What The Nets’ Defense Might Look Like – Part 2: Transition Defense
Jun 28, 2010 Defense, Xs and Os
This is a continuing series spurred by this quote from Avery Johnson:
“More than anything, we are going to have a system. The system is going to be laid out from game one. How we play pick and rolls. How we function in transition defense. How we close out, and how we play the post. There isn’t going to be a gray area.”
Part 1: Pick And Roll Defense
Transition Defense
The Nets’ transition defense may have been the worst aspect of their defense last year. According to Synergy Sports, the Nets ranked 26th (the worst ranked aspect of their defense) in transition defense allowing 1.2 points per possession on 60.2% shooting. With how bad their transition defense is, there are going to be some changes that need to be made, and I think we can look at Avery Johnson’s Dallas Mavericks to see what those changes will be.
As the shot goes up, look at the rest of the Dallas Mavericks. They are all positioned on the perimeter, and instead of crashing the boards they decide that it is not worth it and they make sure to get back on defense. This is something the Nets didn’t do a ton of last year. You had guys like Courtney Lee or Terrence Williams crashing the offensive boards hard, even if there wasn’t a chance to get a rebound. This often lead to a lot of fastbreak opportunities. It seems like Avery Johnson doesn’t want that. I feel like he is going to tell his guys, “You got a chance to get the board? Great, go after it. If not, get back.”
What The Nets’ Defense Might Look Like – Part 1: The Pick And Roll
Jun 21, 2010 Defense, Xs and Os
After Avery Johnson was introduced as the Nets’ head coach, he did a brief interview for the YES Network. One thing he said especially caught my attention when asked about getting his players to buy-in and play defense (around the 4:00 mark):
“More than anything, we are going to have a system. The system is going to be laid out from game one. How we play pick and rolls. How we function in transition defense. How we close out, and how we play the post. There isn’t going to be a gray area.”
I thought it would be fun to look at a few Mavs games from when Avery was coaching them to see what that system is and if the Nets have the players to execute. We are going to look at a different aspect that Avery mentioned every week, and today we are starting with maybe the most important part of defense in this era of the NBA, the pick and roll defense.
Home Movies: Kevin Durant’s “Free Points”
Dec 30, 2009 Defense, Home Movies, Other Teams' Stars, Video
Kevin Durant put up 40 on the Nets and was the main reason that the Thunder pulled away from the Nets late. You would think with a great scorer like Durant, the Nets would do their best to make him work for his, but that wasn’t the case: