LeBron James, the one and only.
Showing us why having an elite ball-handler (On-Ball creator + decision maker) is so important...and why he's still the best at it.
The entire money time/last 5min = no set play, just LeBron switch-hunting.
Does not get better than that.
Victor Wembanyama vs Devin Booker.
• Booker falls running back in transition
• Booker upset, doesn't even look at the ball & just wants a good shove to get back at Vic
• Wemby doesn't care, still gets the off-reb effortlessly
Welcome to the NBA, Devin
Luka Doncic, the one and only, displaying his complete package in this one work of art.
Basketball IQ, passing skills, physical attributes, ball-handling, P&R science/magic, ability to manipulate defenses.
Primary ball-handler with solutions for any problem. Superstar archetype
Ladies and gentlemen : Jevon Carter.
Tremendous motor, great hands, lateral quickness & footwork.
One hell of a NBA debut vs James Harden & Chris Paul :
"At one point we though we were the rookies, and he was welcoming us in the league" (may or may not be a true statement)
The Denver Nuggets went mismatch hunting in the last minutes of Game 6.
They targeted the weak link and started to LouWill-Hunting.
As every Switch-All defense knows it, LAC is only as good as its weakest defender. Can't make up for it everytime.
🔴🎞️🏀THREAD :
Mike Brown's tremendous Game Plan vs GSW & Steve Kerr in Game 1.
How did Brown, Kerr's former assistant, uses his knowledge of GSW's way of doing things to create an important dilemma :
How much can Kevon Looney play in this series ?
Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks are ready for the season to start.
DAL ran the exact same play in back-to-back possessions vs CHA = 2 baskets.
• open corner 3
• easy dunk
Great execution & flow.
LeBron James took matter into his own hands in G4.
On defense this time.
Since Jamal Murray was hitting ridiculous shots one after another, LeBron started guarding him in the final minutes.
LAL was able to either stop Murray or force DEN to create offense through other players
(PART 1/2)
Miami using zone, who you're gonna call ? Zone Busters !
LAL's offense was *spectacular* in G2 (135 Pts/100poss) especially vs zone defense.
Great display of IQ, passing, driving, off-ball gravity & off-rebounding by Rondo, LeBron & AD. Executing Vogel's plan.
THREAD : Luka Doncic's masterpiece vs IND.
One of the very best games he has ever played. Displayed everything that makes him a superstar :
- Passing creativity + size
- Basketball IQ
- Scoring gravity.
Plus this ridiculous pass. Let's start.
Théo Maledon, 19 yo rookie, figures out Brad Stevens's defense like a savy star veteran.
P&R science, patience, skills & nuances, understanding of schemes + adaptability, defenders manipulation...
...in order to get the easiest lay-up of his young career.
Baguette Ball.
Luka Doncic already is one of the very best Pick & Roll passer in the NBA.
Not only can he identify quickly different types of defensive coverages, but he's also able to manipulate defenders in order to create exactly what he wants.
Luka, 19 years old, the mad scientist of P&R.
Lonzo Ball - Ball Hawk.
- incredible instincts & basketball IQ
- size/length + quickness
- Terrific anticipation + reactivity. Reads plays quickly, often seems one step ahead
- Great range
That type of Off-Ball impact isn't common.
Why isn't the Rockets' offense as impressive & elite as last season ?
Part of it is defenses are adapting, willing to use much more aggressive defensive schemes...and manage to get away with it.
Great examples here with DeAndre Jordan playing as a safety vs Harden's ISOs.
🏀🎞️ Inside Luka Doncic's brain.
Same set 3x by Dallas and Doncic. Impressive display of IQ/reads, defenders manipulation and adaptability.
As well as, obviously, some Luka-Magic Passing.
Blake Griffin-Hunting, Nic Claxton defensive IQ & foreshadowing of Bam's buzzer beater.
All in this one play.
As the Heat tries to get the best mismatch possible, Nets do everything they can to prevent it...but end up giving Bam ideas about over-the-defender J's.
Fun Ballin'
Everyone is talking about the very last play but Mike Malone's decision on the previous one is questionable.
