The first thing that stood out about Lin’s two games actually didn’t have anything to do with him. The most noticeable thing was that the two defenses (Utah and New Jersey) he carved up were bad (Utah 21st in defensive efficiency) and atrocious (NJ dead last in same category), respectively. When looking at the tape you can see that Lin was definitely the beneficiary of some poor effort and execution by his opponents.

The first video contains three clips of Lin attacking these porous D’s. Against Utah, a simple dribble flip from Iman Shumpert and oncoming ball screen from Tyson Chandler somehow open a huge driving gap for Lin. His wide open layup is mainly a result from poor communication between Devin Harris (Lin’s defender) and Al Jefferson (Chandler’s defender). Then on the backside of the play, Gordon Hayward finds himself slow to rotate over and stop the drive.

The next clip in the sequence is particularly embarrassing for the Nets. Lin and Jared Jeffries engage in a pick and roll in the middle of the floor while Amar’e Stoudamire, located behind the action, is looking to fill behind. This play is typically designed for Stoudamire to get open near the weakside (in this case, left) elbow/pinch post for a jumper or isolation attack as his defender sinks in on the roll. However, for reasons unknown, his defender Shawne Williams, completely ignores his help responsibilities and faceguards Stoudamire. This results in a wide open dive to the rim for Jeffries and an easy pocket pass for Lin to tally one of his seven assists that night.

The final play against the woeful Nets defense shows Lin finding another easy scoring opportunity for himself. While going under screens will be a typical coverage he sees going forward, in certain areas of the floor, it simply can’t happen. In this third clip, Jordan Farmer goes under a screen set at the elbow allowing Lin to rhythm dribble into a wide open jumper a step inside the foul line. While Lin has historically had some shooting issues, a vast majority of NBA guards will hurt teams if given easy looks from this spot consistently.

It should be noted that bad defense isn’t a knock against Lin. In fact, if Lin hadn’t taken advantage of these situations (and others like them) I wouldn’t be writing this. It is simply worth noting that a fair amount of points and assists were opportunistic endeavors that he simply won’t see that often, especially against elite defensive teams.

Bad defense or not, though, Lin was still able to do a great job of getting to the rim. However, one noticeable thing was that he failed to utilize his left (weak) hand effectively during his forrays to the hoop. Looking back at old scouting reports, it seems as though this has been a consistent issue for Lin. In the following edit, we’ll see a rim attack that ends poorly due to a forced, right-hand finish as well as an awkward left-hand attempt that Lin fails to convert.

Being dominant with only one hand isn’t a total death sentence. in fact, players like Corey Maggette and Jason Terry have forged long careers as scorers despite showing a complete inability to do much with their off-hand. Lin, though, doesn’t possess physical advantages like Maggette’s strength and Terry’s quickness to compensate for it. One thing Lin can use to offset this malady is develop a nice two-foot floater or one-foot runner (preferably with both hands).

The next video showcases two clips. In the first, Lin attacks middle and is forced into an awkward runner that barely draws iron. Notice on that attempt how Lin pushes too deep instead reading what the defense is giving him. This a result of two things; his comfort level in his runner as a weapon for him to use and Lin being a typical young player who attacks without a plan. In the second clip, we see a tough missed jumper in the paint that could have easily been a great opportunity for a left-handed runner.

Despite some of these shortcomings, Lin definitely has some real positives to his game. The first is his ability to change speeds. For a guard without top end burst, being able to shift gears with the dribble (while changing body position or “status”) is an absolute must. Here is a great example of Lin doing exactly that:

The final thing, as Coach Thorpe also pointed out in his TrueHoopTV segment, is that Lin takes tremendous, attacking angles when coming off a ball screen. Pick and roll play is perhaps the trickiest thing for a player to get a feel for doing. A vast majority of young players really struggle with it so the fact that Lin has this nuance down bodes well for his future. Here is a look at such an example of taking a great, downhill, attacking angle coming off a screen:

While the evaluation of Lin will be an on-going for the next few weeks, these two games have given us some answers. He has certainly given a struggling Knicks team a spark, but there are enough concerns with his game to wonder if he can continue to do so going forward, especially against better teams. However, another big game or two this week could provide more clues that only deepen the mystery.

