarding a “Dead 3” in 2011-12 regular season 3-point shooting leader Steve Novak (47.2% according to NBA.com). Wade is in a prime position to do two things: to make a play on the ball if Anthony passes to Chandler in the lane or meet Novak on the catch if Anthony decides to make a skip pass across the court. With his speed and quick lateral explosion, LeBron James has both the right passing lane of Novak and the left passing lane of J.R. Smith covered. With all of his options taken away, Anthony is forced to make the “safe” pass to Baron Davis in the corner.

On Davis’ catch, Chalmers immediately takes away any possibility for a drive to the middle of the floor and funnels Davis down the baseline into Miami’s helpside defense. As you can now see, Wade has sealed down which takes away a direct pass to Chandler at the rim. Wade keeps his right hand in the small of Chandler’s lower back so he can release himself freely from the seal down if there is a skip pass to the “Dead 3” Novak on the left wing.

Because of Bosh’s great helpside defense and Anthony bringing his man to the ball (Battier), Davis is forced to throw a tough pass over three defenders that Novak has to jump to catch. Even though Wade was already prepared to release on his seal down, this semi-arid pass gives Wade a couple more tenths of a second to closeout on Novak.

Miami’s quick defensive rotations are now forcing the Knicks to play at a frantic pace. On the catch, Novak quickly reverses the ball to J.R. Smith. Anthony decides to lift to his primary scoring area of choice, the pinch post. Like the Heat have been doing all series long with Anthony in the pinch post, Battier immediately fronts him. Making the accurate read, Smith throws the pass over-the-top of Battier’s front. Miami defenders still have their eyes on the ball.

On Anthony’s catch, Bosh is there to meet him on his baseline side. With 5 seconds left on the shot clock, Miami has their first miscue of the defensive possession. Wade and Chalmers aren’t clear in their communication. With Wade preoccupied on the “Dead 3” Novak and Chalmers wanting to get back to his original defensive match-up of Davis, they both leave Tyson Chandler wide open at the basket. But because of the intense ball pressure by Battier/Bosh, Anthony’s back is turned to the basket therefore he can’t see Chandler at the rim.

Double teamed and with the shot clock counting down in his head, Anthony takes one dribble and throws an overhead skip pass to Davis on the left wing. As you can see, before Davis’ even catches the ball, Wade’s consistent preoccupation with Novak kicks in again and is about to pay off. Wade has already anticipated Davis’ next pass to Novak in the corner and has begun to sprint towards him.

On Novak’s catch; look at Dwyane Wade’s stance. He is so low and tight into Novak’s body that there is absolutely no way Novak can get his legs into his shot. This forces Novak to commit a cardinal offensive sin…

Feeling Wade’s intense defensive pressure, Novak places the ball above his head. This is a huge mistake. With the ball above his head, Novak’s core is expanded vertically. This takes away any strength he might have had to make a basketball move. Wade rises up slightly out of his stance, continues to shadow the ball with his hands, and uses the sideline as an extra defender. Succumbing to the smothering Heat, Novak falls out of bounds as the shot clock expires.

Here’s the possession in real time:

With more defensive efforts like this, a championship may be on the horizon for the Heat.

On Sunday afternoon against the Heat, Rajon Rondo had his way with the Miami Heat defense en route to his fifth triple-double of the season. It was hard not to notice him as he did it either. Multiple Celtic possessions featured Rondo galloping into the paint unmolested, a trend that helped a rather pedestrian Boston offense suddenly look invincible despite the absence of Ray Allen.

Most have pointed to Erik Spoelstra’s decision to go over the top of any Rondo pick and rolls as the primary culprit. But in the NBA, it is important to remember two very important keys. First; pick and roll defense is always based off who is involved and in what area of the floor. The second is that on the NBA level, whatever the coverage is, a team is always going to be giving something up.

That second part is particularly important to note when looking at the pick and roll action involving Rondo and Paul Pierce. The standard line of thinking with that duo, when the screen is set in the middle of the floor, is stay attached (or jam) with Pierce’s defender and have Rondo’s defender go under. In theory, that coverage should leave the only thing open a Rondo shot. And if we go by Key #2, a Rondo jumper from 15+ feet seems like an okay thing to give up.

However, because Rondo is so explosive at turning the corner on the ball screen, the on-ball defender, who must go under at an angle to cut off any deep penetration near the rim, finds himself at a severe disadvantage. This forces the hedging defender (assigned to Pierce) to stay with Rondo longer than he would like.

All Pierce has to do is simply screen and pop back behind the three-point line and waits for the pass. On the catch, Pierce simply reads the closeout. In the following edit, Pierce not only picks and pops for 3, but is also able to counter into a shot-fake attack and get to the rim. Take a look.

The scary part is that’s not the only negative result teams can experience from this stay-attached-and-go-under coverage. Much like Dallas does with Dirk, Pierce can cleverly (and illegally) bull rush or move into the defender going underneath and force a switch. Naturally, a pinch post isolation match-up between Pierce and a small guard is hardly a good result for a defense off this action.

Pierce misses the shot in the clip, but the bottom line is he was able to engineer a switch onto a 5’9” guard at the nail. In theory the “stay-attached and go-under” coverage seems like the right ploy because it should force Rondo to be the scoring option. In practice, teams end up with Pierce getting all the great looks.

As they did prep work for the Boston match-up, Spoelstra and his staff must have decided the key to defending this action was to keep the ball out of Pierce’s hands. The way to do that was to switch up the coverage to a “show and over” scheme.

The coverage is just like it sounds, the player guarding the screener shows hard, forcing the ball handler to re-direct towards halfcourt while the on-ball defender goes over the top of the screen. By going over the screening Pierce, the on-ball defender took the option of being dragged into a switch off the table. Hedging hard allowed the Pierce’s defender a much better chance at not being forced into a long a closeout. So what does a coverage like that give up? Take a look at the following clip.

Of the three clips, the ideal result was the Rondo floater. Assuming the on-ball defender doesn’t make a heroic effort at getting back in front while going over the top of the screen, a mid-range Rondo shot is what that coverage is conceding to give up. Given the hierarchy of efficient basketball shots, a floater from Rondo seems to be a better option than an open Pierce 3-point shot or attack on the rim.

While the other results make it seem like the coverage was a complete and abject failure, it actually hides the fact that it accomplished one key goal: it kept Pierce from getting the ball. And for those still skeptical, the coverage does actually work. Check it out.

In the last clip, the Nuggets execute incredibly well and completely stop the play. That was what Miami was hoping to get out of the scheme except they were quicker rotations and better awareness from help defenders away from accomplishing that.

Greg Popovich has made an amazing career of using the regular season in a way that better prepares his teams for the post season. Spoelstra’s decision is in that same vein. Should Miami go to war with Boston in a playoff series this spring, the Heat are now better prepared to stop them. In the end, Spoelstra essentially tried something new in a relatively meaningless game and it failed (rather miserably). It doesn’t mean, however, that it wasn’t worth trying.

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Part of the drawback to Steve Nash’s passing brilliance has always been his penchant for the occasional high-turnover game. It seems odd to think that a player of his ilk would be associated with a higher turnover rate than say, Tony Allen, but it’s true. The explanation for this actually lies in what should be considered his greatest strength; his unparalleled court-vision. Nash first locates, then works incredibly hard to get to and/or find narrow windows to deliver the ball to open teammates.

Whether he is twisting in the air or wrapping the ball around the hip of an oncoming defender, Nash, is one of the most imaginative passers in the history of the game. It is this type of creativity ultimately leads to him attempt insanely brilliant passes that mere mortals would never even see available to them. Last night in their comeback win, the Heat managed to use this trait against him.

For most of the night, Nash found passing lanes either closing quickly or hard to find. One could guess that head coach Erik Spoelstra had reminded his players to constantly be active with their hands up in passing lanes, which for Nash, is any opening he can squeeze the ball through. Heat defenders guarding the pick and rolls especially, were more active with their hands than most teams have been with Nash all year. One play in particular foreshadowed what was to be a rather rough night for the two-time MVP.

Early in the first quarter, Nash and Gortat engage in a middle ball screen that allows Nash to drive left along the lane. An undisciplined, non-Spoelstra prepared defense would normally collapse around Nash’s penetration and Gortat’s dive toward the rim. On a play like this, Nash normally will be able to find a shooter filling behind the action. Against the Heat, however, he found a turnover.

Individual credit must be given to Mario Chalmers for his on-ball work as well. Chalmers has developed as one of the most devastating on-ball defenders in the league. Nash found Chalmers quick and active hands a nuisance for much of the night.

