Watched some more of the game vs the Spurs.
2nd quarter was hard to watch.
Reserves really broke down under the pressure and committed a ton of TOs during initiation of plays. Really sloppy. The ridiculous shooting %s from Q1 dropped off naturally as less clear shooting opportunities could be generated. Probably had a lot to do with certain starters sitting that draw more attention.
The scheme we run is very PnR reliant. If we fail to attack and cause rotations the possessions look ugly as there's little "oomph - where did he just come from" moments. Sometimes there's not even a guy outside to reset the possessions.
For that system to work you need attackers who generate those rotations and smart guys who move into open space. The 2nd part is not that hard as the places where help can come from are limited so it's more on the ballhandlers to recognize the help and draw conclusions.
Third quarter the shooting was still down at a normal rate when you look at the quality of looks, but other than Exum forcing it at times the offense was more organized compared to Q2.
We started with Lyles in place of Favors and you'd see the extra spacing he provided. Even when the screens weren't really good they still forced different rotations and generated space for him popping out. He just happened to miss semi contested looks.
5th possession into the half the Jazz showed something new. Out of the default opening, Hill handed it to Rudy at the top, then cut straight towards the basket. Johnson cut into the paint from the left corner towards the right, Hill and he crossed, Hill continues a "around the world", runs over the screen from Lyles on the left wing, receives a handoff from Rudy who screens Tony off of him. Both Gasol and Tony follow Hill who has such an advantage he coul finish with an easy layup. If it wasn't Gasol switching on him but a faster guy like DeAndre, Rudy was backscreening LaMarcus(Lyles man), who had rotated inside on Rudy after Gasol and Tony were trying to stop Hill. That would have allowed an open three for Lyles who shifting from the left wing into the left corner. On the strong side after the handoff, Hood shifted from the right corner to the right wing and Johnson who crossed form the left to the right corner also had his defender stick on him like glue.
Beautiful execution, I wish we run more plays of that kind.
Early 4th quarter when reserves were playing on both sides, miscommunication in the PnR defense against Ingles gave 5 quick points from range to create a small cushion. Both teams played small, the Spurs had Lee at Center vs Withey which made the PnR easier for the Jazz as rim protection lacked and once the Jazz got crossmatches they preferred they wanted to attack them with less help available. Mack was really bad at finding teammates when he drives. Good by the Spurs to help really aggressively on him.
With 7 to go we brought the starters back, but kept Ingles as our small 4, who drove on Aldridge right away successfully. Beat him off the dribble, forced rotations and found the open guy on the wing(unlike Mack) who gave it over to Johnson who shot over a Leonard closeout.
Rest of the 4th quarter was again basic stuff. After we got punished for the small lineup, Ingles left and Lyles returned. We ran basic PnR with Hill, who brought the lead back with 2 PnR plays (1 shielded three and then crossing the lanes after turning the corner, fading away from the Gasol switch - tough bucket) and followed it up with Parker and Gasol sleeping in transition.
Spurs couldn't comeback and with a crucial miscommunication after a timeout a surprised Hood caught it, they pushed it in transition, none covered Lyles in the corner and his open 3 practically sealed it with 90 sec to play.
Another noteworthy thing is that they try to isolate Johnson whenever he has a smaller guy switched on him. He's crafty bullying smaller guys on the block.
I really like Hill's ability to shift gears after using a screen. He's got a great handle with his size, when he jails guys they're in insane trouble.
Another thing I like is that he sometimes tries to switch lanes after a screen. You think he's running into the roll guy's(Rudy's) lane but it's definitely by design that Rudy adjusts when he does it and dives delayed. You gotta help hard on Rudy because when Hill's ahead he can create really easy lob angles(When the ball comes slightly towards you it's really easy to catch without adjusting your body and losing height/momentum mid-air), even though the result more often an open three because the Spurs zero'd in on denying Rudy the ball near the basket. The late dives also mean the help moves inside just when Rudy starts to slash, making it nearly impossible to close out to the weak side corner in time.
Overall I think we shot well above average considering how inconsistent we were creating opportunities, but I think once Hayward (and Burks in 2019, rip) returns we'll get more good looks.
I wanna watch Hood get more and better touches against a weaker defender sometime soon. Leonard is crazy.