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.
The Lob That Clinched The Game
Mar 30, 2010 Brook Lopez, Devin Harris, Xs and Os
With the Nets up one point with 3:30 minutes left against the Spurs, I was unsure how the game was going to turn out. A few times this season, the Nets have held leads late only to blow them and lose the game. The reason this has happened in the past is because the Nets fail to get themselves easy baskets late. As I was watching the game last night, I was worried the same thing would happen again. To the relief of Nets’ fans, that isn’t what happened, and the Nets executed a real pretty lob from Devin Harris to Brook Lopez. The Nets didn’t look back:
This play is actually a variation of a set that the Nets run very often (Under Little To Big Screen). In the normal set that the Nets run, Brook Lopez gets a backscreen from a guard (this time Courtney Lee) and goes over it to post up on the block. However this play includes a read option, according to Brook (when asked if the lob was planned), “We have been running that all year. Yeah, it’s just a read.” What Brook reads is his defender, Tim Duncan, and how he defends the screen.
The Nets Go Inside, Then Out
Mar 8, 2010 Nets vs. Knicks, Xs and Os
In Saturday night’s win against the Knicks, the Nets were able to go 14-24 from the three point line, obviously the team’s best performance from deep. So how does a team who is 29th in the NBA in terms of 3 point shooting percentage (30.2%) shoot 58.3% against the Knicks? They attacked the basket.
Now, you all know how important I think attacking the basket is. When the Nets’ do so and are aggressive, they either get themselves to the free throw line or get good looks in close at the basket. What doesn’t get talked about though is how attacking the basket opens up things on the outside. The Nets are poor shooters from deep, we know that. However, when they attack the basket, the Nets give their outside shooters better looks that are easier to make. Let’s look at a few plays from Saturday night:
This first play is a transition possession. We have seen Terrence Williams attack the basket the past few games, and the Knicks know that. As Terrence Williams crosses the three point line, Devin Harris’ man drops down to the lane to meet him. Williams uses his vision to spot the wide open Devin Harris who knocks down a big three pointer.
On this one, Keyon Dooling attacks the baseline. Instead of giving up his dribble and trying to force up a lay-up, he keeps his head up looking for a teammate. To me, under the basket is the under-belly of the defense. If you can get there, it forces defenders to focus on the ball rather than their man. Look at the above clip. All 5 Knicks’ defenders have their eyes on Dooling, who has his pick on who to get it to on the outside. Dooling chooses Courtney Lee, who knocks down a three, extending the lead to 16.
Now this might all have happened against a terrible Knicks defense, but the theme is the same. When you force the defense to make decisions or rotate, there is a better chance that they make mistakes. And when they make mistakes, the Nets are going to be able to take advantage.
How The Nets Stay Competitive
Feb 26, 2010 Nets vs. Trailblazers, Xs and Os
Over the past 10-15 games, the Nets have been competitive in every single game in spurts. The most glaring example of the Nets’ Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde act was their game against the Portland Trailblazers. In the first half, the Nets were down 19 points and only scored 37 points, that’s pretty bad. In the 3rd quarter, the Nets scored 33 points and cut the lead to 7. That’s pretty good. Since we usually focus on the bad (we don’t do it intentionally), I want to focus on the good of the third quarter for the Nets, showing what they did (and need to do moving forward) and how they did it.
Offense
On offense, the Nets came out of the gate clicking. The biggest thing is that they were running their sets all the way through. We know the Nets sets, some of them are pretty good and some of them aren’t, but the biggest problem for the Nets isn’t the actual set. It is that the Nets’ players seem to get antsy when running things, and plays never get run correctly, or all the way through. Look at this video though.
This is a play that the Nets run at least 10-15 times a game (not exaggerating), and I think that this is the best they ever ran it. The first thing is Brook, look how he sets up Devin’s man for the screen. He fakes a seal, spins, and hits a screen. Trenton Hassell remains patient knowing the play is developing and waits for Devin to get open. Devin gets open, and knocks down the jumper. If the Nets ran all of their sets as hard as that, they would get so many more open jumpers.
Exploring The Nets 4th Quarter Struggles
Feb 8, 2010 Analysis, Xs and Os
For the past couple of games the Nets have been pretty competitive. Now that is great and all, but the Nets seem to abandon everything they do correctly in the first three quarters, and just fall apart in the 4th quarter. In the past 4 games, the Nets have been out scored by a total of 14 points. Surprisingly, it the Nets’ defense isn’t the culprit. The most points that the Nets have given up in the fourth is 26 points. However, the offense has been able to only match their opponents efforts, or under-perform, not scoring enough to get/hold the lead. So what are the Nets doing wrong? Well, it is a combination of things, and to examine it, we are going to look at the 4th quarter of last Tuesday’s Nets-Pistons game.
While we are only looking at one game, rest assured that this has happened in each fourth quarter of the past 5 or 6 games. This has been something that has been hurting the Nets for a little bit now.
Inside The Run – The Nets 20-3 Run Against The Raptors
Feb 5, 2010 Nets vs. Raptors, Xs and Os
The Nets haven’t gone on too many runs this year, but in their last game against the Raptors the Nets went on a 20-3 run that extended over 6 minutes. How did they do this? Is this something that they can use as a template in the future? Let’s take a look.
Video Breakdown: Game 39
Jan 18, 2010 Nets vs. Pacers, Video Breakdown, Videos, Xs and Os
The Nets were outscored by 19 points (24-5 in total) during the final six minutes on Friday night? Why? Well it is because they failed to execute on both ends of the court:
Video Breakdown: Game 36
Jan 15, 2010 Nets vs. Hornets, Video Breakdown, Xs and Os
After the blowout by the Celtics (which Mark does a great job examining), people are going to forget that the Nets actually had a chance at a win this past week. Yes, I am talking about the Nets game vs. the Hornets. The Hornets ran a simple pick and roll, but it was good execution more than bad defense that lead to the basket.
After getting the ball inbounds (which they failed at doing their last possession), the Hornets quickly go into a pick and roll. David West comes up and sets the screen, and Chris Paul uses it.
Late in games, teams usually switch every screen, and the Nets are no different. Because the Hornets probably like to switch screens, they are anticipating the Nets doing the same. The screen isn’t designed to get Chris Paul to the basket or to get David West open on the roll. The screen is set to get Jarvis Hayes defending Chris Paul.
After the Hornets get what they want, Paul then attacks. He quickly gets Jarvis Hayes on his hip, and he has a lane to the basket. You would like it if Devin Harris was closer to the middle of the lane, but that is the beauty of how the Hornets set this up. They put Peja (a knockdown shooter that you need to stay with) on the side Chris Paul was going to drive to. This means that Devin can’t help.
Paul finishes the lay-up, and gets fouled, clinching the win for the Hornets. The Nets set a “moving pick” on their final possession and the rest is history.
Video Breakdown Games 34 & 35
Jan 8, 2010 Nets vs. Bucks, Nets vs. Hawks, Video Breakdown, Xs and Os
Allright, this is going to be a quick one, short and sweet. We are going to be looking at defense exclusively here. In each one of these games, the Nets couldn’t stop one thing. Against the Bucks, the Nets couldn’t stop the pick and roll. Against the Hawks, the Nets couldn’t stop the three point shot. After the jump, we are going to look at some clips.