So there you have it. To frustrate Steve Nash you need to combine a detailed and disciplined defensive coach with a team full of athletic players who just so happen to be among the top on-ball defenders at their position. Why didn’t anyone think of this before?

In their first game of a back to back against the Eastern Conference elite, Orlando had a rather forgettable evening. Dwight Howard, fresh of his opt-in drama, showed up but the rest of his supporting failed to do the same. The Magic only surrendered 91 points to the Heat last night (not bad against the team currently ranked 2nd in offensive efficiency) but one set in particular gave them a bit of trouble.

Throughout the course of the game, Miami went to a 5-out middle pick and roll set. The basic premise of the play is a two-man game in the middle of the floor with the screener rolling hard to the rim surrounded by three shooters. Ironically, it is an action that has been a trademark during the Stan Van Gundy-Dwight Howard era.

On Sunday, however, the Magic had some difficulty defending it. Miami got into the play in two different ways. Primarily, they’d run a flex cut and then have the post sprint into the pick and roll with either James or Wade. The floor is then spread with two players spacing the weakside, one in the strongside corner and the defense forced to decide who to leave uncovered.

Late in the first quarter, we see the more prevalent “false action”. Chalmers passes to James at the top while Dexter Pittman sets the flex screen for sharpshooter James Jones near the right block. As soon as Jones cuts over the top of him, Pittman moves to screen for James at the top of the key. Jones circles all the way up to the left wing while Udonis Haslem spots up in the left short corner. Here is the play.

The result of the play, as you saw, is a made jumper by Haslem. It comes from Orlando’s decision to jam the rolling Pittman with Haslem’s defender, Glen Davis. James makes a nice read on the rotation and zips a pass over the top for the open look.
The next two clips, James creates offense for himself. With Howard involved in pick and roll, Orlando simply zones up the paint, daring any ball handler to either attack Howard or settle for a contested two. Here is one from the late first quarter that starts with the same false action and ends with James taking a rhythm dribble into a long 2-pt jumpshot.

In the next video, there is different action before the pick and roll. This time, it’s called as an end of quarter play and rookie Norris Cole simply screens down for the screener (Joel Anthony) before spacing to the weakside of the play. James, due to time restrictions, is forced into a tough mid-range jumper that finds the glass before it finds the net. Not aesthetically pleasing the least, but still effective.

In the final clip, the Heat, looking to deliver the knockout punch, go back to the same flex-cut, false-action to help set-up a Bosh-James pick and roll. This time James delivers a clever pocket pass to the rolling Bosh who slips by a sloppy Magic rotation on the back end for an “And 1”.

Half-court execution is the type of thing Miami needs to continue to improve as this season wears on. Being able to execute sets like this when the game slows down is the real key for the Heat to become the odds-on favorite to win it all. By giving Orlando a dose of their own medicine last night, Miami took a step forward in their quest.

Despite missing a key cog last night, Chicago put up quite the fight against Miami. Barring injury, these are the two teams many expect to battle it out in the Eastern Conference Finals once again. With the two teams meeting three more before the playoffs, every regular season tilt, even minus a player like Deng, still helps each team experiment with new ways to slow down an opponent they are becoming more and more familiar with.

In yesterday’s match up, the latest twist in strategy came with Tom Thibodeau deployed a zone for a handful of possession starting in the middle of the first quarter. While this move was most likely meant to help Derrick Rose avoid picking up a debilitating third foul, it could be tool the Bulls use again come playoff time. The question of whether or not they use it is something that remains to be seen, but both teams now have the tape to assess whether not it will be effective and to what degree.

Before diving into the film, it’s important to review what exactly a zone does to opponent’s game preparation. Depending on its effectiveness, a scheme change like a zone can take anywhere from 10 to 40 minutes of a given practice, walk-through and/or film session to countering it. That doesn’t seem like much. But remember, in a lockout-afflicted season teams (like the Heat) have precious little practice time to perfect their own schemes, let alone react to another team’s.

If a team consistently struggles against a certain scheme then that 10-40 minutes can blow up to over 3-5 hours of practice/film/walk-throughs over the duration of a playoff series (assuming that coach wants his team to be prepared). That is time a team could spend refining their own concepts, adding new wrinkles or simply use to let their players rest their worn-down bodies. With that logic, it seems like the perfect idea for the Bulls to trot out even a marginally effective zone against the Heat, right?

