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.
Out of the eight players coming over to the NBA from overseas, Tiago Splitter is probably the most well known name (Not counting guys like Josh Childress and Linas Kleiza, who have already played in the NBA). Splitter’s name has been out there since 2006 when he was supposed to enter the NBA draft, but eventually declined. The Spurs took him the next year after, since his age made him eligible. Spurs’ fans have been waiting for him ever since. After agreeing to an $11 million deal over three years, Splitter is finally coming over to the NBA.
The reason that there has been so much hype (and so much talk abouthow good Splitter’s deal is for the Spurs), and it is because he is a very talented. At 6′11″ and 245 pounds, Splitter’s polished post game is what really makes him special in my opinion.
Quick Note: In the clips, Splitter is wearing #21 for his team in the white jerseys. He is wearing an arm sleeve which makes identification easier.
Strengths
Polished Post Game
I briefly mentioned this in the intro, but in my opinion Tiago Splitter’s polished post game is his best attribute. In the post, Splitter really makes it tough for defenders because he really knows how to counter what the defense does to him:
Here, Splitter’s defender has his hand on his back and is trying to be physical with him. Splitter counters this by feeling for the defender and quickly pivoting to the inside. As he does this, he throws his off hand up (if he keeps his hand close to his body, it isn’t a foul) creating separation between himself and his defender. This gives him the lane and the only reason he misses is because he is fouled (it doesn’t get called).
Can He Bounce Back? Is a new series here at NBAPlaybook, and in it we will be looking at players that had a rough 2010 and determine whether or not it was a fluke or a start of a trend.
This past season, Richard Jefferson had one of the worst years of his career. His 12.3 points per game was his lowest since his rookie year in 2001 (when he averaged just 24 minutes per game) and his PER of 13.18 was the lowest of his career.
Where He Struggled
Three Point Shooting
Richard Jefferson’s shooting percentage actually increased from 2008-2009 (43.9%) to last season (46.7%), but his shooting accuracy dropped from a few key locations, and his True Shooting percentage reflects that. This past season, Jefferson’s True Shooting percentage was 55.1% (Compared to 55.4% two years ago).
The most important location where Jefferson saw his shooting percentage drop from was the three point line. Jefferson’s 31.6% from behind the arc was the lowest of his career since the 2002-2003 season (and a steep decrease from his 39.7% clip last year).
Getting To The Rim
While Richard Jefferson’s three point shooting declined, his FG% on shots at the rim actually increased by a pretty wide margin. Jefferson went from 57% two years ago to 67.7% this past year. The problem though is that he wasn’t able to get to the rim like he used to. Jefferson’s attempts at the rim dropped from 4.0 a game two years ago to 3.1 last year. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but extrapolate that over the course of a full season, and that is a pretty big dip in attempts.
The reason Jefferson’s attempts are down is that he just doesn’t have the same athletic ability that he had in the beginning of his career:
In the above video, Jefferson grabs the rebound and brings the basketball up the court. Jefferson basically has an one on one situation here. In the prime of his career, Jefferson takes that ball to the rim strong, but instead he pulls it out. This forces him to pick up his dribble, and leads to a turnover.
Alvin Gentry is a coach that insists on getting his key guys (Amar’e and Nash) rest during the start of the fourth quarter, so bench play has been a very important aspect of this series so far, especially in game 2 last night. With 9:30 left in the game and with Steve Nash already sitting out, Gentry took out Amar’e and replaced him with Channing Frye. The Suns lineup was as follows:
Goran Dragic
Leandro Barbosa
Jared Dudley
Grant Hill
Channing Frye
The Spurs countered with a small lineup of their own, but this 5 shooter lineup from the Suns presents a ton of problems for the Spurs on the defensive end, most notably, who is Tim Duncan going to cover?
Besides the issue of who Tim Duncan is going to cover, this small lineup places the Spurs defenders in positions they aren’t used to:
Here, the Suns run a pick and roll with the PF Grant Hill setting a screen for Goran Dragic. Manu Ginobili was the guy covering Hill, so he is the hedge man. Manu probably isn’t the off-ball defender on the screen and roll a ton, and his experience shows here. He hedges way too hard, and once Dragic makes the pass to Hill the Spurs are forced to rotate as the Suns work the ball around until they eventually get a bucket. That all comes from Ginobili’s poor hedge.
