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Each week, HOOPSWORLD NBA analyst and coach Anthony Macri will open his notebook and offer 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.

Analyzing the point of disruption

One of the best things about the NBA is the playoff structure.  The reality of having to play a strong opponent over multiple games with only one or two days in between each contest has the effect of magnifying strengths and weaknesses, and so any adjustments that are made (intentional or not) have a huge impact on the way the games play out.

In the Eastern Conference Finals, we have a matchup of two of the better defenses in the NBA.  However, their approach on that end of the floor is very different.  The Chicago Bulls run a system based on passing lane pressure, with a healthy dose of helping on penetration, stunting and recovering.  They perform relatively few full rotations of defenders (meaning, they would prefer to help and recover rather than sprint out and switch).  Their point of disruption occurs as teams look to pass the ball, as throughout the season they were very effective at clogging passing lanes and recovering after helping.  This kind of system is particularly effective when you have backline defenders (forwards and centers) that are committed to their responsibilities and stay disciplined in their lanes, avoiding big gambles.

The Miami HEAT’s defensive approach relies more on intensive ball pressure and rotations, and less on stunt and recover.  Their point of disruption is out front, where their length and energy overwhelms opponents, forcing them into lower percentage shots and the occasional turnover.  They can turn these rebounds and turnovers into points at the other end.  Miami has become this kind of team more and more over the course of the season – very willing to sprint out at shooters, overextend on the occasional passing lane in a denial attempt, and generally speaking create more chances for energy plays.

Over the course of this series, it seems Miami’s approach has been more successful at stifling Chicago than the other way around.  Having that kind of length and disruption on the ball has hurt Derrick Rose’s ability to penetrate and get good shots, and other players have not stepped up so as to make the case easier for him.  At the same time, it seems Miami’s offense has started to click against Chicago’s defense.  The HEAT’s ability to generate offense individually has an impact here, as passing lane disruption is less effective when a team can score without passing.  In addition, the Bulls vaunted discipline, which has been their calling card throughout the year, has been waning of late.  The Bulls have seemed more and more focused on stopping individual players, which takes away from their ability to play solid, team-oriented defense, and gives the HEAT a chance to score more efficiently.

For the Bulls to have a shot at pulling an upset (both tonight and in the series overall), they will likely need to make two adjustments.  The first is defensive: getting back to their base, core philosophy defensively.  Game 1 against the HEAT notwithstanding, Chicago has really not played to the level they are capable throughout the postseason on that end of the floor.  Discipline, sharp and crisp rotations, and consistency are all critical.  The second, on the offensive end, may require them to move Derrick Rose off the ball a little more, and have him catch and create off of pindowns and staggered screens.  Getting him to catch it on the move in closeout situation is much more advantageous for the Bulls – having him operate solely out of ball screen situations has played to Miami’s strengths.

In the NBA Playoffs, the structure of the postseason forces teams to constantly adapt where they coming up short.  The ball is now in Chicago’s court – do they have the wherewithal to make the adjustments needed and thwart Miami’s point of disruption?

They never go away

In the first ROCKY movie, nearing the end of the fight between Rocky and Apollo Creed, there is a great scene (YouTube has the scene) which really displayed the kind of heart and toughness Rocky possessed.  Rocky has been knocked down numerous times, and each time he managed to get up, not allowing himself to lose.  At one point in the 14^th round, Creed throws a devastating uppercut, knocking Rocky down again.  Rocky’s manager, Mick, implores him to stay down, but Rocky refuses to do so, working his way back to a standing position.  Creed is incredulous, just completely befuddled by Rocky’s toughness and commitment, and his body language shows his disappointment.  While Rocky loses that fight, he manages to accomplish his goal: never backing down to the champ, and displaying his gritty perseverance throughout.

{AUTHOR_BOX}Dallas’ victory in their series against Oklahoma City can be attributed to the way they, like Rocky, never really go away in games. Some teams attempt to overwhelm their opponents with pressure or high octane offense – but the Mavericks are not an easy team to crush. Throughout games, they hit free throws and make shots, they don’t really turn the ball over, and they have a go-to scorer who can be effective against any defender in the league.  As the game comes down to crunch time, they do a marvelous job of exploiting edges, finishing defensive possessions with rebounds or gathering loose balls, and they waste very few possessions on the offensive end.

The pairing of Dirk Nowitzki and Rick Carlisle has produced a very confident and goal-oriented team.  They are focused like a laser on the task at hand, and it seems they are rarely (never?) all that concerned with whatever deficit they might be facing.  Like Rocky, they have a combined goal in mind: make it to the end, just make it to the end.  In the end, that was too much for the still-maturing Thunder to overcome.

How this all translates to the Finals is a very interesting question.  It seems unlikely that either Miami or Chicago will be able to consistently blow Dallas away, no matter how well either unit is playing defensively.  The question may come down to whether or not Nowitzki has enough in the tank to give his team a chance to win after they have spent the entire game simply not going away.

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.