When looking at the numbers, it would appear to be a no-brainer. By unofficial count, the Bulls limited Miami to 5 points over 6 possessions (0.83 PPP). Obviously, six possessions is a ridiculously small sample size. That is where the film comes into play and when looking at that, the answer becomes much less clear.

The first time we see the zone is off a sideline out-of-bounds with 3:03 left in the first quarter. LeBron James enters the ball into Mario Chalmers who quickly swings the ball to Shane Battier on the left wing. Battier reverses the ball back to Chalmers then (perhaps unintentionally) cuts along the baseline with Udonis Haslem back to the strongside of the floor.

As James’ catches on the right wing, Ronnie Brewer drops to defend both cutters, giving up a gap in the zone. LeBron, employing a basic tenant of attacking zones, punches that gap with his dribble, flattening out the defense and forcing two defenders to the ball. On the collapse, James executes a brilliant hook pass to Chalmers spotting up on the weakside wing. The result is a semi-contested 3-pointer (Chalmers could have easily used a shot-fake, one-dribble pull up attack for a cleaner look, however).

Here is the video:

On the surface, it looks as if the Bulls forced a tough shot, but in all reality Chalmers just didn’t exploit a long closeout by Hamilton efficiently enough. The next clip is a bit of a mirage as well.

Norris Cole ends up setting a screen inside the top on ball defender (Rose). James uses the ball screen to pull Hamilton high toward him. Seeing Haslem flashing middle, James threads a pass through the gap. However, Haslem doesn’t hold his position long enough and looks to change space, leaving James’ pass to find only Joakim Noah.

Even though this lead to a run out and layup for Chicago, Miami was in a great position had Haslem just used a bit more patience. In the following picture, you’ll see that if Haslem catches the ball in that spot, the Bulls defense is extremely vulnerable. Not only does he have the space to immediately shoot a foul line jumper, but Haslem can look to go high-low with Eddy Curry (if Noah rotates up) or find Shane Battier (if Boozer rotates) hunting space either behind the defense or cutting up to the opposite wing.

Upon further inspection, this turnover is an easily correctable mistake. Perhaps this concept and alignment will be something that Spolestra uses should the Bulls zone them again.

The other things zones are notorious for giving up our offensive rebounds. In one possession, the Bulls actually gave up two offensive rebounds and only escaped due to a botched putback attempt by Haslem. In the following clip, a freeze-frame highlights a blockout dilemma for Kyle Korver.

With Noah and Carlos Boozer moving to contest a shot from the corner, Korver is left to try to fend off two Heat players (Battier and Mike Miller) coming in from the weakside for the rebound. Korver chooses to throw his body in front of the hard-charging Miller, which opens up a gap for Haslem (left unimpeded by Rose) to sneak in for the third shot attempt. Haslem misses a great chance, but this possession highlights the rebounding problems zones bring.

With two more match-ups on the docket in the regular season, it will be interesting to see how much (if any) zone is used by Chicago. Perhaps last night was a one-time thing centered around a need to protect Rose given his foul trouble. Or perhaps it was a chance for Thibodeau to see if a zone has a chance to slow down the Heat come playoff time. Either way, this chess match will be fun to watch.

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Here is a look at the defensive schemes Miami put in place to soundly defeat L.A.

Torrid. Unconscious. Hot. All words that could be used to describe the Heat’s shooting performance in against the Spurs last night. Miami rained down hellfire from everywhere on the court to the tune of a 71-35 second half throttling that left San Antonio shell-shocked. However, lost in that offensive eruption was another sterling effort by the Heat defense.

Perhaps embarrassed by allowing 63 points in the first half, Miami put on a defensive display in the third quarter that, in combination with their torrid shooting, engineered a 27 point swing. In a period very similar to one we wrote on a few weeks back, they allowed a mere 12 points and forced a gaggle of turnovers. As we’ll soon see, the Heat had stretches where they made it difficult for the Spurs to even get a shot off, much less make one.

In perhaps an ominous start, the very first possession of the quarter ends in a turnover. Tony Parker runs off a double stagger set by DeJuan Blair and Richard Jefferson. As Parker curls, Chris Bosh is forced to show high to contest a quick mid-range shot, this leaves Blair open momentarily. Before Parker can deliver the pass, not one, but two Heat defenders rotate onto Blair and end up tipping the ball back to Bosh for a steal.