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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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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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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.

As soon as Rondo gets the inbounds pass, he dives to the rim, standing in the paint right underneath the basket as Garnett starts to go to work on the post.

Now this might be odd considering the lack of spacing on the court, but if you think about it, it does make perfect sense.  Rondo’s weakness is his jump shot, meaning that if the Knicks were going to double Garnett, it would be from him.  The only place where Rondo is a threat offensively is in the paint, so they stick him under the rim knowing that KG is going to be taking his hook shot against the smaller Jeffries.  With Rondo under the rim waiting for a dump pass if Garnett is double teamed, Toney Douglas decides to stick with him and not double.

In addition, Paul Pierce is far enough from the rim where a double from Bill Walker would take too much time.  If Walker would double, Pierce would just step up to the three point line and get the basketball, so Walker stays with him.

This means that Garnett was given the opportunity to take a few dribbles without the threat of a double team, get to his spot on the court, and take his hook shot.

Garnett gets it off clean, and with the height difference there is no chance that Jeffries is going to bother the shot (if you look, Jeffries is playing perfect, defense going up straight, extending his hand up high).  Here is the play in real time:

This is just a great decision and tactical move by Doc Rivers.  He knows his players’ weaknesses and how defense will try to attack them and he comes up with counters.  Sending Rondo quickly to the rim after making the inbounds pass is a counter, preventing a double team and letting Garnett go to work.

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.

Jeffries gets the basketball and gets it right back to Toney Douglas.  After this happens, Jeffries heads over and sets the pindown for Carmelo Anthony.

Anthony uses the screen to pop out to the wing and get the basketball.  After Jeffries sets the screen, he flashes to the paint.

Before Anthony can even turn towards the basket, Glen Davis leaves his man (Jeffries) and goes to double Anthony on the outside.  Jeffries sees his man and curls off of his cut to the strong side block.

With Jeffries flashing to the rim, Kevin Garnett is forced to leave his man (Bill Walker) to try and to cut off Jeffries.  Garnett actually gets a late break on this rotation.

That late break by Garnett means that Jeffries catches the basketball with Garnett on his back, meaning he is between Garnett and the rim.  This means that if Jeffries even looks at the rim he’ll realize that he would be able to get a shot attempt up at the rim (maybe force a foul with Garnett jumping over his back).  Instead he turns to the middle of the court, where Bill Walker is flashing to the rim.

Jeffries tries to throw the pass to Walker, who in Jeffries’ defense is open, but Garnett’s arms are too long and his body was naturally in position to defend the pass attempt, that he is able to get his hand on the ball and knock it loose.  Eventually, the Celtics are able to hop on the loose ball and get a timeout.  Here is the play in real time:

Carmelo Anthony makes the perfect play here.  The double team comes quickly and Anthony doesn’t really have any option but to make the pass to Jeffries who is wide open.  Jeffries was in perfect position to get an easy lay-up, catching the basketball on the block with the defender on his back.  He needs to go up with the shot there, draw the contact, and at least get a foul called. Kevin Garnett was late recognizing his need to rotate over to Jeffries and he had to be punished for it.  Instead, he over thinks it and tries to hit the man of the rotating defender (Bill Walker), and that is actually playing into Garnett’s hands, passing in the direction where he is coming from.  This allows him to get his hand on the basketball and force the turnover.

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.

Garnett’s shooting ability forces the defense (in this case Ronny Turiaf) to step up and try and take away this pass.  As this happens, Garnett cuts backdoor with Ray Allen sneaking behind Turiaf to set the screen.

The beauty of this play is who Rivers has setting the backscreen.  It’s Ray Allen.  Nobody in their right mind is going leave Allen because he is always a threat to pop for an open jumper.

This means that there is nobody around Garnett at the rim as he waits for the lob pass from Rajon Rondo to come to him.