Why was Murray on the floor ?
Why leave an easy target for LeBron to go at ? Why no all wing/switch-all line-up ?
LAL attacks Murray = open 3 + off-reb --> AD 3
Brandon Ingram, best passes of 2024 season.
• (secretly ?) one of the NBA's best skip passer to opposite corner. Really great.
• great vision, his cutters
• tremendous size + length = can pass over & around defenders in traffic. Uses it functionally.
• slow pace is a huge
🏀MIKE MALONE's GAME PLAN
🎞️Nuggets vs TWolves G3
After 2G where Minnesota's defense was able to contain Denver's offense & ability to create advantages...Malone came out with great gameplan G3.
Lots of different sets to put Jokic Murray & co in movement and in different spots
Nikola Jokic, the Magician, literally has eyes in the back of his head.
Without even looking at the weakside at all, how can he possibly see the weakside defender helping off the opposite corner, and his teammate suddenly getting open ? How ?
This. Is. F'ing. Ridiculous.
In the Bubble, one team in particular performed really well defensively vs the Lakers : Toronto.
On Aug 1 LAL only scored 88 Pts/100poss, only in the 3rd percentile of all NBA games this season.
How ? Same as MIA in G3 : clogging the paint at all cost...
Tyrese Haliburton is one incredible rookie.
@TyHaliburton22
Unbelievable steal, displaying his great IQ but even more : his amazing instincts for the game.
Not your typical rookie mind. Makes that play like he's a crafty & cerebral 15-years vet.
That's some Ed Reed stuff here.
One of the reasons LAL & MIA are in the Finals : Vogel and Spoelstra are two of the NBA's best coaches.
From earlier this season : this 4 acts "Twirl Lob War".
Scouting, adjustements & counters. Xs&Os battles at its finest.
Great NBA Finals in sight.
Here's another version. Probably the right one (?), i was describing another variation. My bad.
Sorry about that mistake ! But the Peel concept is the same & i think that's the important stuff, not the *actual* set although i wanted to correct it.
I'll do better next time !
Nikola Jokic is making the extraordinary ordinary, games after games.
But make no mistakes : it isn't.
Perfect timing, feathery tough, great variety of passing angles, basketball IQ, floor vision...and even non-vision (anticipation, instincts, the "no-need-to-look" gene)
Kyle Lowry just got to MIA...thus, obviously, so is his go-to set-play : "Horns Flex".
MIA ran it twice :
• 1st play of 1st Half
• 1st play of 2nd Half...with a small adjustment to counter BOS's own adjustment.
Good play-call + execution. Smart vet team already clicking.
🏀🎞️THREAD : James Harden is the system.
Harden doesn't like to go right.
Warriors knew it.
Yet, Harden was still able to beat a great Warriors's defense (6th best since late January, Kuminga starter)...thanks to a couple of tricks.
Here's the secret ⬇️⬇️
You can chose to be amazed by either :
• Luka's adaptability off the dribble
• extremely fast processing
• phenomenal vision
• or even his wrist+elbow biomechanics & ability to find *impossible* passing angles like this.
Or simply by all of the above
Quick note on LeBron's money time vs LAC : to only praise his IQ is not doing him justice.
What makes the mismatch-hunt work = his *complete* On-Ball creation skillset (at high lvl+volume)
It's BOTH : intellectual brilliance while being a great creator.
I don't think it's about the NBA being hard but rather about roles & players profiles.
AD is one of the best (if not the best) ceiling raiser ever.
But he's not an offensive initiator.
He struggles to turn a bad team into a good one but excels at making a good team a great one
Thinking about how good Anthony Davis is and how he still couldn’t do shit in the playoffs until he teamed up with one of the few players better than him. The NBA is hard as hell.
Tyrese Haliburton takes care of everything : if you don't do your job...he definitely will.
Great defensive sequence, calling the play then even showing up to save the day.
Tremendous basketball IQ, awareness & reactivity here.
Haliburton is one special rookie
@TyHaliburton22
Anthony Davis has been incredible on defense so far.