Just a few trips later, a poor pass from LeBron leads to a quick run-out by San Antonio. Parker pushes hard but is cut off and forced to dribble back outside the arc in a great effort by Bosh. However, due to the quick transition push, Bosh is forced to stay matched up with Parker. The first thing you’ll notice is the subtle positioning of Mario Chalmers on the play.

Chalmers basically switches assignments with Bosh and covers one of the bigs (Blair first, then Tim Duncan). Due to Blair/Duncan’s inability to stretch the floor from 3, Chalmers slides across the paint and sits in help on the strongside block, discouraging Parker from attacking Bosh on the isolated side of the floor. Parker is forced to try and reverse the ball only to receive it back and try to take on Bosh near the end of the shot clock. The result is a contested long-two that draws only back iron.

The next play is an absolutely perfect rotation by Miami on a dangerous screening action involving Gary Neal. Neal receives screens from both Duncan and Blair along the baseline as he heads toward the ballside corner. Whether due to great scouting or great focus (or a combination of both), the Heat shut this play down without a hitch.

Anthony, guarding Duncan, kicks out to the corner to contest Neal’s shot attempt while his defender, James Jones, fights through the screens. Bosh, guarding Blair on the opposite block, rushes over to defend Duncan and take away a quick dump-in and finish. James then crashes down hard on Blair while Chalmers fills the middle of the paint as the shot goes up. Due to a bad miss, the ball bounces long and the Spurs get the offensive rebound, but it doesn’t take away from a perfectly executed defensive rotation.

With Miami fully engaged on the defensive end of the floor, the beginning turning up the heat on the Spurs (bad pun intended). At this point, San Antonio is still clinging to a four point lead as Duncan hits Parker with a pass on the right wing. He chases his pass with a ball screen that Anthony and Chalmers string out. Chalmers does a great job of getting his hands on an attempted throw back pass.
That deflection leaves rookie Kawhi Leonard with the ball 35 feet from the basket with only seven seconds left on the shot clock. Leonard passes to Blair who forces up a wild shot that doesn’t draw iron (thus being a shot-clock violation), but due to an error on the reset, the Spurs get the ball back after an ensuing scramble with the shot clock at 2.7 seconds. The result ends up being same the same as Miami forces Neal into a wild floater that hits nothing but backboard. Here is the play:

A few possessions after that excellent defensive stand, James nails a 3 that put Miami ahead 69-68, a lead they would never relinquish. In the next video, you’ll see that three out of the next five San Antonio possessions ended in turnovers. An Anthony steal, a Jones steal and finally, a flustered Duncan simply throws the ball away on a simple reversal pass. The Spurs body language walking back toward the bench at the timeout says it all.

The Heat’s offensive fireworks will get all the headlines today, but it is important to note that it was the defensive effort that got things started. Unlike last night’s shooting bonanza, Miami’s defensive performance is repeatable. After all, this isn’t the only time this season they have thoroughly dismantled a team on that end of the floor. So while Miami currently sits at seventh in Hollinger’s defensive efficiency rankings, it is quarters like the third last night that frighten rival GMs and coaches around the league most. Wade or no Wade, if Miami can bring this type of sustained effort on the defensive end on a consistent basis, the Larry O’Brien trophy will be taking its talents to South Beach this June.

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LeBron and the Heat’s gaudy offensive numbers may get all the headlines, but the Heat defense is beginning to operate with devastating efficiency. Even without Dwyane Wade, the Heat, thanks to their defense, still had no problems defeating one of the East’s better teams at home last night. While this season’s Pacers aren’t exactly the second-coming of the 2005 Suns, the real story of the previous night’s tilt was how Miami’s D simply dismantled the Pacers’ offense in the second quarter.

Much of the Heat’s defensive success is attributed to their athleticism, as it should be given Wade and James are two of the most athletic players in the league. Mario Chalmers and Chris Bosh certainly rank near the top of that category for their respective positions as well. However, not enough credit is given to the intelligence, activity and grit the rest of this current Heat roster shows, especially with Shane Battier on board and Udonis Haslem healthy. That combination, under the guidance of head coach Erik Spoelstra, should have the Heat challenging for the title of “Best Defensive Team” come year’s end. While taking a look at last night’s second quarter, we’ll see they are well on their way.

