Yesterday, we took a look at two different final second plays that failed. In both of those cases, it was more of a lack of execution then it was a poor coaching decision. Tonight, we saw the exact opposite, and it was the coaches making the poor decisions. In the Rockets-Blazers game and the Timberwolves-Bobcats game, we saw two of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to coaching/executing in late game situations.
Houston Going For Two
Down by three points with 13.9 seconds left and two timeouts, the Rockets had to decide whether or not to go for the quick two or try and tie the game with a three:
My general rule of thumb is that if you have timeouts to bring the ball to halfcourt after opponent free throws, you go for the quick two and try to extend the game. However, in this instance, there just isn’t enough time to try and get a quick two and then extend the game. What makes matters worse is the fact that the Rockets don’t execute great and waste 9 seconds to get a contested shot in the post.
After giving up the lead with a poor rotation, the Timberwolves found themselves down by 1 point with 33 seconds left. When you are losing late in the 4th quarter, you need to manage time correctly, however the Timberwolves failed to do so, and there are two plays that really illustrate this:
With 33 seconds left, Paul Millsap makes his And-1 free throw, and instead of calling a timeout, the Timberwolves inbounded the basketball. It looked like they were going without calling a timeout, but then, all of a sudden, Kurt Rambis calls Luke Ridnour over and the Timberwolves call a timeout at halfcourt. 5 seconds come off the clock. So, instead of calling a timeout after the made FT and advancing the basketball, he wastes 5 seconds and then calls a timeout.
The Minnesota Timberwolves found themselves up by two points with 43 seconds left against the Utah Jazz. They get themselves one stop, there is a very good chance that they will end up winning the game. Instead of getting that stop however, Martell Webster rotates a split second late when trying to take a charge, giving up the foul, and the Timberwolves lead.
Even though I single out Martell Webster in the intro to this post, there were a few mistakes from some other Timberwolves to get to that point. The first mistake is made by Michael Beasley, who sinks way off of Paul Millsap, despite Millsap being only one pass away from the basketball. Because Beasley sinks off of Millsap, he allows himself to be screened easily by Al Jefferson.
After coming back from a double digit deficit, the San Antonio Spurs found themselves up by two points with less than a minute left. Coming out of a timeout, if the Spurs were able to get a basket, they would be able to extend the game to two possessions, and effectively clinch it. Even with Greg Popovich out (he was ejected), the Spurs were able to draw up a fantastic set and with a nice cut from Richard Jefferson, they were able to get a wide open dunk.
Tony Parker gets the inbounds pass and brings the basketball from the center of the court to the wing. As this happens, Tim Duncan sets a screen allowing Manu Ginobili to cut off of him towards the center of the court.
Yesterday, we looked at the Triangle offense and how the coach/team that made it famous runs the offense. Phil Jackson has been running this offense for years, and the Lakers seem to bring in guys who fit into the triangle perfectly.
In addition to the Lakers, there is another team in the NBA trying to implement the triangle. That team is the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are coached by Kurt Rambis, a longtime assistant of Phil Jackson. Rambis has seen firsthand how effective the offense can be when run correctly, it’s what he knows, so you can’t fault him for trying to bring it over.
However, the question that needs to be asked is whether or not the Minnesota Timberwolves can run the Triangle correctly with the team they have currently in place. When you look at some aspects, you think it can work, however when you look at others, you don’t really think it can. So what we need to ask is:
“What needs to happen for Minnesota to run the Triangle effectively?”
If I would use one word to describe Michael Beasley’s first two seasons in the NBA, it would be inconsistent. We have seen flashes of brilliance from the 21 year old, but we have also seen some pretty bad games as well. In my opinion, inconsistency is a mental issue and if you start seeing it for long stretches (over the course of two seasons for example), it tells me the player is never going to get out and play consistently. Why do I think that? Because playing consistently is a mindset. It has nothing to do with talent at all.
I have to say, I believe Michael Beasley is destined to be inconsistent his entire career. He has all of the talent in the world, but I never think he is going to be able to display it on a nightly basis. So what makes me think this inconsistency will continue in Minnesota? All you have to do is look at his preseason performance in the first two games:
I feel like I should mention, that yes, I understand that this is the preseason and that you can’t really judge much from it. But I think mentality and decisions like whether or not someone drives or settles for the jumper can be – to me, it isn’t that Beasley went 4-12 against the Knicks after going 8-10 against the Lakers, its how he did it.
One of the most memorable things that happened in summer league didn’t take place on the court. It was actually David Kahn’s interview with NBATV. You know what I am talking about, the one where David Kahn praised Darko’s passing ability (comparing him to Vlade Divac) and then telling Chris Webber that Darko’s career path has mirrored his so far. Webber (and just about everyone) as you might imagine, didn’t really agree with Kahn’s comments. While it is a little late, I thought we could take a look at Darko’s passing ability and see if he really does excel at it.
First, let’s take a look at the numbers really quick. Darko averaged 1.8 assists and 1.4 turnovers in his 24 games with the Timberwolves, good for an Assist to Turnover ratio of 1.3. That number isn’t all that bad, considering the average among centers who played at least 15 minutes per game is 0.93 (Darko was ranked 14th). However, it doesn’t really tell the whole story, because turnovers can happen at any time (instead of purely passing turnovers), and as everyone knows, assists are a really tough statistic to keep track of. So that means we have to look at the video tape to really get a feel of Darko’s passing ability.
In the flow of an offense where he doesn’t have to make a decision (and he can just throw a pass), Darko is actually a good (but not great passer). Now, he is no Vlade Divac, but in my opinion he is slightly above average. The Timberwolves actually do a lot of cutting off of Darko when he has the basketball to take advantage of this. In fact, this is almost exclusively how he got his assists with the Wolves. If you go to Synergy and look up his assists, you see just about all his assists plays described as Cuts (and very little as spot up – more on this later).
By my count, there are eight players coming to the NBA after spending at least a year playing overseas. Throughout the week we are going to look at each player’s individual game one by one, to see what we can expect from them this year in the NBA.
Nikola Pekovic is a 24 year old 6’11″ center who was taken by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the first pick in the second round in 2008. After playing two seasons for the Greek club Panathinaikos Pekovic signed a 3 year deal with the Timberwolves, guaranteeing that he will be taking his talents to the NBA.
Quick Note: In the following clips, Nikola Pekovic is #14 playing for Panathinaikos, who are wearing green.
Strengths:
Work In The Post
The first thing that you notice when watching Nikola Pekovic play is that he absolutely loves throwing his body around when working in the post:
Pekovic is willing to bang bodies with his defender whenever he thinks he can improve his position by doing so. Pekovic has good but not great post moves and a good but not great ability to dribble in the post, but what makes him so good is that he gets such good position that all he needs to do is take one dribble or make one move to get a shot off:
One big factor in Pacer demise against a 3-man Heat team? Tyler Hansbrough. Three terrible first half shots & two huge second half travels 15 hours ago
James and Battier came over to remind Wade that Battier wide open from the corner is a better option than Anthony finish at the rim. 15 hours ago