LAC tries to get Kawhi pull-up 3s off P&R :
• Clippers run "Spain" = AD feels RW's backscreen = just enough time & space to shoot
• next play = AD is ready. Elite anticipation/reaction time.
Can't fool him twice
Talen Horton-Tucker's drive vs MIL, a work of art.
Displays 3 strengths making him a great slasher :
• functional strength = drives through contact
• footwork + body control
• finishing skills = touch + great length
Does not get better than this.
Anthony Davis's impact as an off-ball scorer.
On this LeBron drive, look how Bam rotates in time with great awareness & is in position to make a play/protect the rim...
...but then backpedals because of AD's lob threat.
AD's verticality literally created a lay-up for LeBron.
Tremendous "cut assist" by Rajon Rondo.
Right when Crowder doubles AD, Rondo cuts behind him = draws a defender to him = easy kick-out for AD.
Two extra-passes later, LAL gets an open corner 3.
Nothing in the boxscore, but this is all made possible by Rondo's cut & timing.
Great play by Tom Thibodeau vs DET.
Smart ATO set (after time out) as the Knicks use a trick play to catch the Pistons off guard.
Looks like a simple P&R...but turns into a inverted P&R for Julius Randle.
Excellent execution as well.
Act 2 : Great play-call by Frank Vogel to counter Erik Spoelstra's defense.
Knowing Butler would switch any screen before a LeBron P&R, Vogel calls his "Ram Decoy STS Exit" set, a classic of his playbook.
ie : using MIA's focus against them.
Then? Back to savy mismatch-hunting
From earlier this season : the 4 acts "Twirl Lob War" between Lakers and Heat.
Great illustration of how much scouting departements & coaching staffs work on film to get an edge.
Adjustements & counters. Xs&Os battles at its finest.
Lakers executing a good Peel Switch on a Harden ISO.
LAL shouldn't necessary play small-ball this series but can play some high level switch-all sequences when needed.
Here 7s/24 left = LAL doesn't give up anything + forces a tough contested mid-range J
Victor Wembanyama summed up in one play.
• About to do the right play = helps comes to him, so he's ready to make the extra-pass to the open shooter.
• But then...he realizes he's just too big for CamJ = simply shoots over.
Freak Size & IQ. Too easy.
Just a tough (and great) NBA player trying to get physical with a much bigger dude who made him fall so he's both a little upset and trying to make a play on the rebound.
It's just a small, innocent and funny thing. Happens all the time. Fun bball moment, nothing more.
Toronto's No Middle Defense vs the Lakers.
Very agressive helps & stunts to clog the lane and/or crowd the ball...even at the cost of giving up 3s.
Protect the paint.
The one and only, Stephen Curry.
Although he's best known for his *fantastic* shooting, Curry is also a unique superstar.
In today's NBA dominated by heliocentric On-Ball creators, Curry generates offense with phenomenal Off-Ball activitiy.
Crazy cuts.
This one play sums up the Golden State Warriors.
• Curry's gravity = Barnes helps to prevent him from getting the ball
• Draymond sees it = reacts *immediately*
• Poole gets it, great pass
• 3vs2 in transition = open corner 3
Warriors Basketball.
Giannis' gravity is insane.
In order not to let Boston's P&R defense control the game, Milwaukee almost always ran 5-Out sets the whole game.
The main reason : Giannis' ability to draw defenders just by having the ball in his hands was often enough to create space/gaps in the D
LAL loses...but. The bigger lesson here is more important :
Marc Gasol and Wes Matthews are terrific addition for the kind of playoffs level basketball LAL wants to play in round 2, 3 and 4.
Passing, IQ, unselfishness, spacing, off-ball mvmt, decision making on the move, etc.
They played small ball...relative to their usual line-up, sliding the starting 4 to 5.
But technically speaking LAL played skill ball not small ball.
Which is the appeal of small ball = having skilled players. But if you can have size+skills = jackpot.
That's why AD is unique
Kyrie Irving simply being the basketball artist that he is.
Great ball-handling, impeccable footwork, terrific timing, tremendous body control, always on balance.