The Suns-Spurs game last night was a pretty good one as the Suns pulled out to a decent lead early, but the Spurs kept crawling back in it. The final time was in the 4th quarter when the Spurs got the lead down to three points with about three minutes left. After an Amar’e bucket that stretched the lead to 5, the Suns went cold (by there standards) not scoring for a good minute and a half. That is when they decided to run one of their go to plays called “short.”
The play starts with Stoudemire setting a screen for Steve Nash. Usually when a screen is set for Nash, the goal is to get Nash into the lane to create. Not on this play though, here the screen and roll is used primarily as a decoy. As the screen takes place, Grant Hill flashes to the ball side elbow while Jason Richardson fades from the corner to the weak-side wing.
The Dallas Mavericks did all they could to get themselves back into Game 6 after they scored only eight points in the first quarter, and at one point in the fourth quarter, the Mavs were only down 2 points. The Spurs were able to pull away by getting a few key baskets.
The Run Starter
When the Mavs cut the lead to 2 points, the Spurs ran a pick and roll with Duncan and George Hill. However, neither one of them got the key bucket:
After working the ball around, it gets swung to George Hill. After making the pass, Tim Duncan comes over to set a screen for Hill.
In Game 3, the Dallas Mavericks used the 2-3 zone against the Spurs, and they really struggled with it. The Spurs didn’t get a lot of good looks when the Mavs used the zone, however they were still able to pull out the win. In Game 4, Dallas saved the zone for the 4th quarter hoping the Spurs would struggle with it yet again so they can get back in the game. Coach Popovich had his guys ready to attack the zone properly, and they were able to do it three different ways.
1) Crash The Boards
When teams play zone, you always hear about the defense really needing to concentrate on crashing the boards. This is because instead of covering a man, you are covering an area and it is harder to get a body on someone because of it. Playing zone also tends to lead to funny matchups when the ball is in the air.
The Mavs first show the zone down 7, and the Spurs recognize it and start sending the ball around the perimeter. Quick ball movement is another key to beating the zone. You get guys moving around, the zone starts to lose it’s shape.
The Spurs were ahead of the Mavs for the entire game last night, but there were a few times where it looked like the Mavericks were going to get over the hump and take the lead. At one point in the 4th quarter, the Mavs were able to cut the lead down to 5 points after a Jason Terry three pointer. The Spurs answered with a heavy dose of Tim Duncan, and with an 8 point lead, the Spurs close the door on any chance of a Maverick comeback:
Manu Ginobili knocked down a pretty open three point shot to give the Spurs an 11 point lead with under 2 minutes left. How was he so wide open?
After falling behind double digits in the 4th quarter, the Spurs were trying their best to get back into the game. They were playing well offensively and scoring, but the Spurs just couldn’t get a stop. To make matters worse, the Mavericks were hitting three pointers, while the Spurs were getting two.
As Jason Kidd backs down Tony Parker, Dirk sets a screen for Jason Terry who runs down to the block.
For these playoff previews we are going to take a look at each team individually, and then we are going to look at the match-up.
San Antonio Spurs
Strengths
What the Spurs do well.
Execution
Movement without the ball
Tough defense
Weaknesses
Some problems the Spurs struggle with
Aging stars
Tony Parker’s rust
Tendencies
Some things you are going to notice when watching the Spurs play.
The Spurs aren’t a team that will run you to death, as they like to work in the half court. That doesn’t mean they can’t score. The Spurs are really good at executing their stuff in the half court.
Not only did the Nets avoid infamy last night, but they might have also provided the rest of the Western Conference with a blueprint on how to stop Tim Duncan. Duncan really struggled last night, scoring only 13 points on 15 shots in 31 minutes and in my opinion it was because of how the Nets defended him. With Ginobili and Parker out, the Nets were determined to let the rest of the Spurs roster beat them, and they brought a double team just about every time Tim Duncan touched the basketball.
Step 1: Bringing The Double
When you double team a post player, there you have three options when sending the double. You can either go on the catch, on the first dribble, or on the first attack dribble. The Nets decided to bring the double team right on the catch against the Spurs (their strategy most of the season has been to come on the first attack dribble), refusing to allow Tim Duncan to even dribble without two defenders on him:
After Matt Bonner makes the entry pass, he is going to go to the high post to set a screen for George Hill (or at least I think that is the play design here). The double team will be coming from Yi, the man defending Bonner.
