Not sharing much today - I haven't read many of the other threads but I'm sure they've covered most of this:
EDIT: Here is what I was talking about regarding the screen and roll and not aggressively hedging but rather dropping so you could deter the drive while still defending the roller with a big instead of a guard - especially since Kofi is no risk to flare and hit a 3 like Garza is:
https://www.sbnation.com/2014/4/18/5601402/nba-pick-and-roll-defense-playoffs-2014
The preferred pick and roll strategy of many NBA teams, especially those with large, immobile big men or an active analytics department. On middle or high pick and rolls especially, the screener's man (again, almost always a big man) doesn't come out and play the pick and roll. Instead, he essentially plays a one man zone at the elbow area of the key or even a little deeper, patrolling the high paint. The big should be able to contain further penetration by the ball handler while giving up the mid-range pull-up jump shot, seen as the least efficient attempt in the game. (DHP - note in the image that the defender goes OVER the screen to chase the ball handler downhill and take away the 3 point shot as I mentioned.)
This is how the Indiana Pacers play the pick and roll. Up until recently, they were better than anyone.
- Iowa's last two losses were for the same 2 reasons imo:
- Their post player was too big and too good for our weak side pick and roll help to handle (Kofi, Dickenson)
- Teams run that high pick and roll with Garza's person, and Iowa has Garza switch for 1-2 seconds until the other player can recover off of the screen. This places the responsibility of the roller onto the weak side defender - who the other team can predetermine as well if they want simply by who they put on the weak side. It could be Bohannon, for example. Against Wisconsin Iowa could use this scheme because their post players can be slowed down by someone like Wieskamp long enough for Garza to recover. Kofi is too big and simply just devours those defenders before Garza can get there, and even when Garza gets there he can't block his shot from behind like he can some others.
- IMO I would have changed how Iowa handled the high screen and roll JUST for situations involving Garza, and have him switch on the screen but sag instead of catch the ball handler as high as he did. The other Iowa player would go OVER all those screens to deny the quick 3 point shot and to chase the guard into the paint. Garza can retreat as the player attacks the paint but in doing so it allows him to guard the roller as well. This scheme may give up some 10-15 foot floaters but imo would be better than what Illinois was getting with the other scheme. Moving to zone was the other option, and it helped slightly, but we couldn't make up the gap that was created due to the next point.......
- Their post player was too big for Garza to be efficient inside and our offense struggled a bit
- Garza was ok facing up to these defenders, but with his back to the basket struggled heavily, often trying to use a 2nd or 3rd move when I thought he should have gone with his main move - the one he uses against every other defender. His issue, imo, is one I've stated before: his hook shot isn't a full hook, but he rotates his shooting hand toward the defender a bit making it able to be contested by the centers. So when he faces a bigger center, he doesn't use his primary shot but rather tries his counters which didn't work in either game. For the NBA, he needs to adjust his hook so he can keep his shoulder and shot angle at 90 degrees to the defender and not bring the ball forward like he does.
- Their post player was too big and too good for our weak side pick and roll help to handle (Kofi, Dickenson)
- Illinois is clearly a 1 seed type of team, along with a healthy Michigan. It's unfortunate that Iowa put together a once in 20 years type of team and then had these two teams appear the same season. Kofi is the key to Illinois, not Ayo. We could have handled Illinois by 10 points without Kofi, but he's playing better the back half of the season and he didn't get into foul trouble like he did in our first matchup.
- Overall I thought the rest of the team played ok in stretches, but everyone had a few mistakes that kept us from being closer. The refs swallowed their whistles for a stretch during a couple of shooting fouls or jump balls that didn't get called. We weren't physical enough in loose ball situations at times and I thought Illinois did a good job of being athletic, physical and well prepared.
- Joe T continues to be a tough play, for me. I think each time he comes in we keep thinking the result might be different but it's a bit like Charlie Brown kicking the football for me. I'll be more optimistic next season after another offseason, but within the season it's hard to make the changes that would have to be made to make this click as it's mostly mental. When he turns the corner on defenders we continue to see the same outcomes: Pick up dribble and travel; Contested layup where he either tries a reverse or hits the defender with his should and double clutches shooting on his way down; turn around 10 foot faceaway shot, or a successful pass. It's ironic that I think I've seen Bohannon with much less athleticism score more baskets attacking the rim with his finess releases than I have from Joe T who always tries to highpoint his finish and lacks the finess options. I'd expect him to have a lot more layups off dribble drive given his speed and phsyicality. I love the kid though and his energy on the bench - hes a great teammate.
- Joe W is becoming better on his drives at being able to score. He's still not great, but we commented on his lack of being able to score ofd the bounce earlier this season and getting blocked quite a bit, and it's gotten better. He drove in against a center yesterday I believe and got parallel to them and put a shoulder into them off a jump stop, then elevated and banked it in over the much bigger player. That one stuck out to me.
- Iowa should be a 2 still, I think, as their only losses in this stretch are to 1 seeds and they beat OSU in this same stretch, so no argument can be made about recent play. They could argue SOS, but the NET and Kenpom and all other rankings already take SOS into consideration so it feels like double counting to me. They should only consider factors NOT including in the algorithm's rather than trying to weight them twice - like they do with Quad 1 and Quad 2 win comparisons for example. Comes across as just an excuse for humans to jerk around with the objective, quantified results. Change the NET algorithm in the offseason if you want, but don't mess with the results unless there are extenuating circumstances imo.
- Good regular season by Fran and the Team. Started ranked 5th, went into yesterday ranked 5th, and made some good ajdustments during the season - including getting our defense into the Top 60. Looking forward to NOT getting in Gonzaga's bracket (Baylor's would be the best match I think) and avoiding teams with 7'0 dominant centers lol. Will be nervous until we get to the Sweet 16 but then may be able to relax and let it all ride.
EDIT: Here is what I was talking about regarding the screen and roll and not aggressively hedging but rather dropping so you could deter the drive while still defending the roller with a big instead of a guard - especially since Kofi is no risk to flare and hit a 3 like Garza is:
https://www.sbnation.com/2014/4/18/5601402/nba-pick-and-roll-defense-playoffs-2014
The preferred pick and roll strategy of many NBA teams, especially those with large, immobile big men or an active analytics department. On middle or high pick and rolls especially, the screener's man (again, almost always a big man) doesn't come out and play the pick and roll. Instead, he essentially plays a one man zone at the elbow area of the key or even a little deeper, patrolling the high paint. The big should be able to contain further penetration by the ball handler while giving up the mid-range pull-up jump shot, seen as the least efficient attempt in the game. (DHP - note in the image that the defender goes OVER the screen to chase the ball handler downhill and take away the 3 point shot as I mentioned.)
This is how the Indiana Pacers play the pick and roll. Up until recently, they were better than anyone.
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