RealGM

Hey Kings fans, I took a look at the Kings P&R defense and their approach. I point out some very fixable issues I am seeing. I think it revolves more around the coaching philosophy more than the individual performance. Let me know what you think and thanks for watching.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL6EkaAmm34[/youtube]

Great break down. Ice is definitely the way to go. The league has figured out that hyper-active hedging gimmick that Miami liked to run during the Lebron Era.

I'm tempted to lock this since promoting your own work is generally discouraged, but that was an informative video that can spark a good discussion, and I was thinking about starting a discussion on the Kings' defense anyway.

bleeds_purple wrote:Great break down. Ice is definitely the way to go. The league has figured out that hyper-active hedging gimmick that Miami liked to run during the Lebron Era.

Now, when will teams figure out the Spurs method of stopping the Heats pick and roll game? I'm telling you a team that can switch pick and rolls in this era is going to give most sloppy PnR teams fits. The Warriors do quite a bit of it as well and it's helped them into the number 1 defensive spot.

The link isn't there so I don't know what the vid shows but I've always been a fan of the way Chuck Hayes played it when Westphal was here. He'd hedge out but rarely beyond the point of no return and then simply place himself in the space in between both players on the way back. Now he has the advantage of quick feet and hands so if a team tries to force that pass he stands a good chance of knocking it away and I understand most bigs aren't that same kind of threat but it's a pretty simple and effective scheme and doesn't involve overhelping. Hayes and Tyson Chandler are two of the best pick and roll defending bigs in the league and they understand the floor spacing better than anyone out there. Icing is probably one of the better styles but it really gives up a lot of pick and pop action and a lot of guards in their attempt to move the ball handler away from the screen can get confused and subsequently owned if the opposing guard is looking to attack or can hit jumpers over the top.

SacKingZZZ wrote:

bleeds_purple wrote:Great break down. Ice is definitely the way to go. The league has figured out that hyper-active hedging gimmick that Miami liked to run during the Lebron Era.

Now, when will teams figure out the Spurs method of stopping the Heats pick and roll game? I'm telling you a team that can switch pick and rolls in this era is going to give most sloppy PnR teams fits. The Warriors do quite a bit of it as well and it's helped them into the number 1 defensive spot.

The link isn't there so I don't know what the vid shows but I've always been a fan of the way Chuck Hayes played it when Westphal was here. He'd hedge out but rarely beyond the point of no return and then simply place himself in the space in between both players on the way back. Now he has the advantage of quick feet and hands so if a team tries to force that pass he stands a good chance of knocking it away and I understand most bigs aren't that same kind of threat but it's a pretty simple and effective scheme and doesn't involve overhelping. Hayes and Tyson Chandler are two of the best pick and roll defending bigs in the league and they understand the floor spacing better than anyone out there. Icing is probably one of the better styles but it really gives up a lot of pick and pop action and a lot of guards in their attempt to move the ball handler away from the screen can get confused and subsequently owned if the opposing guard is looking to attack or can hit jumpers over the top.

There's a lot of variables in play of course. If you can get away with switching (especially toward the end of the shot clock) that's the best move. Another consideration is who are the players in the pick and roll. The less of a threat the screener is to shoot the more his man can drop back to defend the ball handler. And like you say really smart bigs have an acute sense of exactly where to position but in my mind they are still employing ice principles for the most part rather than hedging. Cousins is really good at holding that in-between position.

Its interesting watching pick and roll defense develop and the counters to that defense develop as time progresses.