I am reaching the Jazz Thunder game and the Thunder is just suffocating the post and the Jazz have become a totally dependent on the outside shot.

Look at this screen shots and see where all 5 Thunder defenders are placed. This makes you a jump shooting team. The answer is to penetrate and kick and then penetrate and kick again but that is not our style of team.

FILM STUDY
Reviewing the final 6 minutes

Randy Foye has just hit a three off a Millsap offensive rebound to make the game 86-84 C’s

86-84 6:00 – Jazz defend initial action perfectly, C’s move into high pick roll , Jefferson slides down with Garnett forcing him to bail on shot leaves it up top for Sullinger who calmly hits a 16 footer. Nice play by the C’s

88-84 5:34 – High pick and roll with Mo and Favors. Mo throws nice skip pass to Millsap who drives and misses the runner.

88-84 5:12 – Pick and roll from left elbow with Green and Garnett. Jazz astutely switch it and Favors ends up on Green, Green misses 16 foot jumper over Favors

88-84 4:57 – Jefferson left block on Sullinger. Jefferson misses, Jazz rebound kick out to Mo who drives finds Jefferson who slides between two defenders to score

88-86 4:34 – Celtics run same Green/Garnett pick and roll and isolate Green on left wing on Favors he drives, super defense by Favors but Millsap comes down reaches in and fouls him. Millsap played defense with hands not sliding feet. Green to the line.
Celtics bring Pierce in for Lee and Bass in for Sullinger

90-86 4:09 – Big Al guarded by Garnett catches high left block and makes a terrific pass to a cutting Millsap for a lay-up

90-88 3:49 – Green posts up on Foye and Foye fouls and Favors goaltends. Jazz get caught with Foye on Green and Favors shouldn’t have goaltended. Little plays that matter. Lot wrong on this play. This is the real defensive killer of the night. Help from the top was late to Foye on the mismatch.

Hayward in for Foye

93-88 3:37 – Left block on Al slides inside three defenders to the rim and scores. Guarded by KG.

93-90 3:15 – Pierce mid block right guarded by Hayward – Pierce turns it over

93-90 3:07 – Mo and Big Al play pick and roll – Jefferson catches in the lane on the roll and is fouled and makes one of two free throws

93-91 2:53 – Barbosa pick and roll with Pierce super defense from Jazz suffocate Barbosa force bad pass that is knocked out of bounds – 7 on shot clock for C’s Jefferson nice defense to cut off initial drive of Pierce and get back to Bass forcing pass to left baseline to KG who misses over Favors

93-91 2:26 – 1st chance to tie – Mo poor pick and roll with Favors jacks a long three with 5 on the shot clock with Barbosa in his face, Jefferson offensive rebound. Second try Hayward roll of Jefferson to the right baseline flairs back to Jefferson who nails a 16 foot jumper. TIE GAME

93-93 1:58 left – Pierce goes 1 on 1 on a ton action on Hayward and misses driving layup. Great job by Hayward going one removed through the screens to stay with Pierce

93-93 1:37 left – 1st chance to lead – well executed. Millsap sets cross screen on Jefferson then comes up to top off Favors screen for top of the key jumper with :10 on shot clock. Millsap is the 3 at this point this is his play. Misses the shot.

93-93 1:20 left – Hayward denies Pierce drive – swings out to Bass who finds Green left corner. Millsap close out is only ok. Green able to penetrate and drive middle. Defense collapses, hand off to Garnett who is fouled. Millsap being asked to guard out at the three point line. Garnett makes 1 of 2

94-93 1:11 left – 2nd chance to lead – Mo and Favors pick and roll. Mo takes step back 17 footer with 16 on clock. Nothing about the play has broken down. Still lots of options. Hayward wide open on left side for skip pass.

94-93 :50 left – Pick and roll Pierce and Garnett. Pierce rolls left Favors shadows as Pierce goes to shot Hayward takes away shooting pocket forces pass back to KG, Favors recovers and KG misses contested shot.

94-93 :38.7 left – Could play 2 for 1 with quick hitter – timeout at 32.3 with 18 on shot clock. Nice play but slow developing – Mo runs initial pick and roll with Favors. Mo and Derrick aren’t connecting on pick placement and drive very well. Mo rolls right Bass stays with Mo and Favors dives to basket Bass able to recover. Jefferson pops to left elbow for pass, Mo comes by for handoff and rub. Great defense by Celtics. KG steps back allowing Barbosa to get through. Textbook. Mo tries to turn the corner but Barbosa is there. Mp runs out of real estate and throws up a baseline prayer.

