After game 2 there was quite a bit of debate about the effectiveness of the Spurs offense in certain sets.
Also, I read a column that broke down game 2 and they mentioned NO doubled Duncan 21 times in the low block in game 2, and we got 4 (yes, 4) points out of it for the game.
So I decided to take a closer look.
I decided to keep track of our primary set for each play and the play result.
I apologize for this not being a complete set for game 3, the jackasses at ESPN made me watch the last 6 minutes of the Boston - Cleveland blowout for some unknown re ed ass reason, and frankly I had drank so much to numb myself for the typical third quarter, got a phone call right before the third quarter started, and completely forgot about keeping track until the fourth started
Anyway, I'll come back to this at some point over the weekend and detail each play, but here's the quick run downs statistically:
I categorized plays into three categories:
1. 4down, defined as any play that put Duncan on the low block, gave him an entry pass, and resulted in a double by the Hornets.
2. Pick and roll, pretty self explanatory. Think all of these but one were run on the side, not up high.
3. All others, either set inbounds plays or variations on a motion offense or give and go type stuff the Spurs run from time to time.
On to the stats....
First half:
4down: run 8 times, resulted in three baskets and one trip to the FT line for Tim (he made 1-2). 50% scoring rate.
Pick and roll: run 20 times, resulted in 13 baskets (65% scoring rate)
All others: run 8 times, resulting in 5 baskets (62.5% success rate for buckets).
The above numbers do not include turnovers in transition before a play could be determined or the first roughly 4 minutes of the first quarter.
Fourth quarter:
4down: run five times, resulting in one basket (Bowen three pointer). (20% success rate).
Pick and roll: run 6 times, resulting in 4 scores (67% success)
All others: 11 plays, resulting in 5 baskets (45% success rate).
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I wish I had numbers for the third, from what I remember it was heavy on the pick and roll and a little of the flex as well and was working good for us.
The point being, we went away from Duncan on the low block so much tonight, and shredded NO with the pick and roll (in quarters 1,2, and 4 we basically scored on 17 of 26 trips we ran it - that's 65% of the time we got a bucket or two points at the FT line).
NO seems intent on the hard double on Tim every trip, but their defense is much more porous against the pick and roll, and contrary to some opinions here that they would just pack it in the lane on us and make us shoot, we actually got quite a few looks in the lane tonight.
I'm calling it a night, I'll come back with the play breakdown at some point this weekend...
Kick ass Aggie! Good insight! Seems like the lesson they should learn is: pick and ing roll!
Appreciated, AHF. Good work
I haven't watched the game yet because of ing Uni, but I will be watching it later on, and might try a similar thing.
It was so good so see the emphasis on attacking the rim and getting Manu and Tony back into the groove, and they might have had more interior passes in this game than in the first two combined. Mixing in more of the SnRs will hopefully loosen the doubles when they do go 4-down, and there's still going to be at least one Tim Freaking Duncan game in this series now that he's 100%.
I thought Oberto was quietly a big reason for the offense being good tonight.
His passes on the 4 down sets and pick and rolls and his overall play was quietly awesome.
good work. The Spurs need to stick the the pick n roll, 4down basically turns us into a "live by the 3 - die by the 3" type of team.
Meh- I thought Oberto had another poor game with flashes of what I'd like more of. The truth is that the Spurs played far better with Kurt Thomas in because the defense and rebounding was far better while you don't lose very much offensively since he can pop out on the PnRs and hit a J.
The PnR works well in games where the Spurs are able to create room from the 3 point line. If you can hit the jumper on the kick outs then it opens it up. Otherwise Tony doesn't get 11 assists the way he did tonight and he's staring down a lane full of defenders.
So yeah, the PnR is great and we all love it, but it all starts with knocking down those js.
I'm shocked to see Oberto credited with 9 boards. I yelled at the screen at least 3 times for him tapping and not grabbing.
I think Thomas defends about a billion times better than Oberto. It really does piss me off to see some of the he does on D and on the glass.
There was a time (I don't know if it was at the end of the he third or a the beggining of the 4th) where he got 4 or 5 consecutives defensive rebounds.
I think we stayed aggressive for the most part. Duncan seems uncomfortable at times but is finding the open man out of the DT and there is good movement with the ball. Hitting shots was key but as I said just overall forcing the issue and being focused on a shot was big.
I thought we did a good job on defense overall as well. We got burnt a few times and gave up some offensive boards in the first half but if we can do that or a little better we should be alright Sunday.
Exceelent AHF. Bring the 3rd qtr stats when you can.
Thank goodness the Spurs got away from majority of 4 Dumb-Martyball.
Esp in the third qtr.
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