With nobody contesting, Garnett is able to rise up, make the catch, and finish with very little time coming off of the clock.  Here is the play in real time:

Just a great play call.  Rivers has three different decoys here (Pierce, Garnett’s jump shot, and Ray Allen) and Garnett sells it very well by clapping.  The result is an easy dunk.  If you have a good memory, you would recognize this play since it was featured on this site before.  However, instead of a two, the result was a turnover:

This was the only time that I have seen the Celtics run this. It was as if Rivers saw that it would work and put it in his pocket for when he needed it. He needed it tonight, and this time, the result was 2 points in 0.5 seconds.

After an offensive foul by Carmelo Anthony the Boston Celtics found themselves with the basketball on the side and with 21.0 seconds left.  This is when Doc Rivers went to an old standby:

We pick up the action with Paul Pierce dribbling the basketball at the top of the key.  After inbounding it, Ray Allen comes and sets a ballscreen for Pierce.

With Pierce coming off of the screen, Toney Douglas is forced to hedge.  As this happens, Allen pops off of his screen, but it isn’t a straight pop.  He uses a screen from Garnett to get to the wing on his pop.

Douglas’ show now puts him in a natural trail position, and against a player like Allen that isn’t the position you want to be in.  Garnett sneaks in and gets the screen on Douglas.

Allen makes the catch wide open.  With Garnett setting the screen, Turiaf is forced to step up and help on Allen.

He doesn’t get there quick enough, and Allen is given enough room to pull up and knock it down to give Boston a two point lead.  Here is the play in real time.

This is a play that the Celtics like to run once a game in crunch time (not really, but that is what it seems like), and it almost always seems to result in an open three for Ray Allen.

This wasn’t the only good coaching decision that Rivers made here.  Initially, he wanted Rajon Rondo inbounding the basketball (I think they were going to run the same play, but wanted Allen to come from the corner), but Rondo struggled and was forced into a timeout and a kickball:

After that kickball, Doc Rivers went to Allen and the made three pointer was the result.  These weren’t plays that Rivers drew up in the huddle (we have seen them run in the past before), but Rivers knew exactly what to call in the situation and in my opinion he was the Celtics’ MVP for Game 1.

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.

• 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.

You now have two defenders on Holiday, meaning that Brand (the screener) needs to be picked up.  Kevin Garnett steps up towards Brand, making sure he doesn’t get the pass.  Garnett stepping up means that his man, Spencer Hawes, is now open.  Ray Allen steps up and takes that pass away.  The Celtics are now giving up the corner pass, but they know that this a difficult pass to make, and if it does get completed, it is such a long pass that the defense can rotate back to it.

In this particular situation, Holiday goes for the lay-up, but because O’Neal stepped up to defend him he is able to contest the attempt and force the miss.  Here is the play in real time:

As you rewatch the play, you notice that every single Celtic defender is on a string.  They all go through their rotations without hesitating or even looking back to see if the rotations are made.  This is the beauty of the Celtics’ defense.  They all trust each other so much, and that trust is what allows them to rotation sharply and make it so hard for the offense.

On this pick-and-roll, the Timberwolves try to execute a quick roll, where Michael Beasley doesn’t really set a good screen, but quickly rolls to the rim.  Even on a pick-and-roll like this, the Celtics’ rotations shine.  It looks like Beasley is going to get a wide open lay-up, but Glen Davis rotates over, steps up, and takes the charge.

This is another example of the Celtics’ communication on the defensive end.  Here, Danny Granger comes off of a screen set by Jeff Foster, and the defense commits two defenders to Granger.  Initially, Rondo is the defender who steps up and rotates over to Foster, but as Foster continues to the rim and Rondo’s man slides to the top of the key, Rondo needs to leave Foster.  Almost instantly, Ray Allen slides in and picks up Foster.  Rondo doesn’t even look at Allen; he knows that Allen knows that he needs to pick Foster up and there is zero hesitation.