94-93 :19.5 – because play took so long Jazz have to foul. Pierce makes both free throws

96-93 :19.5 – inbound to Millsap at the top. He drives on Green beats him nicely but as he goes to the rim he feigns away from Garnett who in a 3 point game would never foul Millsap and Sap misses the lay-up. Ball game.

Observations
• Defense was amazing – Jefferson played defense well and Hayward and Favors were world class

• Offense didn’t get good looks and lost Jefferson. His last left block play was at 3:37

• Millsap at the 3 was a problem in this sequence the big line-up is nice but it has flaws and they were exposed in this stretch. You are asking Millsap do entirely different things than he has ever been asked and it is just hitting shots. It is closing out, playing off the bounce, shooting off screens not as a spot up, etc.

• The real killer is the one possession where Foye gets caught as a mouse in the house and and Favors goal tends

• Mo took three shots – 1 was a late shot clock three – one was great defense by the Celtics and the other was a force trying to make a play to early in the clock with a lot of options.

WHAT HAVE SPURS DONE TO AL JEFFERSON

Film: Game 2 v. Spurs

1st Quarter
Starting lineup
AL gets touch up top on handoff to Devin no chance to make impact.
Al gets pushed off block by Duncan. Comes out for pick and roll with Harris gets ball on pocker pass at free throw line passes to Millsap.
Terrible outlet pass for a turnover
No touch
Gets ball mid block left side, Duncan swipes at it when he straightens up, then bumps and back. Duncan 1 on 1 defense. Al awkward fading shot to the middle. Miss
Touch at left elbow. Passes. Never fights to be part of the play
Catch high block left side, straightens up, Duncan swipes puts back to Duncan works to middle fades and misses. Duncan 1 on 1
Hayward quick 3 – no touch for Al no posession for Jazz- Jazz go to 0 for 7.
Catch left elbow straight up on Duncan, puts in on the floor neat spin mover and reverse side lay-up – GOOD
Gordon sets cross screen. Harris pass over Al head in the post – Awful play
No touch – Hayward turnover on entry pass to Millsap on other side of the floor.
No touch – Josh Howard baseline jumper GOOD
Al with really nice pass to Millsap in the post from the right wing to Millsap in the post for 2.
no touch – transition Hayward misses open three
deep left block – puts on floor when he spins to baseline double team comes and he passes out of the double. Harris gets open three and misses
No touch – transition – turnover on Millsap
Only touch was a swing pass from top of the key
No touch – Posting on DeJuan Blair – Hawyard swings to the top and comes back to Hayward for missed 3 open shot .
no touch – transition Hayward gets fouled
no touch – transition Howard dunk
no touch – posting on Blair – Howard swings up to Tinsley – Tinsley ends up taking three
no touch – Caroll transition turnover

2nd Quarter
No one comes to set pick for Carroll and bad pass leads turnover – worst possession of the night.
Left block catch – tripled teamed immediately kicks out to Burks who mis shot.
Swings pass from left to right side but no offensive touch – Millsap miss on drive
Catches Left block, straightens up on Duncan, Duncan knocks it away and Al bumps and backs to the middle for a fader and misses.
Sets high pick for Harris, cross court pass to Burks who misses on drive
No touch – Harris turnvoer on travel
No touch – Millsap fails going 1 on 1 on Duncan
No touch – Howard misses 16 footer.
Catches low left block – Greeen shades at him. Duncan 1 on 1. Weezy shot from 14 in no good.
No touch – Hayward misses open 18 footer.
Catch at free throw line – wide open jumper from 15 no good. wide open
No touch – Howard drive
No touch – Millsap 1 on 1

