The Problem Why Seth and Green are Struggling
Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2020 1:25 pm
With 3pt shooting increasingly gaining power. Most teams have a defensive scheme to stay with the shooters. We implemented the same kind of scheme with Udoka last season.
Seth and Green are very good catch and shoot players. They are great playing with guys like LBJ or Doncic that can suck the defenders into the blackhole.
The problem is we are not generating enough good looks for them (not saying we generate 0 good looks but just not enough). Most evidently, Seth can’t even take his shots off with our starters. You also see Danny Green needing to dribble and run some weak PnR because defenders can easily close him out. This is also why Tobi is passing up those 3s, and the fact that he’s on a slump (also his fault) just makes this worse.
Why would you have your perimeter defenders help out both their teammates in the paint defending Biid and Ben? Ben’s man can help out on Biid and the other way around. Kind of having two goalies below the rim.
I see us running the “snug pick and roll” with Biid and Ben, the pick and roll i mentioned we should be running with Biid and Ben. But defense can just switch it or just go under it and that would be a good defense rather than giving up open shots for curry or green. It can work on low volume but it wont work for a high volume of possessions.
One solution to solve this is to bench Danny Green for Shake Milton. Shake has proven he can be the team’s 3rd or even the 2nd best scorer. In our first game against the Wiz, our line-up of Seth, Shake, Ben, Tobi and Biid had like +70 NetRtg. Our sets down the stretch shows we can generate really good offense with this 5 man unit.
Then for bench play, we have to rely on Maxey’s PnR with Kork and Seth’s shooting on offense. While Green and/or Thybulle can provide the necessary perimeter defense. FWIW, we run a lot of Shake-Maxey-Kork at the 1-2-3 positions last night and that allowed us to get back into the game.
But still, that solution could just be a temporary band aid and may not be potent enough to outscore elite offensive or elite defensive teams.
Let Shake initiate the offense and create good catch and shoot opportunities for Seth and Tobi.
Let Maxey initiate the offense and create good catch and shoot opportunities for Kork and Green.
You then can harness the power of the 1-5 PnR. We saw during the bubble how unstoppable it is with the Mitchell-Murray duel. What makes it unstoppable is it generates an unswitchable 4v5 situation. The PG will always have an open mid range jumper even if he’s being guarded by an elite perimeter defender like Ben who is erased by the screen of the center.
It wont just be a line-up change but also a role change. We need to increase Shake and Maxey’s role in this PnR offense of Doc.
Long story short:
The Ben and Biid fit won’t be solved just by placing them with shooters. They need guys who can be elite off the ball like JJ or Beli or guys who can shoot at a high release like Dario and Roco.
A part of it is because defenders have their power forward and center both play goalie around the rim so they dont need to overcommit and call help from a perimeter defender.
A part of it is because defense in 2020 is about staying with the shooters.
Seth and Green are very good catch and shoot players. They are great playing with guys like LBJ or Doncic that can suck the defenders into the blackhole.
The problem is we are not generating enough good looks for them (not saying we generate 0 good looks but just not enough). Most evidently, Seth can’t even take his shots off with our starters. You also see Danny Green needing to dribble and run some weak PnR because defenders can easily close him out. This is also why Tobi is passing up those 3s, and the fact that he’s on a slump (also his fault) just makes this worse.
Why would you have your perimeter defenders help out both their teammates in the paint defending Biid and Ben? Ben’s man can help out on Biid and the other way around. Kind of having two goalies below the rim.
I see us running the “snug pick and roll” with Biid and Ben, the pick and roll i mentioned we should be running with Biid and Ben. But defense can just switch it or just go under it and that would be a good defense rather than giving up open shots for curry or green. It can work on low volume but it wont work for a high volume of possessions.
One solution to solve this is to bench Danny Green for Shake Milton. Shake has proven he can be the team’s 3rd or even the 2nd best scorer. In our first game against the Wiz, our line-up of Seth, Shake, Ben, Tobi and Biid had like +70 NetRtg. Our sets down the stretch shows we can generate really good offense with this 5 man unit.
Then for bench play, we have to rely on Maxey’s PnR with Kork and Seth’s shooting on offense. While Green and/or Thybulle can provide the necessary perimeter defense. FWIW, we run a lot of Shake-Maxey-Kork at the 1-2-3 positions last night and that allowed us to get back into the game.
But still, that solution could just be a temporary band aid and may not be potent enough to outscore elite offensive or elite defensive teams.
Let Shake initiate the offense and create good catch and shoot opportunities for Seth and Tobi.
Let Maxey initiate the offense and create good catch and shoot opportunities for Kork and Green.
You then can harness the power of the 1-5 PnR. We saw during the bubble how unstoppable it is with the Mitchell-Murray duel. What makes it unstoppable is it generates an unswitchable 4v5 situation. The PG will always have an open mid range jumper even if he’s being guarded by an elite perimeter defender like Ben who is erased by the screen of the center.
It wont just be a line-up change but also a role change. We need to increase Shake and Maxey’s role in this PnR offense of Doc.
Long story short:
The Ben and Biid fit won’t be solved just by placing them with shooters. They need guys who can be elite off the ball like JJ or Beli or guys who can shoot at a high release like Dario and Roco.
A part of it is because defenders have their power forward and center both play goalie around the rim so they dont need to overcommit and call help from a perimeter defender.
A part of it is because defense in 2020 is about staying with the shooters.
Spoiler: