Pick and Roll Defense

[tracey_nice]

There should be a thread on this.

What do we do? We were completely lost out there - big man didn't know if they should double, hedge, hang-back... Guards weren't getting over the screen. I think our big man may just be too slow to be able to seal of the edge with a great hedge and recover back to their man.

If it's Durant or Westbrook, we should probably double but can our big man double effectively with out giving up the corner or committing a foul?

Thoughts...

[-G-]

Bynum and Pau need to be on the same page. Bynum or Pau need to get out and hedge, and whichever big is back in the paint needs to rotate over to the middle to take away the drive. Make Durant pass the ball to their bigs and make them finish. Giving Durant and Westbrook open 15 footers is not going to get it done.

Defense is all about your big men. The way we played the pick and roll, we may as well have just gone under every screen.

[Jajwanda]

You know L.A. really had zero problem in P and R defense in that come back with Gasol-Hill. Just saying...

[Atmanne]

You know L.A. really had zero problem in P and R defense in that come back with Gasol-Hill. Just saying...

On a related note: http://nba-point-forward.si.com/2012/05 ... -weakness/

[microfib4thewin]

You know L.A. really had zero problem in P and R defense in that come back with Gasol-Hill. Just saying...

On a related note: http://nba-point-forward.si.com/2012/05 ... -weakness/

It's sad seeing that last video. When Bynum was playing well in 08 he could hedge without any problem. Now all you see is him walking slowly back to recover.

[Jajwanda]

They have to hedge, there is no other way to do it. I understand OKC's big men may have a field day but so be it, I'd rather try to make them miss then allow OKC's perimeter players to play well.

The fortunate thing about hedging is if the big man is going to beat you with open jump shots from the mid-range, it's fine because they won't get a foul call. If one of them can't hit on that pop shot then you're really screwed. I'll take the chance that Nazr or Serge miss their jumpers over K.D. and I know for a fact I can save ridiculous amounts of open threes as well as FTs by doing that.

All that said. I think L.A.'s offense is where they need to pick it up. They need to be scoring 105-110 as Dallas was last season.

[milesfides]

The problem is Bynum is just sagging most of the time, probably a combination of habit, underestimating Durant's own length, and a lack of trust in defensive rotations if he switches.

1. Show Hard and Fast
So Bynum needs to first of all read the screen correctly. Does Artest look like he'll be caught?

Then he needs to show hard and fast. This will at least force the offense to develop one phase further, than giving up the easy pull up for Durant, because that's like a layup for him.

That's what he needs to communicate with Artest, "if I see that it looks like you're caught, don't worry, I'll switch hard on Durant."

2. Block Out the Screener

And if Artest sees Bynum showing hard, his instinct should be to block out Perkins from rolling to the basket, put up an arm to deny the pass.

3. Forcing offense to adapt
Let's say Bynum does that and takes away Durant's jumper. Then, let's say Durant decides to try to drive past Bynum and is able to turn the corner.

This is key: then it's up to the help defense to read this and quickly drop down to help out. Such as Pau dropping down (he should be leaning anyway). If he's late? Then knock Durant or Westbrook on his ass. Nothing dirty, just stop the shot and give him plenty of body contact. Make him think twice about turning that corner.

That'll throw them off their rhythm a little bit.

But let's say Pau cuts off the lane or Durant sees Pau coming and kicks it out to a three-point shooter. Our defense needs to rotate, simple.

That's team defense, everybody needs to be on the same page, and they need to help each other.

It's not going to stop the Thunder, but it's going to prevent them from blowing us out by 30 points. It's going to force them to do more than their first option on every play. We have to force them to adapt and change their game, that's the only way their rhythm jump shots start to miss.

I don't think Westbrook and Durant will miss many of the shots they took yesterday. Those are 1st option plays they run. They practice those a million times. But force them to get cute, and they will start to miss a few.

[Jajwanda]

What do you think of starting Blake and running two simple reads on offense:

1- MWP or Blake brings the ball up finds Bryant, commence Bryant-Gasol P and P
2- The P and P is cut off and Kobe dishes down low to Bynum who can establish position easily with the defense having to adjust for the pick and pop.

Simple no?

I think we can outproduce OKC's true starters by about 2 points a quarter until Harden comes in.

[flowflow99]

What do you think of starting Blake and running two simple reads on offense:

1- MWP or Blake brings the ball up finds Bryant, commence Bryant-Gasol P and P
2- The P and P is cut off and Kobe dishes down low to Bynum who can establish position easily with the defense having to adjust for the pick and pop.

Simple no?

I think we can outproduce OKC's true starters by about 2 points a quarter until Harden comes in.

I like it.

On top of that, move Sessions to the second unit and have him run with Barnes and Hill

[Jajwanda]

In the 19 minutes Ramon Sessions played in his first game the bench produced 31 points. Read that again:

In the first game the Lakers played with Ramon Sessions, with him only playing 19 minutes, Barnes 20, and the big men 24 together-----> 31 points.

OKC's bench average? 31 points with James Harden averaging 34 mpg.

L.A.'s bench improved drastically with Jordan Hill. What do you think happens if L.A. allows Sessions to play his style of ball off the bench?

[Father Time]

An adjustment that NEEDS to be made, imo, is to move Ramon to the bench. This puts Blake with the starters, where he'll be matched up with Thabo and not Harden. His defensive inability is really exposed with the second unit, and this may be a way to mask it. Also, it takes the reins off sessions, giving him more freedom with the bench unit.

[Jajwanda]

Why not make a bench mob while you're at it. Sessions playing freely with Barnes and mediocre big men put up 30 a game. Don't tell me there's no time.

How about PG- Sessions, SG- Goudelock, SF- Barnes, PF- Hill, C- Gasol

Whoever Fisher guards you attack him in the high pick and pop with Pau.

[flowflow99]

Why not make a bench mob while you're at it. Sessions playing freely with Barnes and mediocre big men put up 30 a game. Don't tell me there's no time.

How about PG- Sessions, SG- Goudelock, SF- Barnes, PF- Hill, C- Gasol

Whoever Fisher guards you attack him in the high pick and pop with Pau.

Only thing is Pau is one of the key playmakers for the starters, especially when they run horns

Sessions / Hill pnr would go down well though. Same with Sessions finding Barnes on a cut

[Jajwanda]

All of that is fine stuff. Hill-Bynum is a bit difficult for 8 minutes a game but Hill can hit that J, it just causes a little congestion.

Formula is:

Starters hold the slight average over OKC until Harden comes in
L.A. brings in Sessions to match Harden along with Goudelock when Fisher comes in
Laker closers are better than the OKC closers by a small amount

You're goal is a 105-95 win.

[MAMBAEMD]

Our adjustments need to be on defense:
I agre with Miles points.
I addition I would do two otther things:
1)I would periodically pick them up full court. This does two things, tires them out and makes their guards give up the ball once in while .
If Brown does this, he would need to do lots of substituting because our guys will get tired too.

2)I would also show some zone.
Just shwo them different things to throw them off their game.