Spurs Possessions – BOLD MEANS SCORES
1st Quarter
1) Duncan left block – Duncan miss on Jefferson – well defrend
2) Duncan left block – isolation on Jefferson scores. Cut off initial pick and roll
3) Duncan right block – Duncan misses over Jefferson
4) Parker/Duncan high pick and roll – Defended well – Parker turnover
5) Diaw Right Block – Baseline spin on Millsap for two
6) Diaw Drive to Leonard – Diaw drives on Millsap into the lane over shoulder to Leonard
7) Parker/Duncan side pick and roll – Dish out to Green misses open three
8) Duncan handoff to Parker – very well defended by Harris for a miss in the lane
9) Parker/Duncan pick and roll – pick at 18 on clock Parker easy floater in the lane
10) Parker/Diaw/Duncan double pick – - pick at 17 on clock – Parker misses open 15 footer.
11) Parker/Duncan pick and roll – early at 20 on clock – Millsap strips Duncan
12) Ginobili Jumper off in bound – hits from right baseline 16 footer
13) Parker off double curl – Parker comes off baseline and catches hits runner in lane.
14) Fast Break Diaw – Parker pushes gets into the lane no problem finds Diaw 3 pt play
15) Parker pull up – Jazz deny the Ginboli/Diaw pick and roll and Spurs swing to Parker who misses
16) Ginobili/Duncan pick and roll – Jazz defend it well and Duncan reverses to Jackson for jumper
17) Parker/Duncan pick and roll – early set at 18 – Jackson misses three from the top
18) Jackson straight line drive – offensive rebound out to Jackson who straight-line to the hoop
19) Fast Break Dunk Manu – Duncan throws an amazing outlet pass
PARKER GOES OUT OF THE GAME
20) Jackson/Splitter pick and roll – defended only ok Jackson got deep in paint, great close by Favs
21) Neal /Splitter pick and roll – Neal open for 16 footer. Jefferson zoning area.
22) Manu/Splitter pick and roll – Jefferson show harder on Manu Splitter slips wide open and misses layup
23) Bonner spot up 3 – Neal/Splitter pick and roll started it – Jefferson showed hard. Favors slides to Splitter and then Bonner is open in corner.
24) Manu misses jumper – Off inbound Manu deeks Gordon gets wide open but misses
25) Splitter tip in on o-rebound – Kanter gets pushed out but he battled harder than I thought when it happened.

Looking at the Spurs Pick and Roll plays, these are only those plays that end with the ball handler or the roll man on the pick and roll. This does not count any time Parker penetrated and dished off to someone other than the ball handler. Those are in a lot of the spot up plays.
Overall observations before you look at it play for play.
• Tim Duncan sets the best picks and from all different angels. On PARKER/DUNCAN pick and rolls the Spurs were 4 of 6 from the field.
• Manu Ginobili wants his picks high and Tony Parker gets his early in the offense and very low
• When Al Jefferson was the defending big and ball hander shot (usually Parker) he was 5 of 7. They were 0 for 3 with 2 fouls when the ball went to the big.
• Jefferson and Millsap seems to zone the paint playing back near the rim with very little aggressiveness. Favors went to the ball handler and shadowed the ball handler and Kanter was the most aggressive going out to the ball handler and altering the route. I have no idea which was correct but it is very telling that all 4 Jazz bigs defended the play differently.
• On all of these when Favors is the big the Spurs scored on 1 of 4 times.
• The Spurs are really really good.
•

The first 18 will be where the ball handler ended with the ball. The next 8 will be the roll man
1) MAKE JUMPER- PARKER/DUNCAN — Right to left into middle of the lane. Off Duncan pick, Jefferson is way off Duncan has no impact on the play and Harris is picked off trailing and Parker hits easy floater in the lane. Harris tried to go over pick.

2) MISS JUMPER – PARKER/DIAW/DUNCAN – left to right double pick – jump shot from the right elbow missed. Harris gets buried by Diaw. Both Millsap and Jefferson slide down to cover area. Parker opts for 15 footer with lots of space and misses.

3) MAKE JUMPER – NEAL/SPLITTER — Neal comes off corner for a 16 footer and hits. Tinsley does little to get through the pick and Jefferson shades back having no impact on the play.

4) TURNOVER – MANU/SPLITTER – Nearly at midcourt and Manu splits the pick and roll and Hayward reaches from behind for the steal.

5) MAKE LAYUP – PARKER/SPLITTER – Parker Left to Right in early offense. Kanter is the defender of Splitter. Kanter steps out on Parker Tinsley able to get back and cut off Parker and Parker retreats to run it again with Splitter. This time to the baseline. Kanter slows his progress, Burks rotates perfectly and Parker hits a circus up and under reverse layup.