With James on the bench to start the quarter, the Miami has a lineup of Bosh, Haslem, Battier, Jones, and rookie Norris Cole on the floor. The first play we’ll see starts with a high, flat ball screen between George Hill and Tyler Hansbrough. The Heat defend it by corralling (basically a soft trap-like action) Hill with the screener’s defender (Haslem) and the on-ball defender (Cole).

Behind the play, Bosh rotates off Lou Amundson and picks up Hansbrough as he slides toward the paint after screening. The other two Heat defenders of the floor (Battier and James Jones) zone up on the three Pacers on the weakside (Battier dropping low on Amundson in the short corner to prevent an easy look at the rim with Jones playing between two Pacers spotting up on the perimeter).

Hill looks to defeat the trap by passing over the top of it to Hansbrough. Thanks to Bosh’s quick rotation, Hansbrough can’t make an immediate attack on the rim and instead looks to move the ball opposite. Jones, playing the role of free safety to perfection, positions himself between his two offensive threats and denies an obvious passing lane. Battier sits on Amundson near the block until Haslem, switching assignments with Bosh, who was originally guarding Amundson, recovers back to him.

The end result of all this defensive activity is the ball being forced back out top and the Pacers essentially having to restart their offense with nine seconds on the shot clock. After a deflection on a skip toward the weakside, Shane Battier’s on-ball defense results in a travel from Lance Stephenson. After all that exhaustive mental imagery, here is a visual of the play:

The next clip is perhaps the Heat’s finest defensive possession of the game. For starters, both Battier and Cole do an impressive job guarding the ball. Battier recovers nicely through a ballscreen while Cole takes away a middle penetration on a difficult closeout against Hill filling behind the Amundson’s roll toward the hoop.

The final thing to notice is Haslem’s activity on the play. On the second pick and roll, he rotates across the lane to pick up the dive man (Amundson) then sprints back across the court to get into a position to contain dribble penetration off a third Pacer ballscreen. Battier finishes off the play by switching onto the roll man (David West) and forcing him into a tough, contested shot. Here is the video:

While not every Heat defensive possession was executed that well, they were certainly of high quality. Here is a brief three edit reel of three other top notch Miami defensive stands in the second quarter that all resulted in turnovers:

In the end, Indiana ended the quarter with only three more points than turnovers (12 to 9) and mustered only one made field goal (a Louis Amundson dunk on a late rotation by Heat rookie Norris Cole). It was perhaps the final play of the quarter that added an exclamation point to their dominating, 12-minute performance. Check it out:

Watch out NBA. It looks like the new-fangled Heat offense isn’t the only thing you need to worry about in 2012.

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For those that don’t know, I’m originally from Kansas in a small town called Parsons. Home to Detroit Lions back-up QB Shaun Hill, my favorite college basketball coach Bill Guthridge, and actress ZaSu Pitts.  Now, I know what you’re thinking, who in the hell is ZaSu Pitts and is she also in that new movie New Year’s Eve with the rest of Hollywood?  Who is ZaSu you ask?  This is who .

She was a good actress that added value to the movies she was in. She brought her strength, comedy, to every one. She knew her role and played it well. Not many remember her name they way they do other stars of her era and let’s face it, they really shouldn’t.

So why am I brining up ZaSu Pitts in a post about basketball? For two reasons; first because Mario Chalmers is the ZaSu Pitts of the Miami Heat and second, well, because I can. Just like Pitts, Chalmers will never be confused with someone who wins a “Best Actor/Actress” award, but can certainly play a role in a great cinematic adventure and play it well. Chalmers as a player is like Pitts as an actress, he brings exactly what the Heat need from him; defense. On a team stacked with headlining talent in the form of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, Chalmers’ defense on-ball and ability to help Miami transition quickly from a defense stop to an offensive attack leads to even more easy points for a team that already has a leg up in the scoring department.

Last season, Chalmers finished in the top 40 in steals among guards. Much of this can be attributed to great hand-eye coordination and a desire to attack lazy passes with unmatched vigor. He seems to get his hands on passes he shouldn’t, resulting in an abundance of deflected passes, something he may well be leading the league in this season. Take a look at his at the video below to see Mario show off his ball-hawking skills.

