For the past two offseasons, we have been looking at players coming to the NBA after playing at least as season overseas. With the lockout, we are going to have plenty of time on our hands.  With that being said, I plan on doing scouting reports for each of the 30 first round picks from this past draft.

Past Editions: Kyrie Irving (#1) | Derrick Williams (#2) | Tristan Thompson (#4) | Jonas Valanciunas (#5) | Jan Vesely (#6)| Bismack Biyombo (#7) | Brandon Knight (#8) | Kemba Walker (#9) | Jimmer Fredette (#10) | Klay Thompson (#11) | Alec Burks (#12) | Markieff Morris (#13) | Marcus Morris (#14)

Out of nowhere, the Spurs made a trade for Kawhi Leonard, a player that they seemed to be very high on.  So high, they were willing to trade back-up point guard, and Gregg Popovich favorite, George Hill to Indiana so they could acquire Leonard.

Strengths

Forcing Turnovers

If I were to pick out Leonard’s biggest strength, it would be his on ball defense.  Maybe the biggest indicator of how good he is defensively is his ability to force turnovers when defending ball handlers, both in isolation situations and in the pick and roll.  When in isolation situations, Leonard forced a turnover 23.8% of the time, holding opponents to 37.5% shootings.  In pick and roll situations where he defended the ball handler, Leonard 23.7% of the time, giving up a PPP of just 0.658 (putting him in the top 35% of all college players).  The first thing that you notice about Leonard on tape is his length.  He has an incredibly long wingspan, 7’3″ according to DraftExpress, and that allows him to do things defensively that some other defenders can’t do:

With that length, he doesn’t have to reach in on dribble penetration, allowing him to stay in front and bother drives by being in the passing lanes (again with his long arms). However, when the offensive player does stick the ball in front of him, his hands are quick enough to go for the steal without drawing contact or committing a foul.

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About midway through the fourth quarter, Grizzlies’ head coach Lionel Hollins was faced with a difficult decision.  Hollins just saw a three point lead turn into a one point deficit after a two straight poor possessions that resulted in turnovers (these results were a direct result of Tony Allen trying to do a little too much on the offensive end):

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Lost in the Spurs’ overtime win and the defensive error from Shane Battier is the fact that the Grizzlies defense is still playing well against San Antonio’s pick and roll/kick out game.  In the middle of the overtime period, we saw another great play from Memphis’ defense:

With possession of the basketball and a two point lead, the Spurs were looking to milk a little clock, allowing 10 seconds to burn off of the shot clock before they get into their offense.  After flattening out, Antonio McDyess comes up and sets a screen for Tony Parker.

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After all of the great plays in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, there was still basketball to be played.  In overtime, the Spurs found themselves up by two points with 39.3 seconds left.  Needing a stop, the Spurs were able to do something that they couldn’t do all series up until then, keep the ball out of Zach Randolph’s hands:

The play starts with Mike Conley cutting off of Zach Randolph to make himself available for the inbounds pass from Shane Battier.

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We have looked at the play before it, and the play after it, and now we are going to take a look at the play that resulted in one of the craziest shots of the season.  With the Spurs trailing the Grizzlies by three points with 9.4 seconds left, they had one timeout left and the basketball on the side.  Deciding it was time to go for the three point shot, Gregg Popovich drew up a play to try and get a look from behind the three point line.  The result was mayhem:

The inbounds pass to Ginobili gets deflected, and after a few more deflections, the basketball ends up back in his hands.  Ginobili tries to get behind the three point line, but is unable to and gets off one of the longest twos you can take, knocking it down and putting his team down one point.

It was a crazy play, but I couldn’t help but wonder what the Spurs were trying to run, because it did look familiar.  If you were reading this site over a year ago, you might have recognized it from a Spurs-Cavs game last March:

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After extending the game as long as possible, by going for two, fouling, and taking timeouts, the Spurs had to finally make their move and go for the three point shot with 1.7 seconds left and no more timeouts.  The Grizzlies knew that the Spurs had to go for a three here, and they had the upper hand.  Unfortunately, a poor decision by one of the best defenders in the NBA resulted in an open three point shot that got knocked down:

The play starts with George Hill sprinting to the corner.  Almost simultaneously Antonio McDyess goes from the top of the key to set a screen for Tim Duncan on the elbow.

This first screen set by San Antonio shows you Memphis’ strategy to playing screens late, and they are switching everything.  Darrell Arthur picks up McDyess and Shane Battier picks up Tim Duncan.

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Coming out of a timeout, the Spurs found themselves trailing the Memphis Grizzlies by three points with 13.8 seconds left in the game.  With two timeouts still in his pocket (and the fact that the Grizzlies have been so good defending the three point line), Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich decided to go for the quick two, choosing to take the two points and extend the game by fouling.  To get those two points, Popovich was able to use Memphis’ denial of the three point line against them:

The play starts with Matt Bonner setting a downscreen for Tim Duncanwho flashes to the top of the key to receive the basketball.

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Watching the San Antonio Spurs play on the offensive end this series, it is obvious that the Spurs have gotten away from what has made them successful over the course of the regular season.  While most of it has to do with the Grizzlies’ fantastic defense, I just get the nagging feeling that the Spurs have consciously been getting away from what they have done best.  With the Spurs trailing the Grizzlies by five points with 4:00 left in the third quarter, we saw a perfect example of this:

After creating a turnover, the San Antonio Spurs were able to get out in transition with Parker bringing the ball down the court and Richard Jefferson running down the sideline.

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When the Memphis Grizzlies tanked to get the San Antonio Spurs, it was safe to say that I didn’t really agree with the opinion.  In fact, I predicted that the Spurs would run away with the series in a sweep.  The biggest reason why I thought that there was going to be sweep was because I thought that the Spurs offensive system of getting the ball to the middle and kicking it out would cause problems for the Grizzlies’ defense.

At this point, it is safe to say that I was wrong.  I don’t know if it was my overestimating of the Spurs’ offense or underestimating of the Grizzlies’ defense, but I obviously didn’t think that the Grizzlies could contain the Spurs.  After seeing four games in this series, I think it has become obvious that the Grizzlies are really good at defending passing lanes, taking away what the Spurs want to do, get the ball in the corner and knock down the three point shot.

Game four was more of the same for the Grizzlies:

This camera angle gives us a perfect view of the Grizzlies and their defensive strategy against the Spurs.  Here, Parker goes away from the screen and attacks the rim.  Most defenses would collapse, giving up an open three to Matt Bonner.  Instead of doing that, Zach Randolph stays in the passing lane, taking away the pass to the corner as Mike Conley and Marc Gasol defend Parker at the rim.  The Grizzlies are funneling everything back to the middle of the court, where they can rotate and challenge the jumper.

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In game two of their series the Memphis Grizzlies once again did a very good job of stifling the Spurs’ offense.  However late in the game, there was a possession where the Spurs pushed it in transition and the Grizzlies made a few errors, allowing the Spurs to get a big three that extended the lead to six points with three minutes left.  In my opinion, the Grizzlies were forced into these errors by the strong fundamentals of the Spurs in transition.

As soon as Richard Jefferson secures the defensive rebound, Tony Parker does a great job of getting into an area where Richardson can hit him with the outlet pass.

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