A quick review of the good and bad of New York’s point guard options.

Here’s a look at what the Grizzlies game showed us about the improving Knicks defense.

After an exciting opening day win against Boston, New York promptly dropped four of their next five games and were left scrambling for answers. One of the chief concerns was a lack of consistent offense. Three out of those four losses during that stretch contained brutal offensive outputs. Fans and observers alike questioned whether the Knicks were destined to be a train wreck all season. However, recent wins against Washington and Detroit (I know, I know, not exactly Murderer’s Row) have shown that New York is at least taking steps in the right direction.

The Knicks major problem on offense has been the lack of a true playmaker to fit Mike D’Antoni’s spread pick and roll system. While eliminating a vast majority of that pick and roll action was certainly an option, it would perhaps move away from New York’s biggest strength; explosive roll men. Amare Stoudamire and Tyson Chandler, while not Nick Collison-esque screeners, are incredibly dangerous because of the speed and effectiveness they display diving to the rim after a ballscreen. Rookie Josh Harrelson can also be a force screening on the ball in Glen Davis-type way, using his big, wide body to get the on-ball defender caught up on the screen and allowing the offense to play with a man advantage.

Even though their ballhandlers will never be confused with Steve Nash, the pick and roll is still a dangerous action for them due to the aforementioned screening trio (and even Carmelo Anthony). So instead of crossing their fingers and hoping someone on their roster becomes a pick and roll savant in a shortened season filled with little to no practice time, the Knicks have decided to run the action itself more frequently. In a sense, they have replaced the quest for quality with pure quantity. Everyone has a green light to run a pick and roll and they look to run pick and rolls early, often and with an added emphasis on ball movement out of them.

In the first quarter of the Detroit game, New York had every member of their starting unit, minus Chandler, handle off a ballscreen (yes, even Stoudamire). In the following video showcasing the first half of the first quarter, you’ll see the following screening combinations (with the ballhandler listed first and the result of the possession in parenthesis):

Possession 1: Shumpert-Chandler (Melo 3pt FG)
Possession 2: Shumpert-Anthony, Stoudamire-Chandler (Shumpert 3pt FG)
Possession 3: Shumpert-Chandler, Fields-Stoudamire (Fields shooting foul)
Possession 4: Anthony-Chandler (Chandler dunk)

In just four trips down the floor the Knicks used six screening combinations (from about every area other than the middle of the floor) that resulted in ten points. Here a video of them:

Thanks to this diverse approach, New York cruised to a 25-18 lead with three minutes left in the quarter. However, they started the second quarter with only a one point advantage thanks to series of possessions that lacked any real flow.

In the first clip of the following video, Carmelo Anthony has a great opportunity to run a corner pick and roll with Chandler off of ball reversal from a transition drag screen between Toney Douglas and Josh Harrelson. Melo, instead of making the Pistons defend another tough action, holds the ball and ends up shooting a contested 3-pointer in the corner.

The second clip contains a step-up screen between Chandler and Douglas. This time the ball doesn’t even change sides of the floor and the Knicks get a contested mid-range two (one of the worst shots in basketball) as a result. The next play has plenty of ballscreen action, but the ball is moved more with the dribble than the pass and the result is a Melo isolation post up with very little time left on the shot clock.

The final clip is the last possession of the quarter. With twelve seconds to play with, the Knicks choose to simply post up Anthony on the right side of the floor. Take a look:

The result of those four possessions? A scintillating zero points. It is clear that when they don’t get to a second pick and roll or lack crisp ball movement/reversal, the Knicks are far less dangerous, even though Anthony is so dangerous in isolation.

That being said, it doesn’t mean the Knicks need to stray away from creating isolation opportunities for their big stars. In fact, an equal opportunity system with a commitment to ball movement will actually make things easier on both of them to get their points, Carmelo in particular. In the following video, we’ll see the Knicks swing the ball to the corner out of transition, reverse it back to the other side of the floor while looking for isolation post-ups from both Stoudamire (strongside) and Anthony (weakside). The result is Anthony re-posting against a shifting defense for a paint score. Check it out:

Obviously, the second quarter shooting spree that blew the game wide open will make any offense look good. But once Mike Bibby stops with the illusion that he’s still an NBA player, New York will have to find consistent sources of points outside of Anthony. Their quantity versus quality approach may just do the trick. If their stars (particularly Anthony) continue to buy in (and most importantly, move the ball), New York could have a system that helps them maintain success on the offensive end of the floor.

