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You Know What's Coming, but You Can't Stop These 3 NBA Sets

12/27/2018

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This article is a facsimile of an earlier version published on The Basketball Writers (TBW), which recently closed its doors.
Watch the NBA long enough and many of the sets start to look mighty similar.

After all, any sport at the highest level is a copycat league where coaches steal great concepts from each other. In a league that puts such a high emphasis on scouting and knowing the plays coming on the next possession, very little occurs on an NBA basketball court that is a genuine surprise to those well-informed and well-studied coaches.

Nonetheless, certain teams get to their patented plays with success despite the level of scouting. Whether due to sleight of hand, similarity to other sets in the playbook or simple brilliance, some coaches have one play they will pull out of a hat when they need a basket. Here’s how some of the most common ones work:

Dallas Mavericks - Circle Lob


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How Boston Celtics Can Fix Jaylen Brown's Junior Slump

12/23/2018

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​This article is a facsimile of an earlier version published on The Basketball Writers (TBW), which recently closed its doors.
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Something is a bit off in Beantown.

Instead of looking up and down the roster to see who is not carrying their weight, settle your gaze on the third-year wing from California, Jaylen Brown. A player once thought to be too filled with potential to include in a Kawhi Leonard trade, Brown has fallen short of the lofty bar set for him coming into the season.

His numbers, 11.8 points on 41 percent shooting, 28 percent from three, 4.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists, are a tad disappointing. But the fact he shot almost 40 percent from deep a season ago makes falling by ten percentage points a wholly unforeseen setback.

We cannot stop there, though. Beyond his shooting, the stretchy and athletic wing is simply not meshing in a lineup filled with stars and scorers. Nor is he grasping a defense built around switching and versatility instead of one-on-one dominance.

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As a result, coach Brad Stevens has moved Brown to the second unit several times throughout December with hopes of sparking his play and staggering his minutes with the top tier Celts. A dive into the film, along with Brown's efficiency numbers and splits, can illustrate that solving what plagues him could lead to a strong turnaround for Boston.

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Miami's Game of Zones

12/21/2018

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This article is a facsimile of an earlier version published on The Basketball Writers (TBW), which recently closed its doors.
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Erik Spoelstra is rolling up his sleeves lately.

Despite being short-handed due to injuries on a recent West Coast road trip, the Heat have emerged with some important and masterful victories. These have not just been on individual talent, lucky shooting or gritty one-on-one defense.

Instead, Spo has integrated a 2-3 zone defense the last few weeks as Miami toured away from South Beach–and it is throwing off opponents left and right.

Consider this: the Heat have played zone on roughly 130 defensive possessions this year, according to Synergy Sports Tech. 103 of those have come during the last five games, a severe uptick from early in the season. Synergy estimates Miami defended 434 times over those four contests, zoning on nearly 25 percent. This is more than just a change-of-pace or a silly gimmick.

It has been a legitimate weapon.

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What's Behind NBA's Switching Revolution

12/10/2018

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This article is a facsimile of an earlier version published on The Basketball Writers (TBW), which recently closed its doors.
If ten years ago I told you that a team would win three out of four NBA Championships by employing a switching man-to-man defense, you'd have likely said that was garbage.

Switching is for rec league, for the lazy guy that doesn't want to get around a screen. It isn't an aggressive strategy, just a cop out, a dirty word for defensive-minded coaches. If you're tough, you fight through the action and find a way to stop your man.

Switching is for cowards.

Yet, here we are in 2018 and the Golden State Warriors have accomplished such a feat. Three titles in four years via a group of talented players that actually want to switch ball screens and open themselves up for mismatches. Such a concept might seem foreign to many fans and even former players who were brought up to believe switching was a dirty word.
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So how did we get to the point where switching is not just a strategy utilized in the league, but perhaps the optimal one?