What’s similar about all three clips above is that as soon as the ball is deflected or turned over, it’s immediately pushed up court, something that Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has preached more than ever this season. According to Synergy, the Heat were No. 1 in transition offense in 2010-2011 with a PPP of 1.002. That number can certainly be attributed to having two of the best players in the league on the team (but some credit should be given to Chalmers for his role in pushing the pace looking to get the ball in the hands of Wade or James). Transition offense all starts on the defensive end of the floor, so it is imperative that Heat defenders play aggressive, harrassing defense on and off the ball. Chalmers isolation defense last year was near the top third according to Synergy last season, a rank that while not great, definitely helps Miami accomplish their goals. Here is a look at Chalmers’ aggressive on-ball defense leading to a run-out on the other end:

In the above clip, Chalmers plays excellent on-ball defense. He fights over the screen, pushing Kidd to the baseline and allowing the defense to rotate into position. Chalmers stays body-to-body with Kidd as he goes towards the wing/baseline and keeps his hands low, knowing the pass will be entered into the low post. One thing that Chalmers does well is mirror the ball. By keeping his hands active and shadowing the ball, Super Mario makes it tough any passer, or in this particular case, the venerable Jason Kidd, who is forced into a turnover. Chalmers makes things even harder on Dallas by pushing the ball ahead to a sprinting James without hesitation.

That quick push is something that gives Heat opponents nightmares. Anytime Wade and James are off the ball, they are always ready to break out quickly after any turnover. Watch how fast those two transition from defense to offense after Chalmers relieves the Spurs Tony Parker of the ball.

Let’s face it, the Heat have shown that this type off offense is terrifyingly spectactular. Awesome dunks aside, this is truly a team effort, with Chalmers sometimes leading the way. According to Hoopdata, Miami finished in the top 5 last year in Defensive Efficiency (100.7). This number is a reflection of a team defensive effort, a primary reason the Heat made the Finals last year. With the emergence of Norris Cole, Chalmers defensive impact might be mitigated but if Mario can build on what he’s shown thus far, his supporting role in the Heat’s feature film will be secure for years to come.

Success in the playoffs (especially the Finals) relies more heavily on coaching than the regular season for a number of reasons.  You are seeing the same team over an extended period of time (4 to 7 games), so any adjustment that you make – or don’t make – will be amplified.  With the NBA Finals now completed, I thought it would be interesting to assess the performances of the two head coaches.

Despite the criticism that he has received for much of this season, Erik Spoelstra, in my opinion is a very good coach with a solid offense and a fantastic defense.  With that being said, he was outclassed in the Finals, making a few curious decisions.  It is said that one of Spoelstra’s few flaws is his stubbornness, and that hurt him in the Finals as well.

Lineup Issues

Erik Spoelstra seemed to make interesting lineup decisions all season long, but it really became apparent during the Finals.  In his terrific post over at ESPN, Tom Haberstroh looked at the top 10 most used lineups in terms of +/-:

Enough with the primer, let’s get to the numbers. Here are the Heat’s top ten most used lineups in the Finals and Winston’s adjust plus-minus ratings.

Lineup	Min	+/-	per48	adjusted +/-
Bibby-Wade-James-Bosh-Anthony	66	-5	-3.6	+5.2
Chalmers-Wade-James-Bosh-Haslem	59	-17	-13.8	+1.4
Chalmers-Wade-James-Bosh-Anthony	26	-1	-1.8	+11.6
Chalmers-Miller-James-Bosh-Haslem	21	+6	+13.6	+25.2
Chalmers-Wade-Miller-Bosh-Haslem	16	+3	+9.2	+20.9
Wade-Miller-James-Bosh-Haslem	14	-1	-3.5	+14.4
Chalmers-Miller-James-Haslem-Howard	13	+8	+29.5	+39.2
Chalmers-Wade-James-Haslem-Howard	8	+11	+64.1	+71.5
Chalmers-House-Wade-Bosh-Haslem	8	+16	+94.7	+105.2

The first thing that jumps out, to me at least, is that Spoelstra’s most-used lineups were getting beat. Big Three plus Bibby and Anthony? Minus-5. Chalmers and Haslem next to the Big Three? Minus-17. Chalmers and Anthony? Minus-one.

I talked about stubbornness, and this is where it really effects Spoelstra, in terms of who he plays when.  One of the Heat’s worst lineups is one that he used the most, a lineup that he started 5 of the 6 Finals games with.  Me personally?  I had two big problems with Spoelstra and his rotations, Mike Bibby vs. Mario Chalmers and Eddie House vs. James Jones.

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