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Coming into this season, Mike D’Antoni needed a playmaker to round out a roster filled with ball stoppers, shooters and score-first players. The Carmelo Anthony “Point Forward” role was an experiment born out of necessity. On paper, it seems odd to pair a high-volume, low-efficiency scorer with the task of running a team.

However, by putting Carmelo in pick and roll situations early in the shot clock, D’Antoni may have triggered Anthony’s inner playmaker and pushed the Knicks closer to being serious championship contenders. In the Boston game, Anthony’s decision-making out of the pick and roll was exemplary. He made ruthlessly efficient pass-shoot decisions and showed why nuanced ballscreen play from a 6’8” ballhandler can be a nightmare for opposing defense schemes.

“Nuanced” is the key word there as from high school on up, wing players of Anthony’s caliber spend much more time in games and training in transition, off the ball and in isolation situations than in pick and rolls. This lack of repetitions is one of the reasons why, outside of the European-born Hedo Turkoglu, you don’t see advanced ballscreen play from wings around the league. When involved in a pick and roll as the ballhandler, most wings look solely for their own offense and ironically make finding it much harder. Defenses simply jam the paint and hope for a steady diet of contested mid-range twos.

What makes Turkoglu so good out of this action (outside of having Dwight Howard) is his ability to involve all five players out of a pick and roll (PNR), especially the roll guy. While not Dwight Howard, Tyson Chandler has shown the ability to an explosive dive man in PNR situations. Early in the first quarter, Anthony showed off his ability to recognize passing windows for his screener as he rolls to the basket. Here is a clip of Melo hitting Chandler with a “pocket pass” that lead to a pair of FTs for his big man:

Anthony’s size also gives him a huge advantage versus shorter guards in PNR situations because he can simply see angles and makes passes that smaller players can’t. In the following clip, you’ll see such an example. Anthony runs a middle PNR with Chandler that involves a re-screen. Immediately when coming off the re-screen, Anthony notices Ray Allen caught off-guard, communicating to his weakside wing. Not only does his size allow him to see Allen’s defensive state but it also allows him to make the pass itself. Here is the clip in real time with a freeze frame at the point of delivery:

Here is another example of Anthony’s size creating a passing angle out of a PNR:

Now with those two clips both ending in makes, it is easy to see the immediate impact Anthony can make. However, makes and misses aren’t the only way to evaluate his effectiveness in PNRs. Watch closely in the following clip as the hard hedge on Anthony by Boston’s Chris Wilcox puts Boston’s help defense in vulnerable positions. Anthony’s excellent first pass out (over the top of the hedge) leads to a corner swing and a great middle penetration opening for Fields to attack. Take a look:

Perhaps as a result of involving his teammates in earlier PNRs, Anthony finds an opening later on to find his offense:

Now all this passing doesn’t mean Anthony has to become Steve Nash 2.0, but the closer he strikes a balance between pass and shot out of PNRs or in his overall offensive game, the more efficient the Knicks will become. If Tyson Chandler can raise the level of the Knicks play on the defensive end as advertised, Anthony improving an already potent offensive scheme by adding in some playmaker will make New York something they’ve longed for since the Ewing days: contenders.

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With the Boston Celtics trailing the New York Knicks by one point with 19.3 seconds left, the Celtics were looking to take the lead from a sideline out of bounds set.  After the two great sets that he ran in game one, the Knicks must have been on edge thinking about what could be coming.  Instead of an intricate play with a number of different options, the Celtics ran a simple post up set.  However, it wasn’t as simple as it looked, as the way Coach Rivers was able to prevent the Knicks from sending a double team to Garnett:

As soon as the ball goes to the trigger man, Rajon Rondo, Garnett goes from the elbow and sets a pindown screen for Paul Pierce.  Pierce comes off the screen way out by halfcourt, essentially taking himself out of play.

