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Van gundy gives X's & O's of how to defend the top plays used from the top teams. Fascinating Stuff

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008 ... 8pl&emc=pl

awesome. makes you feel like you're in a real practice getting ready for a specific team. good find.

Yeah, I love this X's & O's stuff.

very informative.

good find. i like the fastbreak one 'slowing down the suns' or now known as 'trade for shaq'

Nice, i like isolation on kobe

now that was entertaining

good find

I was more impressed with the multimedia experience than the actual content, which was a little too simplified.

Like the Suns high s/r with Amare, JVG didn't mention how quickly Amare could roll to the basket before the secondary defenders could collapse on him. They might play soft on Amare, but the Suns are a terrific 3-point shooting team for a reason. Also, Amare has developed that midrange jumper well enough to make a legitimate weapon - he's shooting that jumper at a high percentage. You can't stop that s/r, the Spurs didn't either. The Spurs beat the Suns by outscoring them, I think they scored at least 110 points in 3 out of 4 of their victories against the Suns. That S/R is devastating, and the way to overcome it is by exploiting the Suns' own defensive problems.

The Freeze-Out on Kobe is exactly what teams do, but beyond his ability to pass and his teammates reliability in hitting shots, Kobe can do things like split the double team, draw the foul, force his way to the basket.

The double team defense against Yao is actually fairly effective, I think because Houston's three-point shooting isn't as good as it should be. They take among the most 3's in the league, many of them created by Yao kicking it back out, but they're among the league's worst at converting. But they win games due to their stingy defense, among the league's best.

In sum, I think these are pretty neat, but I'd rather see diagrams and commentaries on how the best defenses play defense, rather than how defenses try to stop (and usually fail) against good offense.

That's some weak D on Kobe

LOL

Good theory - But I don't think Van Gundy's Rockets actually stopped Kobe? He always has big games against them.

Well there's a difference between knowing what you have to do and executing what you have to do.

Exactly.

Half the players in the league tend to zone out on defense. They don't rotate as well as they should. They're a step slow on the double team.

Great piece, by the way. Van Gundy should do a lot more of those. I'd also like to see Hubie Brown doing some as well.