Another week of NBA 2K League action has come and gone, bringing with it new tactical wrinkles, new breakout stars and new things for me to gripe about.
Gliz makes a huge difference for the Jazz
Remember when the Jazz didn’t have Gliz in the starting lineup due to flu? It’s time to forget. The third-rounder has been a revelation for the Jazz, scoring 20 points per game on a blistering 71% shooting from the field. By getting league-best scoring at the most undervalued position in the league, the Jazz have won three straight.
GlizBackCut (Week4)
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Gliz is such a shifty, agile scorer. Defenses have certain expectations, and Gliz is extremely good at defying those expectations and cutting into a new opportunity. Here, for example, Jin expects him to return to the corner, but Gliz cuts decisively and gets a dunk out of it.
GlizShiftyDunk (Week4)
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He can shoot, too, either off the dribble (how many power forwards do that this year?) or off the catch-and-shoot. The second-chance trey, for example, where the corner man goes corner to wing on an offensive rebound, is something that Gliz has perfected immediately (Bucks Gaming’s BigMeek is still the best in the business at it).
GlizSecondChanceTrey (Week4)
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There are still question marks about his defense. But he’s already one of the best scoring power forwards in the league, and his role in the Jazz’s lineup has made their ceiling skyrocket.
The Plondo-ARooks connection
Speaking of lethal inside-out games, the Plondo-ARooks connection doesn’t get enough credit. The Bucks are often very tactically sound, and that has been overshadowed by ARooks scoring like a madman and earning himself discussion in the MVP conversation.
PlondoDrakeTrey (Week4)
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The Bucks’ two top-10 picks have developed great chemistry. Plondo often serves as the fulcrum of Milwaukee’s offense, and with ARooks operating off-ball a little more than most of the league’s scoring threats, their connectivity is imperative.
PlondoHighDime (Week4)
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ARooks is a phenomenal scorer, but Plondo is one of the best passing big men in the league. His timing and feel for the shooters on the floor has played a big part in averaging over 5 assists per game at the 5. The Bucks win by executing more than most, and Plondo is an essential component of that execution.
Defenses lose focus; teams just lose
There’s a flip side to execution. Defense is no easy task, but being aware, engaged and communicating goes a long way to curing any defensive ailments.
That’s why coaches tear their hair out about plays like this:
RaptorsDefenseDisappears (Week4)
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The Raptors get BigMeek to pick up his dribble, which is a good start. But then they all scramble away from him, heading to their matchups, and he’s left all alone with Trey on his hip, not in position to contest what is now a wide open three.
HawksTalonMidrangeSag (Week4)
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Two Hawks Talon defenders sag off Wavy in the midrange, with only Shotz at his hip. He misses, but as BigMeek shows above, that’s not a gamble worth taking.
Adjusting is one of the most important components of defense, which is inherently reflexive. Being dogmatic and not reacting is tantamount to handing the offense a blank check, and no offense will hesitate to cash in.
Breadwinner, pick-and-roll defense
The 76ers are a very good team, no matter what their recent struggles may suggest. One of the more underrated aspects of that quality is their defensive frontcourt, which has Steez—a very, very smart defender—playing off ball and rookie Breadwinner playing pick-and-roll at the speedier 4.
That trend has worked its way around the league, and the reasons why are particularly noticeable with the 76ers.
BreadwinnerPnRDefense (Week4)
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Breadwinner relies a lot on his quickness. He hedges and recovers speedily and relies on that quickness to react to the point guard’s first move. For the most part, he’s also technically sound, setting up on defense with ideal spacing (contrast that with Idris at the beginning of this clip).
BreadwinnerPnRDefense2 (Week4)
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He does have a tendency to gamble on defense, though, and his extra quickness sometimes has him too far out of the play on a jump-the-gun hedge. But he’s picked up some big steals for the 76ers, and he’s a sneakily good passer in transition.
The Wizards need help
It has been an extremely tough season for the winless Wizards. Dayfri hasn’t looked himself at times, Boo Painter’s dismissal from the league hasn’t exactly added talent to their roster and nothing has been turning up capital in D.C.
WizardsDGBackcourtTO (Week4)
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The primary issue is undeniably the backcourt. New point guard ReeseDaGod has more combined turnovers (26, or 6.5 per game) and fouls (9) than points (34). He’s dishing out just 3.5 assists per game. Worst of all, perhaps, he’s shooting at an abysmal 34% clip from the field.
JT hasn’t been much better. While his assist numbers are slightly higher (4.0 per game), his scoring is slightly lower (7.8 PPG) and his shooting percentage is an eyebrow-raising 31.4% from the field.
ReeseDaGodTO (Week4)
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Neither has been anywhere near explosive, decisive or energetic on the court. There are too many stalled possessions like the above, featuring minimal offensive movement and telegraphed passes. At their worst, the immobile Wizards struggle to merely advance the ball into the frontcourt.
They don’t move enough, or work cleverly enough, for their guards to put up the above stats. They need their players to help each other on the court, move for each other, screen for each other, and get out of their funk.
Set play box
Some nice set plays from week four.
RaptorsOffballSwitchCut (Week4)
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First, the Raptors pick up a nice bucket off a weakside cut. Raptors go high-low on the weakside and catch an uncommunicative Bucks defense. Both Slim and Trey are on builds that can shoot, so the defense has to respect the high wrap, but Trey does well to cut hard while the Bucks are in scramble mode for an easy dunk.
MavsStaggeredScreensCorner (Week4)
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A lot to digest in this nice little play by the Mavs. I like the staggered high screens for Dimez up high. Those seem to morph into two high off-ball screen options for Mo, with Rux’s screen a full wrap and Pete’s reset pick for a cutback wrap. Arsonal stays low against Pete’s slip, which means that Rando rotates up to take away the cross-court pass to Mo. That’s successful, but next time watch for Dimez to dot the wide-open man (Sherm) on the corner against the aggressive rotation.