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Trailing Boston by one point with 13.3 seconds left, only one of the Knicks’ big three were on the court.  This meant Carmelo Anthony was sharing the court with Toney Douglas, Jared Jeffries, Roger Mason Jr., and Bill Walker.  The lineup and the lack of another true scoring threat meant that the Celtics would be able to send a double team.  This happens and Carmelo actually makes the correct play, but the Knicks still end up committing the turnover:

To start the play, the New York Knicks are in sort of a line set at the free throw line.  Once the ball goes to the trigger man, you have Carmelo Anthony standing still at the top of the key and the remaining three Knicks’ cutting off of him.  Roger Mason Jr. flashes out to half court.  Bill Walker flares out to the weakside and Jared Jeffries flashes to the basketball.

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In my opinion, coaching at the NBA level is most important late in games due to the number of timeouts that are called and the number of plays that need to be drawn up in late game situations.  Doc Rivers is one of the best coaches when it comes to drawing up/calling plays late in games that always seem to work (I mean, he did win the Clipboard Awards this season), and in the final seconds of the Game 1 against the Knicks, Rivers showed how valuable a coach who can draw up plays can be.

We pick up the action with 37.8 seconds left with the Celtics trailing by three points.  You don’t need a three point shot in this situation, you just need a quick look to maintain the 2-for-1 so you can get the basketball back.  Rivers understands this and instead of going for the all-or-nothing three, he set up a play to get a quick two:

The play starts with Kevin Garnett setting a pindown screen for Paul Pierce.  Pierce uses the screen to flash to the top of the key area, looking for the basketball.

Once Pierce uses his screen, Garnett also flashes to the top of the key as if he is the one who is going to get the basketball.

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At the end of each day, I am just going to put a recap thread up where you can find all of the day’s posts to make it a bit easier.

Here is what we looked at for the upcoming Celtics-Knicks series:

• Offensive Breakdown
• Defensive Breakdown

Check in tomorrow when we start looking at the Western Conference.

Boston Celtics – The Numbers*

• Defensive Efficiency: 97.7 (2nd)
• Opp. TS%: 51.6% (3rd)
• Opp. Assist Rate: 18.07 (1st)
• Opp. Turnover Rate: 14.83 (3rd)
• Defensive Rebound Rate: 74.97 (8th)
• Block Rate: 4.4 (27th)
• Opp. Free Throw Rate: 31.2 (22nd)
• Opp. Three Point Rate: 20.7 (22nd)

Boston Celtics – Strengths

Pick And Roll Defense

Much like the Chicago Bulls, the Boston Celtics are one of the best teams when it comes to defending the pick and roll (both in terms of the ball handler and the roll man).  That shouldn’t be a surprising considering that the man who installed the Celtics’ pick and roll defense is now the Bulls’ head coach.  The Celtics are in the top 5 of PPP allowed in both pick and roll categories, and like the Bulls it is due to their “swarming” of the basketball (again, this is pulled from my SBNation.com pick and roll defense post):

Here, Elton Brand sets a screen for Jrue Holiday, and Holiday uses it taking the ball to the middle of the court.  As he comes off of his screen, Holiday is met by Jermaine O’Neal who steps up as Rajon Rondo goes over the screen.

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Boston Celtics – The Numbers*

• Pace: 92.2 (2nd)
• Offensive Efficiency: 104.4 (16th)
• True Shooting Percentage: 56.2% (5th)
• Assist Rate: 23.56 (1st)
• Turnover Rate: 14.35 (26th)
• Offensive Rebound Rate: 21.10 (30th)
• Free Throw Rate: 30.4 (10th)
• Three Point Rate: 18.2 (26th)

Boston Celtics – Strengths

Using Screens Away From The Basketball

The Celtics are 4th in the NBA in terms of points per possession when their players come off of screens, and obviously this has a lot to do with Ray Allen and his shooting ability.  You can’t talk about shooters who can come off screens and knock shots down without mentioning Ray Allen.  Allen might be one of the best shooters in the history of the NBA, and he is also one of the best when it comes to working off of screens.  Part of what makes Allen so successful is his ability to set up his defender before he even comes off of the screen.

Watch what Allen does here even before he uses the screen.  He starts on the baseline and starts as if he is going to come off of a pindown on the block.  He stops, starts to head in the opposite direction, but then he jab steps, and goes back in the original direction.  This creates enough space for Allen to come off the screen, square up, and knock down the mid-range jumper.  In addition to being able to work before coming off of screens, he can read the defense, see how they are playing him, and just react off of it:

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