6) MISS JUMPER – PARKER/DUNCAN – Parker from top to right – Has picks waiting at each elbow goes off Duncan off a right hand dribble. Favors steps out and shadows Parker and forces him into a miss on floater

7) MISS JUMPER – DIAW/DUNCAN – Jefferson switches with Millsap staying on Duncan and Diaw misses a runner.

8) MAKE LAYUP – PARKER/ DUNCAN – early offense. This is the ultimate how they talk about the different angles Duncan sets the pick. Parker takes a hard step right and cross back over left and Duncan is right behind Tinsley. Jefferson had guessed on the first move and is way out of position. Parker finishes off contact from Millsap

9) FOUL – PARKER/DIAW – Early offense again, Parker gets pick from Diaw going left to right much higher than Duncan sets it. Millsap shadows the pick and Tinsley fouls on a pass off.

10) MISS JUMPER – PARKER/DUNCAN – From the top goes to his right off Duncan. Jefferson plays it soft in the middle of the lane and Harris swipes at the shot and blocks it.

11) MISS JUMPER – PARKER/DIAW – Parker left side comes to the right and then reverse off the pick. Millsap is the big on the play and is out of the play by the time Parker drives, nice help from the weak side by Jefferson forces the miss.

12) MAKE LAYUP – PARKER/DUNCAN – Parker left side again goes away from pick. Jefferson is no where near the play and Harris is burned by trying to force him away from pick . Easy layup to the window – terrible defense from all involved.

13) MISS LAYUP – GINOBILI/BLAIR – Hayward and Favors are the defenders. Ginobili gets by Hayward, Favors shadows terrifically and forces Manu into a fade away shot that is blocked.

14) TURNOVER – GINOBILI/BLAIR – Same spot as play before – same defenders, Hayward and Favors, this time Manu goes to the middle, Hayward gets over pick well and gets another steal of Manu

15) MAKE LAYUP – PARKER/BLAIR – Kanter is the big defending with Tinsley – pick is very high above three point line. Parker get to the basket and a foul.

16) MISS LAYUP – PARKER/BLAIR – Early offense pick set in the paint. WOW. Kanter steps out on Parker and blocks the shot – Popovich gets a tech off this play.

17) FOUL – GINOBILLI/DIAW – Hayward and Favors again. This is from the logo, Favors stays with Manu well but gets called for foul at the end

18) MAKE JUMPER – PARKER/DUNCAN – Left to right from the top of the three point line. Jefferson stays back and zones the lane – Parker hits a 8 foot jumper
8 WHERE THE PICKER GOT THE BALL (The final two were with Ahearn in the game)
1) MISS LAYUP – PARKER/DUNCAN – Early offense Parker right to left, pick set in the lane, Parker gets to rim hands to Duncan who gets it ripped by Millsap on the catch. Well played by Millsap. Jefferson was the other big.

2) MISS LAYUP – MANU/SPLITTER – Manu from the top defenders are Hayward and Jefferson. Jefferson shows Manu finds a wide open Splitter as Jefferson couldn’t get back in time and Splitter misses a wide open layuo

3) FOUL – LEONARD/SPLITTER – Great defense by Tinsley denies Parker the ball with 7 on shot clock this is all that is left. Kanter is the big and he and shows and the pass gets down to Splitter, Favors late coming over fouls Splitter on the ball fake

4) FOUL – PARKER/DUNCAN – Early offense left to right. Jefferson the defending big. Jefferson commits out to Parker and Parker finds Duncan going to the window. Millsap slides over and fouls Duncan. They are good.

5) MISS JUMPER – PARKER/DUNCAN – Parker goes left to right. Jefferson zones the lane and then goes to Parker leaving Duncan open for 15 footer that he misses.

6) MAKE LAYUP – GINOBILI/BLAIR – Blair slips the pick before it si set and Favors is too high, easy layup for Blair—these guys are good.

7) MISS LAYUP – PARKER/BLAIR – Kanter is the big defending. He goes out and attacks Parker who is going left to right from the top. Favors with great help forces the miss

8) FOUL – PARKER/BLAIR – Tinsley and Jefferson the defenders. Parker comes off pick at the free throw line, Jefferson zones the middle and bounce pass to Blair and he is fouled at the rim.