Like a magician, he uses one hand to draw the attention while the other one is secretly doing the trick.
Luka Doncic's masterpiece was not the only reason the Mavericks beat the Suns on Christmas Day.
Behind Luka's 50 points, the defense stepped up with interesting schemes.
By "Getting There Early" Dallas was able to slow down Devin Booker, Kevin Durant & the Phoenix Suns🏀📽️⬇️
With Andre Drummond playing for LA, Frank Vogel can finally run one of his favorite set-play again :
The Stagger Twirl Lob.
A play he ran a lot last year with Dwight/McGee but couldn't with Marc Gasol (lack of vertical pop)
(LA was even using it frequently under Walton 18-19')
@osamabandsladen
Yes agree, but they also said inbounder weakside, so i guessed this way.
But i may be wrong, there's a ton of variation of "America's Play", Budenholzer loved to use a Big (Horford) getting the first pass in the corner as sort of a pass entry instead of letting a lot of space
(PART 2/2)
Miami using zone, who you're gonna call ? Zone Busters !
More schemes from Vogel and/or great plays by LeBron, AD & Rondo (and others) to hurt MIA's weaknesses in the zone defense.
Impressive.
Quin Snyder took a page out of Bill Belichick's playbook in 4th QT of G2.
Use your best def on the 2nd best off player...& a "weaker" def + help D on the best one :
• PG vs O'Neale
• Kawhi vs Bogdanovic + Gobert
UTH thus managed to contain both LAC's 1st & 2nd option.
Smart
Jaren Jackson Jr is ridiculous.
Other than his huge defensive range and terrific timing to block shots, Jackson may also have one of the (if not the) best hands in the entire NBA.
Casually blocking two dunk attempts, because, you know, that's what he does.
What if...Monty Williams's best Play-Call of G2 wasn't Ayton's alley-oop.
Money-time. LAC only down 3 & PHX hasn't scored in +3min = Monty calls this great ATO.
Fake "Spain P&R", PHX's favourite play...only to trick LAC + run a much easier Veer action.
Now, that's play-calling
Beware of Survivorship Bias :
Pascal Siakam isn't *supposed* to become an elite offensive initiator. Going from role player to this is incredibly rare & difficult.
Just because Kawhi or Butler did it doesn't mean it's the standard. They're the anomaly, not the other way around
The Dwightmare : How Miami went up 23-10 in the 1st QT ?
Heat's gameplan was simple : attack Howard relentlessly on P&R every single time.
They took a 13pts lead in half a QT.
He couldn't contain the ball, protect the rim nor prevent off-boards.
Former 3xDPOY...hunted down.
🏀🎞️Miles McBride's wonderful performance for the New York Knicks vs Stephen Curry & the Golden State Warriors.
Here's the secret : LeBron & Redick's podcast came out literally one day too late.
Kevin Huerter's great P&R passing. (
@KevinHuerter
)
- timing/reactivity + accuracy
- great touch (really great)
- variety of passing angles
- size to pass over the top
- IQ + decision making/reads
- ball-handling + agility & quickness
Not just a shooter.
Why did the Kings changed their offensive identity ? Mike Brown targeted Kevon Looney.
Brown spent the 1st QT scouting Kerr's choices (personnel + P&R coverages used), then it started.
Some examples.
Brad Stevens and the simple Art of Play-Calling.
X's & O's aren't only about complexe schemes with tons of screens, actions & decoys.
It's also about knowing the opponent + how to attack him : simple P&R here...
...but the devil is in the details = the angle of the screen.
Tyler Herro made some really good (even great) passes vs CLE.
Good touch, timing, accuracy, great reads + various passing angles. Very impressive, never looked that comfortable as a BH at Kentucky.
Calipari truly is unique at, well, what he does.
Captivating battle on Feb 12 between Malone & Vogel regarding 2 keys aspects :
The Jokic/Murray P&R + LAL's line-up.
- AD at C = Malone involved him on P&R to get him as far as possible from the rim.
- Vogel's counter = back to PF = able to protect the rim
Will LAL play Big ?
Great example of every Brad Stevens' defensive concepts appearing all at the same time in one frame.
