Coach’s Notebook: Defending Nash & Roy
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Each week HOOPSWORLD NBA analyst and coach Anthony Macri opens his notebook and offers an assortment of observations on games, players, and teams from throughout the league. Coach Macri serves as a player development consultant for the Pro Training Center and Coach David Thorpe, working with a variety of NBA players on their skills and game understanding. The Coach’s Notebook appears on HOOPSWORLD every Thursday.
Dueling Defensive Gameplans
An interesting dynamic developed in Tuesday evening’s contest between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Phoenix Suns. Both teams demonstrated the desire to shut down the other team’s star player, and both used very different tactics to accomplish that goal. When defending another team’s top player, it is important to recognize the opposition’s strengths when developing a gameplan. When the opponent’s best player is more of a triple threat, catch and attack guy, keeping the ball out of his hands is the first priority. If, however, you are game-planning against a ball-handling playmaker, the focus has to be on slowing dribble penetration and bothering all lanes of vision (passing and shooting).
Phoenix elected to use the length, speed, and intelligence of Grant Hill to attempt to slow down Brandon Roy. Hill’s basic gameplan against Roy included a variety of advanced defensive tactics. When Roy did not have the ball, Hill took it upon himself to go into a half-faceguard denial, meaning he stayed close to Roy to deny him but did not full turn his head to face Roy alone. On any catch Roy did make, Hill’s defense did not slow down, as he came up to pressure the ball a little bit and recognize how to bust the frequent ball screens (Hill got skinny and snuck by over the top of screens when he was screened). Hill was never out of control, which allows him to play pretty aggressive without Roy being able to take advantage. Finally, Hill communicated throughout possessions with his teammates so it became a real team responsibility.
{AUTHOR_BOX}Most of the responsibility for guarding Steve Nash fell to Patty Mills. Mills does not typically log a lot of minutes – in fact, he had not played more than 17 minutes in a game so far this season. However, he made the most of his time on the floor against the Suns. In order to limit Nash, Mills really "maximized his pestitude," to borrow a phrase from basketball coach and writer Dick Devenzio. His footwork mainly relied on short, choppy steps. This helped keep Mills in a balanced stance, mitigating Nash’s quickness and craftiness off the dribble. No one can keep Nash out of the paint all night, but Mills was at least serviceable as he ‘guarded his yard,’ meaning Nash could not get a direct line to the basket off his defender’s shoulder. Mills’ quick feet allowed him to keep his body in front of Nash, effectively guarding about a yard of space on either side. Maximizing his pestitude also implies Mills contested nearly every shot or pass, usually by getting his hand or hands in the way.
Also, the consistent presence of Mills energetically pressuring Nash for the entirety of the court had a cumulative effect on Nash mentally and physically. While he personally managed to have a strong game, the offense at times stalled out and was not as efficient as normal. In addition, Nash seemed fatigued down the stretch, likely in no small part due to Mills maximizing his pestitude.
Big Keys, Little Keymasters
Blake Griffin gets all the highlight reel attention (and rightly so) for the Los Angeles Clippers and the high-flying frontcourt is really impressive, getting after it on the glass and when they challenge shots. However, the real key to the current and future success of the "other" L.A. team is the two Erics (Gordon and Beldsoe).
Sometimes, assembling talent seems patchwork, and the talents never really have a chance to develop synergy. This should not be the case for the Clippers. Their frontcourt pieces are built to sprint the floor and finish at or above the rim. However, in order to realize that potential, the two Erics need to speed the ball along and get the ball into the big boys’ hands at the right times. Both Gordon and Bledsoe are adept at both rip and run basketball and halfcourt dribble penetration, and have shown the ability to hit forwards with dump off passes and quick alley-oops, which is critical since the Clippers outside shooting is a question-mark.
Defensively, the team relies on athleticism right now to make up for a lot of fundamental mistakes, but most of their errors (lack of consistent ball pressure, poor angles against dribble penetration, failure to anticipate rotations) are all correctable. It seems only a matter of time before the keys (their frontcourt, Griffin in particular) and the keymasters (the two Erics) find the gatekeeper.
Have questions for Coach Macri? Be sure and drop by HOOPSWORLD on Mondays at 2PM Eastern for the Coach’s weekly basketball chat! You can also follow Coach Macri on Twitter @CoachMacri.
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