What's new
By:

NBA Playbook: Who Will Run The Pick & Roll With Deron Williams? And How?

One thing the writer doesn't mention is that Jefferson didn't run the pick and roll much in Minnesota. Wasn't a big part of the offense, nor was Deron Williams a part of the offense. Playing it well will be a requirement in Utah, as is Deron Williams, so I would imagine Jefferson will be more efficient in the pick and roll this year.

And the Jazz offense is incredibly dynamic, so it won't be hard to implement Jefferson's strengths. As I've said before, they'll run more 4 cross plays and fewer high post plays for Jefferson.
 
I agree, Mr. Stern, players do adjust. The Jazz were great with Millsap/Okur two years ago when Boozer was out. Millsap was getting his double-doubles and Memo was hitting 60% of his 3's on the pick and pop.

What I also remember is how many times Boozer would get the ball, try to back down his opponent with useless fakes and butt wiggles and then turn right into the defender(s) and have the ball stripped. I don't see that happening with Jefferson. He'll turn and plow right to the hoop in those situations.

Let's just start the season already!!!
 
this is a great visual depiction of exactly why i'm slightly worried. "worried" might be overboard, but i'm not as geeked about the al era as most fans. first of all, let's dispense the notion that millsap is a good pick and roll player. he actually is not, which is why the jazz rarely run it for him. the data at this site shows why. he's even worse as a pick-and-pop guy. the writer here seems to conclude that he'd be a better pick-and-pop option than jefferson because his percentage is better from 16 feet out... but we all watch the jazz and we know that pretty much of of those come from the jab-step, fade-back move in the post.

honestly, i think it's memo, not sap or jefferson, who will benefit the most from PNR situations. memo's the only guy who the defense is going to have to guess on every play what he wants to do -- because he can roll in, step back, he's better at finding cutters than either paul or al. honestly, memo could really return to a more prominent role this year. which is encouraging on one hand, but on the other hand it's kind of unnerving since his achilles currently looks like it's been the victim of a meat tenderizer.

let's not overlook the possibility of AK playing big, either.
 
David Stern said:
Didn't read. But players can adjust.. so its obviously going to be high pick and rolls with Memo/AK, or pick and pops. The pick and rolls to the basket will be Millsap/Jefferson/AK
Click to expand...

That is theeeeeee best way to start a response post. I'm going to use that in the future.
 
GlassEater said:
I agree, Mr. Stern, players do adjust. The Jazz were great with Millsap/Okur two years ago when Boozer was out. Millsap was getting his double-doubles and Memo was hitting 60% of his 3's on the pick and pop.

What I also remember is how many times Boozer would get the ball, try to back down his opponent with useless fakes and butt wiggles and then turn right into the defender(s) and have the ball stripped. I don't see that happening with Jefferson. He'll turn and plow right to the hoop in those situations.

Let's just start the season already!!!
Click to expand...

It also helps that Deron Williams is the PG, not Johnny Flynn
 
In fact, for me they only demonstrate how much better Jefferson will probably be now in P&R situations now that he has an all-world facilitator at his disposal.
 
....no question that Boozer ran a great pick and roll with Deron. That being said, pick and rolls are or should be basic basketball offense 101 on EVERY team in the league...and generally are! Hopper types tend to shy away from them....but eventually the coach gets through and tells them: We can do it your way (the HARD way!) or we can do it the easy, most effective, highest percentage way (the pick and roll) and win more games!
 
I did read it and liked it. I'd like to see more jazz plays diagramed so I can "Understand just what (the jazz) are trying to accomplish."

But I had to laughwhen I read the conclusion: Obviously looking at the evidence, Paul Millsap should be the man that runs the pick and roll with Deron Williams for the majority of the season.

Doesn't that pretty much gaurentee that Sloan will use this combination the least?

Back a few pages from the link is a breakdown with video of Gordon Hayward at the summer league. He says Flash has good instincts and IQ, will play better with better players, but is limited by lack of quickness.
 
Last edited:
The thing that makes me laugh about analysis like this is it doesn't take into account adaptation of the Jazz's coaching staff to their roster. The Jazz offense has for the most part been the same for the last 20+ years, but as we've gotten more athletic, Sloan has made changes. Now that we have Jefferson, I am sure there will be adjustments again, some on Jefferson's part and some on the part of the x's and o's.

Why do these sites assume that Sloan is just going to throw his hands in the air and not be able to adapt?
 
This stat surprised me:

"The pick and roll plays an important part of the Utah Jazz’s offense. According to Synergy Sports, they run it about 10.6% of the time on offense, and are pretty successful at it, especially when it came to finding the roll man in positions to score."

I've never tried to "keep count" but 9 out of 10 plays are NOT PnR with the Jazz. If forced to guess, I mighta said 25-35%. Maybe I just notice and remember them more.
 
mellow said:
I did read it and liked it. I'd like to see more jazz plays diagramed so I can "Understand just what (the jazz) are trying to accomplish."

But I had to laughwhen I read the conclusion: Obviously looking at the evidence, Paul Millsap should be the man that runs the pick and roll with Deron Williams for the majority of the season.

Doesn't that pretty much gaurentee that Sloan will use this combination the least?

Back a few pages from the link is a breakdown with video of Gordon Hayward at the summer league. He says Flash has good instincts and IQ, will play better with better players, but is limited by lack of quickness.
Click to expand...

You can't read, don't lie.
 
It's funny how this article is so intense about breaking down the new pick and roll era for Utah and so many Jazz fans bring it up, yet 89.4% of the time the Utah Jazz are running something else. As I've said in a few other threads, Utah is in the middle of the NBA when it comes to the amount of pick and rolls ran. It's a big misconception that it's still the bread and butter of Utah's offense. With that being said, I'm not concerned about it when Utah is running it. Al Jefferson had a good conversion rate while running the pick and roll in Minny. He just wasn't asked to do it often. It's going to be ok.

Also, Darkwing mentioned something that I think we can all look forward too: Utah is going to be doing a ton more of the 4 cross screens for Jefferson. That was a staple when Malone was here and will once again play a major part of the Utah offense.
 
Hopper said:
This stat surprised me:

"The pick and roll plays an important part of the Utah Jazz’s offense. According to Synergy Sports, they run it about 10.6% of the time on offense, and are pretty successful at it, especially when it came to finding the roll man in positions to score."

I've never tried to "keep count" but 9 out of 10 plays are NOT PnR with the Jazz. If forced to guess, I mighta said 25-35%. Maybe I just notice and remember them more.
Click to expand...

I think a more accurate statement is only 1 in 10 plays end in an pick and roll.
 
....I suspect Hayward and Deron will also run a nice pick and roll or pick and pop....Hayward certainly has the brains to know what to do and when to do it, don't ya think "hopper".... my main man?
 
carolinajazz said:
....I suspect Hayward and Deron will also run a nice pick and roll or pick and pop....Hayward certainly has the brains to know what to do and when to do it, don't ya think "hopper".... my main man?
Click to expand...

Yeah, CJ, I aint never seen that Honzward boy play, but I gots high hope for his white ***. Deron could probably work good with most anybuddy who aint plumb stoopid, even if they aint got no tats, I figure.
 
I wonder if the 10.6% pick and role is low because it doesn't account for all the options that are run off that first pick. For instance if the player pops out instead of rolls. Or when the big comes to the top of the key, as if to pick, then opens to recieve a pass- deron makes the entry pass and the big swings around to look for cutters.

I wonder what percentage of plays are centered on the pf?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page
Back
Top