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As Hoiberg, Bulls Divorce, There's Enough Blame to Go Around

12/5/2018

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This article is a facsimile of an earlier version published on The Basketball Writers (TBW), which recently closed its doors.
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Monday morning's NBA news shouldn't shock anyone: The Chicago Bulls fired Fred Hoiberg 24 games into his fourth season at the helm, while the team is currently 5-19 and last in league offensive rating.

Yes, Zach LaVine is playing at an extremely high-caliber offensively, and they signed another young scorer (Jabari Parker) this summer to bolster the attack. But, the young, underachieving Bulls were woefully inefficient on offense.

Take a step back and try to diagnose the issues, and the blame may fall off Hoiberg's shoulders.
The front office has assembled one of the league's youngest rosters: Justin Holiday is the only player over 24 to log 300 minutes on the season. The Bulls have also been oft-injured and routinely featured a bizarro collection of players that don't seem overly ideal next to each other.

Trying to assess Hoiberg's tenure is like judging a steak chef who doesn't have knives. It's difficult to get to the center of your craft when the tools don't match the artist. Whether Hoiberg failed in certain areas is almost irrelevant (it's pretty clear he has his shortcomings). Did the front office put him in a position to leverage his strengths?

That's where the blame gets spread.

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The Evolution Towards Positionless Basketball

12/3/2018

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​This article is a facsimile of an earlier version published on The Basketball Writers (TBW), which recently closed its doors.
​A lot can change in twenty years.

Two decades ago, Michael Jordan had just retired and an era of post-up basketball took over. The San Antonio Spurs won an NBA Championship with Tim Duncan and David Robinson towering on the blocks. Shaquille O'Neal was perhaps the most dominant back-to-the-basket scorer in the league. The NBA was a different place, with offenses designed around throwing the ball into the post, cutting slowly around those interior isolations and begging the defense to collapse.

John Stockton was whizzing around the court in his Tobias Funke-like cut-offs, as guys like Jason Kidd and Jason Williams defined what it meant to be a "true point guard."

Each position had clear roles and skills, based on a player's size. Smaller guards played with the ball in their hands and initiated offense. Big men rarely strayed from the blocks and elbows. Anyone in-between was a cutter, a shooter and blended all necessary skills.

Few were able or willing to color outside those lines.

Fast-forward to present day: Post-ups are seldom used, with spacing, shooting and spreading the floor taking precedence over Bully Ball. Scoring is at an all-time high; Perhaps, the level of skill from all five players on the floor is, too. Coaches and players utilize individual skill in more creative, outside-the-box ways: seven-footers bring the ball up the court and shoot threes, six-foot guards are primary interior defenders and some star players do a little bit of everything on both ends.

We're approaching a league that is genuinely positionless–or at least that defies the traditional stereotypes.
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So how did we get here? What key changes took place to lead the league down this path, and why has this been so successful from an offensive standpoint? There are a few major milestones that helped pave the road for a smoother-than-you'd-think transition.

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NBA Scouts: Roles, Rules and State Secrets

12/1/2018

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This article is a facsimile of an earlier publication on The Basketball Writers (TBW), which recently closed its doors.
​As a senior in college, I contemplated many different jobs upon my graduation. After talking myself out of applying to jobs in politics, I ended up comfortably deciding to become a coach and a teacher. Being on the front lines of a basketball team was something I wasn't willing to sacrifice, and to this day I'm thankful that was the path I chose.

Still, I wonder what would've happened if I chose the third path I stared down: becoming an NBA scout.

During my college years, I had conversations with a few people in league circles – one regional scout and one former general manager—about joining the ranks of the loneliest and most under-appreciated workers in professional basketball. As much as I love basketball, I was mortified by the commitment that I found out goes into being a scout.

You don't have to just know basketball or love basketball. You have to make it your life, one-hundred percent. It is more than sitting in a chair and watching a game, making determinations about whether a player is good or whether your team should draft them.
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There are many shoes that scouts can fill and many different positions within the umbrella of evaluation. Four main categories stick out:

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    Adam Spinella

    Head Boys Basketball Coach, Boys' Latin School (MD).
    ​Master's in Sports Management, Georgetown University

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  • Home
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