Bballbreakdown: Spurs' adjustments on the fly on offense against good defense

[Spursfanfromafar]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEIFcjl0ks0

[capek]

http://www.moviefancentral.com/images/pictures/review11770/frodo1.gif?1332791135

[Spursfanfromafar]

^^^ Ha ha ha ^^^

[BillMc]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEIFcjl0ks0

Awesome. Thanks for posting.

[spurraider21]

if we actually manage to beat the warriors AND win the b2b in OKC, we'd:

a) be on a 20 game win streak
b) have the magic number cut down to 3 (with 6 games left to play at that point)
c) be at 60 wins for the first time since the 2010-2011 season (yes, the memphis year :depressed)
d) have to go 4-2 to set the franchise record for best regular season (64-18 would do it)

[Captivus]

Coach Nick loves the Spurs.

[ABC]

"The Spurs run a zipper cut for Kawhi Leonard, which usually turns into a screen and roll out on top. However, Parker tries to explore a drive then a pass down to Duncan. When that is taken away, the offense simply flows to a Diaw flash to the high post and they get a gorgeous high-low action since Hibbert was on the high side fronting Duncan. The touch pass gets Duncan for a dunk."

Umm... The reason "Parker tries to explore a drive" is because "Hibbert was on the high side fronting Duncan." The offense didn't "simply flow to a Diaw flash to the high post," Parker recognized that Diaw had the angle for the pass to Duncan. It's weird to highlight a play and then not give Parker the credit for making it happen. "The offense simply flows..." Nice analysis :rolleyes I'm a lot more impressed by the Spurs than the video.

[Spursfanfromafar]

"The Spurs run a zipper cut for Kawhi Leonard, which usually turns into a screen and roll out on top. However, Parker tries to explore a drive then a pass down to Duncan. When that is taken away, the offense simply flows to a Diaw flash to the high post and they get a gorgeous high-low action since Hibbert was on the high side fronting Duncan. The touch pass gets Duncan for a dunk."

Umm... The reason "Parker tries to explore a drive" is because "Hibbert was on the high side fronting Duncan." The offense didn't "simply flow to a Diaw flash to the high post," Parker recognized that Diaw had the angle for the pass to Duncan. It's weird to highlight a play and then not give Parker the credit for making it happen. "The offense simply flows..." Nice analysis :rolleyes I'm a lot more impressed by the Spurs than the video.

Unfair nitpick. I think Coach Nick is giving credit to the Spurs' system (including Parker) for recognising option B/C/D when they present themselves irrespective of player and do the right thing when presented with good defense on option A.

[EVAY]

"The Spurs run a zipper cut for Kawhi Leonard, which usually turns into a screen and roll out on top. However, Parker tries to explore a drive then a pass down to Duncan. When that is taken away, the offense simply flows to a Diaw flash to the high post and they get a gorgeous high-low action since Hibbert was on the high side fronting Duncan. The touch pass gets Duncan for a dunk."

Umm... The reason "Parker tries to explore a drive" is because "Hibbert was on the high side fronting Duncan." The offense didn't "simply flow to a Diaw flash to the high post," Parker recognized that Diaw had the angle for the pass to Duncan. It's weird to highlight a play and then not give Parker the credit for making it happen. "The offense simply flows..." Nice analysis :rolleyes I'm a lot more impressed by the Spurs than the video.

Well said.

[ABC]

Unfair nitpick. I think Coach Nick is giving credit to the Spurs' system (including Parker) for recognising option B/C/D when they present themselves irrespective of player and do the right thing when presented with good defense on option A.

First of all, thanks for posting. I enjoy watching breakdowns of Spurs' plays. Nice to find them at Spurstalk :toast

I think if Coach Nick wanted to highlight the Spurs' system, a different play might have been better. To me, that play illustrated the basketball intelligence of Parker, Diaw, and Duncan, not anything about the Spurs' system. Parker left the set offense because he saw an opportunity to exploit the Pacers' defense. Duncan and Diaw were both aware what Parker was thinking and were ready when he made the play.

In general, I think more emphasis should be put on how good the Spurs' players are, especially how smart they are on the court. Lately it feels like any time the Spurs make a good play, it must be "the system." It's usually both the players and the system, but on that play, it was really just the players.

[Spursfanfromafar]

First of all, thanks for posting. I enjoy watching breakdowns of Spurs' plays. Nice to find them at Spurstalk :toast

I think if Coach Nick wanted to highlight the Spurs' system, a different play might have been better. To me, that play illustrated the basketball intelligence of Parker, Diaw, and Duncan, not anything about the Spurs' system. Parker left the set offense because he saw an opportunity to exploit the Pacers' defense. Duncan and Diaw were both aware what Parker was thinking and were ready when he made the play.

In general, I think more emphasis should be put on how good the Spurs' players are, especially how smart they are on the court. Lately it feels like any time the Spurs make a good play, it must be "the system." It's usually both the players and the system, but on that play, it was really just the players.

Fair point. I think the fact that Duncan & Parker have been honed to read situations so well and Diaw has such basketball IQ, it has been meant to suggest that this is just of the Spurs' corporate knowledge.

Getting a breakdown from a coach sometimes emphasises the tactical and system's side of the play more than the individual creativity/player impetus involved.

[Chinook]

Coach Nick has been half-assing his Spurs breakdowns for a while now. I guess it's easier to explain what goes wrong on bad teams than what goes right on good ones.

I agree wholeheartedly with ABC. People are overrating the system at this point. The Spurs are winning because their talent and chemistry are synergizing with the system. The system does not work without the individual efforts by all of the players, even middling ones like Ayres and Joseph.

[SpursFan86]

Yeah, we saw what happened with the "system" when a bunch of guys went down with injuries during December/January. We kept ourselves afloat, sure, but we weren't playing anywhere close to how we are now. You still need talent to plug into the system if you plan on being an elite team with title hopes.

[JR3]

Yeah, we saw what happened with the "system" when a bunch of guys went down with injuries during December/January. We kept ourselves afloat, sure, but we weren't playing anywhere close to how we are now. You still need talent to plug into the system if you plan on being an elite team with title hopes.
This is true. A specific type of talent is required for our system. Boris is a huge advantage for us and really takes the system to another level.

[Embedded]

I love those breakdowns, thanks so much.

[EVAY]

And so many of these conversations go back to Diaw's contributions this year, and his valuable bball i.q.

It is really going to show up in the playoffs against teams that can (and will) shut down Parker and Duncan, and maybe to a lesser extent, Manu. The best defensive teams are gonna shut down your best offensive players, as in OKC and/or Miami. When that happens, it will be up to someone else on the floor to handle the ball and make good bball decisions within the offensive set. That is where Diaw 2.0 will be the difference maker this, year, imo.

Last year Pop eventually started Manu against Miami because they had figured out how to shut down Parker and front Duncan. That worked for exactly one game until they adjusted to Manu's presence as well. This year, if we have Diaw in the starting line-up in place of Green we have a second ball handler with a high bball i.q., and Manu can still anchor the second unit, with Patty and Green then making teams jump all over the place trying to stop a barrage of three pointers.

I am really looking forward to this post season.

But in the meantime, I am lovin' this ride right now.