Isolation Defense

The Boston Celtics are really good at just about everything, but I think their isolation defense will be important in this series, considering that their opponents run a lot of effective isolation sets.  Much like their pick and roll defense, the fact that they trust each other and are able to help really effectively allows them to get a lot of stops they wouldn’t normally get:

Here Andray Blatche gets the basketball and it looks like he is going to make a quick move.  Ray Allen quickly dives into the paint to help out Garnett, but retreats back to his man when he realizes the help initially isn’t needed. However, once Allen retreats Blatche drives baseline. With Allen being too far away to help, Nenad Krstic helps out and challenges the shot, forcing the miss.

It is this kind of play on a string that could really give the Knicks problems (especially if the other 4 players continue to stand around and not cut off of the basketball).

Boston Celtics – Weaknesses

Too Many Fouls

To be completely honest, it is hard to find a weakness in this Boston Celtic defense, but if there is one it is that they foul a little bit too much. The Celtics are 22nd in the league when it comes to Opponent Free Throw Rate as they send their opponents to the line more than the league average. To me, the logical explanation is that since they are a physical team, they end up picking more than their fair share of fouls. That’s fine, but against a team like the Knicks who have a few streaky shooters on their team (Landry Fields, Shawne Williams, Toney Douglas, Chauncey Billups, Carmelo), you don’t want to keep sending them to the line, bailing them out, and letting them get in rhythm at the foul line. That can only lead to trouble.

New York Knicks – The Numbers*

• Defensive Efficiency: 107.1 (22nd)
• Opp. TS%: 55.6% (23rd)
• Opp. Assist Rate: 18.68 (3rd)
• Opp. Turnover Rate: 13.91 (9th)
• Defensive Rebound Rate: 71.88 (24th)
• Block Rate: 5.8 (7th)
• Opp. Free Throw Rate: 31.9 (23rd)
• Opp. Three Point Rate: 21.2 (20th)

New York Knicks – Strengths

Block Shots

Compared to the Celtics’ defense, the Knicks are a little lacking on this side of the basketball, but there is one thing that they do better than most teams on defense, block shots.  The Knicks are 7th in Block Rate, which is interesting considering they play Amar’e Stoudemire at the 5.  That being said, Stoudemire leads the Knicks with 149 blocks.  This is because Stoudemire is very quick to react when dribble penetration takes place.  While the rest of the Knicks are very poor at help defense, Stoudemire stands out by being able to quickly realize when help is needed:

Here, the dribble penetration takes place and Amar’e Stoudemire quickly recognizes that he needs to help.  He covers a lot of ground, jumps up, and blocks the shot.

New York Knicks – Weaknesses

Poor Help Defense Outside of Amar’e

While Amare Stoudemire’s help on straight drives to the rim is solid, the rest of the Knicks’ help defense leaves much to be desired.  The Knicks’ are a poor team when it comes to help defense and the numbers really show that.  In my opinion, the two play types where a lack of help defense is really apparent is on isolation drives and drive and kicks to shooters spotting up.  These are the Knicks’ two worst defensive categories.  The Knicks are giving up 42.9% shooting in spot up situations and 41.8% shooting in isolation situations.  To me, this all comes down to poor help defense.

When it comes to spot-up situations Stoudemire actually seems to be at fault the most.  While he is effective when helping on dribble penetration, he has the tendency to over help on ball cuts and get lazy when challenging shooters on the outside.  In spot up situations Stoudemire gives up 47.9% shooting:

Here, Stoudemire gets caught helping on a dive cut to the rim, even though it isn’t necessary at all, considering the situation.  The defender who is playing the man cutting doesn’t even need help as he is in front of his man and there is no chance the pass will be completed.  Stoudemire still helps and gets caught out of position when the ball goes to his man on the wing.  Open, his man is able to knock it down.

Earlier, we talked about how the Celtics are a poor spot up team, but the numbers are skewed by Glen Davis and his poor shooting.  Kevin Garnett is a solid spot up shooter, and if Amar’e Stoudemire gives these kind of looks to him, the Knicks could be in a lot of trouble.

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*All numbers come from the fantastic website Hoopdata.com