NBA Power Rankings: The Second Tier

Manú is excited that his team is 4th in the DTA power rankings

We continue the power rankings series with the teams just below the top three.  Teams that aren't quite elite yet or just fading from the top.  If you missed part 1 click here.


4. San Antonio Spurs
As long as Gregg Popovich is in charge and the Spurs will always be somewhat of a contender.  This team has been the number one seed in consecutive years, but lost in the playoffs twice.  Lets face, San Antonio will be a top three seed in the west.  Manú and Parker will still run pick and rolls and Duncan will still shoot his bank shot.  Once again, R. C. Buford has assembled a cast of role players whose skills blend perfectly with the big three's.  There is no doubt this team can beat anybody, but we all saw what happened against OKC last year and Memphis the year before that.

5. Boston Celtics
Out with Ray Allen, in with Jason Terry and Courtney Lee.  With the exception of the Jeff Green deal, I loved everything Boston did this offseason.  Terry and Lee can be versatile scorers that can start or come off the pine.  To grab top 7 talent Jared Sullinger with the 21st pick was also huge.  I doubt that the Cs will be able to knock off Miami in the East, but they came as close could last year and should again this season.

6. Indiana Pacers
Another team a whisker away from knocking off Miami was the Pacers.  The Brendan Haywood for Darren Collison trade and the Roy Hibbert max deal were questionable moves.  The Pacers backcourt depth will be limited this year, but an intimidating front line should help that.  The organization knows they are not going to beat the Heat using small ball, Indiana's only chance is to outsize them.  With the expected jump from Paul George, this team should be sitting right where it wants to come playoff time: near the top and ready to make some noise.

Monday: 4 gunning for the four seed 

Pick and Roll Rotations

In a post from yesterday on an interesting Nets lineup, I mentioned how effective the pick and roll would be. Quote: Williams could dish to a rolling Lopez who would have two options:  either finish strong, or pass to the strong side corner where a Net would be wide open for three because of the rotation to cover Lopez.   To illustrate further what that means, I have marked up a similar play.

 This play starts of with a Manu Ginobli/Tiago Splitter pick and roll.  Notice Kawhi Leonard in the strong side corner.

Splitter sets a good screen and starts on his roll.  Ginobli, who now has two men on him, fires a beautiful bounce pass to Splitter.  Now that Splitter has the ball with nobody on him in the lane, Kevin Durant has to rotate over.  This leaves Leonard wide open.

With Kevin Durant now in front of him, Splitter stops on a dime (how many times will you here that!) and dishes to the open Leonard.

Leonard splashes the three despite a great recovery from the long Kevin Durant.

The main point I want to get across is how the roll man can force a rotation from the corner and dish for a three.  And if the rotation comes late?  That, my friends, will usually be a posterization.