Lineup Watch 12/18/12

The Good

Jrue Holiday, Jason Richardson, Evan Turner, Thadeus Young, Lavoy Allen
As a team, Philadelphia has a 99.3 offensive efficiency, 20th in the league.  That low mark is in spite of the starting lineup which is putting up astronomical numbers on the offensive end.  They are scoring at a rate 3 points per 100 possessions higher than the top offensive team in the league, Oklahoma City.  Putting Thad Young at the four opens up the floor for and puts a ton of pressure on a defense to rotate and make decisions.  Evan Turner's improved jumper and Lavoy Allen's midrange game help as well.  Now, getting back to the original point.  If the starting lineup has played so well on offense, what brings the Sixers' efficiency to such low levels?  Probably the fact that Philly's next most used lineup is scoring at a level far below that of even the Wizards.

Eric Bledsoe, Jamal Crawford, Matt Barnes, Lamar Odom, Ronny Turiaf
The Clippers improved bench unit is one of the main reasons this Clips team is better than the one that was swept in the second round last year.  This unit sports a net rating (points scored per 100-points allowed per 100) that would easily eclipse that of the top team in the league (more than double, in fact).  This lineup's defense is stingier than any team in NBA history's and the offense would 5th in the league.  Eric Bledsoe, Matt Barnes, and Ronny Turiaf are energy guys that will cut, defend, and do the dirty work.  Jamal Crawford is lethal off the dribble and in the running for sixth man of the year.  And Lamar Odom, despite his...plumpness...is still one of the smartest players in the league.  There will surely be regression, but as of now, this unit is one of the best in the NBA.        

The Bad

Mo Williams, Randy Foye, Gordon Hayward, Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson
No lineup featuring Al Jefferson is expected to be a defensive stalwart, but holy hell this is bad.  Gordon Hayward has an unearned reputation as a great defensive that is just not true.  The backcourt is small and Randy Foye especially can be picked on.  No semblance of rim protection behind the porous perimeter D is a recipe for disaster.  On the bright side, this unit is an offensive juggernaut with the two big men doing their thing inside while the others spot up along the arc.   
            
All statistics courtesy of NBA.com      

The Clippers Demonstrate How To Beat The Front

How do you defend one of the best players in the game?  The answer is simple: don't even let him get the ball in the post.  Fronting is a common tactic used to not allow an entry pass and thus a post up.  It can cover up a lack of post defense and screw with teams' offenses.  In last year's Heat/Pacers series, the Heat successfully fronted, negating the Pacers huge size advantage.  When the offense spends the first 14 seconds of the shot trying to get a player a ball in the post and can't, they suddenly need to get into something else with the shot clock ticking down.
Last night against the Clippers, the Bulls fronted Blake Griffin with Joakim Noah.  It worked for most of the night as he didn't get many post touches.  Late in the fourth quarter though, needing a basket, the Clippers countered the front perfectly.
You can see on the far side Noah fronting Griffin.  To counter this, Lamar Odom flashes to the top of the key.  He gets a pass from Chris Paul and in one motion lobs it up to Griffin.  Luol Deng is a beat late helping and Carlos Boozer needs to have his hands up and should know this is coming.  Lob City.  Of course, this play still isn't easy.  You need the perfect pass and an explosive leaper to finish it.  Still, a lot of teams struggle with fronting defenses and fail to execute this kind of counter.  Kudos to VDN and the team for being in sync and knowing exactly what to do in this situation.
           

Explaining the Pick and Roll Defense Ice

Also called downing it or bluing it, Ice is one of the most prevalent defensive strategies in the NBA today.  You see it used scores of times on a nightly basis, but probably just think of it as normal at this point.  Ice is used on the side pick and roll to prevent penetration into the lane.
The idea is to not let the opposing ball handler actually use the screen.  If the ball handler can't use the screen, space isn't created, rotations aren't forced, and there isn't penetration.  We're going to use one Clippers play as an example.

Willie Green gets the ball on the wing and calls a big man over for a screen.  As the Blake Griffin lumbers over, his man, Boris Diaw, will call out to "ice" or "blue".  The man defending the ball handler (Tony Parker) gets on Green's lane-side hip which won't allow Green to attack the screen and create space.  Boris Diaw drops down to the baseline and zones off the lane.  Some aggressive teams (like Miami) will actually trap the ball handler here, but most teams just create a little pocket with the ball handler between two defenders and two sidelines.
At this point the ball handler has four options (Not including the a pass to the shooter in the opposite corner or wing who will almost always be open.  The number of players that can make this pass can be counted on one two hands). The ball handler can drive baseline and take an ugly floater/fade away shot that very often hits nothing but the top of the backboard.  While there is a 5% chance the player will make some crazy over the basket tear drop, it's an incredibly inefficient shot to take.  The second and most utilized option is the pocket pass.

This is most commonly a bounce pass between the two walling off defenders to the big man who pops to the elbow.  This is where the defense has to start to rotate and you can already see Kawhi Leonard and Tim Duncan flashing over.  All the defense has to do is rotate quickly enough to not give up the elbow jumper until Boris Diaw can recover, although some defenses will trap the big man at the elbow.
 