Taking away space, protecting the rim, preventing the ball from going in the middle of the court, etc. Everything wrapped up in this one frame.
Brad's Defense in no joke, folks.
From earlier this season : Mike Malone did his scouting homework.
One of the reasons DEN is in the Conference Finals is the excellent work Malone & his staff are doing on defense. Including : scouting.
Here DEN is able to disrupt 2 of LAL's favourite set-plays.
Job's done.
Matisse Thybulle (
@MatisseThybulle
), best hands in the business.
Great Instincts + discipline + technique + strong & quick hands + hand/eye coordination + reactivity + length + explosiveness & agility + impeccable footwork.
That package does *not* come along very often.
Tyler Herro doesn't have "traditional" athletic abilities like strength, explosiveness & verticality.
Thus he isn't seen as a particulary good athlete.
But he *is* a great one.
His quickness, body control, balance, coordination, agility and nimble feet are extremely impressive
Great play to end QT1...and another way to use Rondo : Short Rolls.
MIA reluctant to give up the mismatch Herro/LeBron = aggressive coverage = creates a 3vs4 elsewhere.
You can actually see the quickness of Rondo's mind scanning the floor/going through his reads.
Surgical.
Terrific defensive sequence from Devin Booker.
Hasn't got taller/quicker, simply puts more effort into it.
Closeout + slides backwards + slides upward + gets his hips through the screen + contests
Was just giving up after one slide not long ago.
Battle of the Eyes :
Tactical manipulation on this P&R between ball-handler Trae Young and weakside defender Matisse Thybulle...
...won by the Sixer.
Great awareness + QI/reactivity + huge range = covers a ton of ground quickly.
An absolute terror in the passing lanes.
Act 3 : basic hunting, again.
No set play on this Out of Bounds, just attacking MIA's worst defender : Duncan Robinson...
...as MIA fights pretty well not to let this happen.
Kuzma misses but yet another great look generated by LAL's offense. Only down 3 now.
Rudy Gobert's ability here to decelerate/change direction for someone that Big is extremely impressive. Great footwork.
Underrated moblity relative to his size. Nimble feet.
Also, he's still tall = deters drive + blocks the shot at the end. Great play Monsieur.
Here's another version. Probably the right one (?), i was describing another variation of BOB STS. My bad.
This one may be better. Sorry about that mistake ! (but the "Peel" concept is exactly the same, and i think that's the most important stuff, not the *actual* set although i
Luka's latest magic trick.
The touch on this pass is *phenomenal* = over Draymond's arm + perfect accuracy/timing on Powell's lob.
We get used to this, but it is incredible pure passing skills.
Here's the podcast, can't wait !
Also, i might be really wrong, just my interpretation of things. I'm not LeBron James and i'm not JJ Redick, so sorry if made mistakes
.
@kingjames
and
@jj_redick
are obsessed with basketball.
Consider their podcast, Mind the Game, a celebration of the sport as they discuss the state of the game, dissect X’s and O’s (like they do here), and wax poetic about the game they love.
Fantastic drive by Jamal Murray.
His improvements to become a high level primary initiator have been extremely impressive.
Here, displays both his IQ & ability to read+manipulate defenders, as well as his craft & dynamic moves with the ball.
Doesn't get much better than this.
Great illustration of Jaylen Brown's improvements as an On-Ball creator.
Uses what's becoming one of his favorite move : between-the-legs crossover + split stance.
Excellent ball-handling & coordination. Creates separation wonderfully vs a good defender.
Impressive.
Nick Nurse went to his go-to-set on a SOB.
Decoy DHO at the Elbow + Hammer screen on the other side of the floor...with a FVV<-->OG permutation.
Kemba/Grant switch on the permutation + Theis keeps an eye on Lowry = wide open corner 3 for FVV.
Great defensive possession by MIA vs a Jayson Tatum ISO.
The Heat was playing aggressively in G1 to take away his dangerous pull-up 3 and force him to drive inside where other Heat players can help.
Great job here by Crowder puting pressure + Butler with the Peel Switch.