The third option is for the weakside big man (DeAndre Jordan) to cut baseline and establish position for an entry pass. This can be so effective because in most cases the weakside big man's defender (Tim Duncan) will be focused on helping should the ball handler make a pocket pass (and in the shot above you can see this).  With one hard cut, deep position can be established.  At this point all the player needs to do is a little dropstep and make a layup.
The final and least used option is a cut from the weakside man on the wing to the strongside of the basket.  This is often a tough pass to make and an even tougher layup to finish; the player will be getting the ball running at full speed with his body faced away from the basket.  It's a nearly impossible play to make which explains its rarity, but you will see some players do this from time to time. 
With defenses using this strategy more and more, offensive are going to have to adapt.  The NBA is just a big game of cat and mouse between offensive and defensive strategies.  We went from the ultra fast Showtime of the 80s to the thug 90s.  The early 2000s were ruled by slow teams like the Spurs and Pistons.  The last part of the decade shifted to play embodied by those explosive games between the offensive juggernauts Mavs and Suns.  Who knows where we are going to go next. 

The Trailblazers' Beautiful First Play

A lot of NBA coaches like to start off the game with a set play.  It can hopefully get an easy look for a player and start a little bit offensive rhythm.  Portland's first play against Los Angeles was drawn up by Terry Stotts and executed to perfection by the players.

LaMarcus Aldridge gets the ball at the high post from Damian Lillard who then cuts and gets a brush screen from Nic Batum.  This initial action is really just to keep the defense guessing and maybe
create a switch.

Next comes a little dribble handoff between Aldridge and Batum.  Again, this is just to create some space and distract from the real action: a back screen by J. J. Hickson and backdoor cut by Wes Mathews.

Batum delivers and absolutely beautiful bounce pass between two defenders to the cutting Mathews.  Blake Griffin was distracted by the strongside action and can't help in time leaving an easy layup:

NBA Power Rankings: 4 for 4

The Sixers have their guy

Part three of DTA's power rankings series looks at four teams that will be looking to grab the four seed.

7. Denver Nuggets
The move for Andre Iguodala cannot be understated, but the biggest improvement will come from so many of the young players developing.  Outside of Andre Miller and Iguodala, every key contributer on the Nugget's roster is 26 or under.  That is just crazy.  Denver's biggest shortcoming this year will most likely be the lack of a consistent outside shot.  They aren't going to win a title any time soon, but at least they will bring fans to the Pepsi Center throughout the regular season and most likely to a couple of games after that.

8. Philadelphia 76ers
Before this offseason, Philadelphia was a team without direction.  Caught in no mans land,no true stars and no way to get stars.  That all changed this offseason.  The blockbuster Dwight Howard trade took away only Nikola Vucevic, and Moe Harkless and gave Philly Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson.  In Bynum, the 76ers have a true franchise player.  The entire offense will run through him and I'm expecting the highest usage in the league.  The Sixers have two competent guards that can get Bynum the ball where he wants it and all kinds of shooters to spread the floor.  This team has ECF potential.

9. Los Angeles Clippers
The Clips have put together a nice roster, but there are still some flaws that will stop this team from advancing to a championship.  Their top two shooting guards are thirty with one coming of an Achilles and the other coming of the worst season of his career.  DeAndre Jordan will finish alley-oops and swat balls into the stands, but not much else and behind him is Ronny Turiaf.  The biggest flaw of course is coaching.  Vinny Del Negro will have to figure out a good rotation to keep everybody fresh.  At least there won't be any problems in crunch time when coach Paul steps in.

10. Memphis Grizzlies
Despite a quiet offseason, the Memphis is still one of the best teams in the west.  They still have one of the best front courts in the league and were an epic Clippers comeback away from the second round of the playoffs.  If this team wants to go far though, they have to trade Rudy Gay.  Memphis has two identities and the better one does not include the jump shooter Gay.  Despite what I believe will become a soap opera in the Gay situation, the Grizz are once again one of those teams that nobody wants to meet come playoffs.

Tuesday: Middle of the Pack      
 

Drawing Up the Penultimate Play of Nuggets vs. Clippers

The first ever NBA game on the strip in Vegas produced some fireworks late.  After an improbable Matt Barnes fade away three, the Nuggets led the Clippers by one with under 20 seconds left and Danilo Gallinari going to the line.  Gallo split the two and the Clippers called time to advance the ball to midcourt and draw up a game winning play.  On the possession before, Los Angeles had tried to go to Jamal Crawford who had scored their last eight points, but he was aggressively double teamed leading to the Barnes trey.  With this in mind, the oft criticized Vinny Del Negro called the perfect play.

The Clippers set up with Ryan Hollins and Ronny Turiaf at the elbows, Matt Barnes in the weak-side corner, Eric Bledsoe taking the ball out, and the man George Karl thought they were going to go to, Jamal Crawford on the low block.

Hollins sets a down screen for Crawford who is going towards the top of the key.  You can already see the doubleteamer Ty Lawson cheating over.

After the double team, Bledsoe immediately looks to Ryan Hollins who has drifted of the mid post after setting his screen.

As soon as Hollins receives the ball, Bledsoe cuts baseline and Hollins hands the ball right back.  This is so effective because Bledsoe's defender is trailing him by a good distance because of the double team.

As you can see, Bledsoe has a clear path to the basket.  The help defense is a millisecond late, enough to allow Bledsoe to finish a tough reverse layup.

The Clips went on to lose the game on a Ty Lawson buzzer beater, but there are still plenty of positives to take away.  Probably the biggest one is this more inventive crunch time play calling.  The coaching staff saw what Denver was doing, adjusted and drew up the right play.  I may be the only person on the planet saying this: kudos to Del Negro.