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.
Cavs Legion defense, twice as nice
Week 7 saw several extremely impressive defensive performances. Cavs Legion stymied Shotz and Hawks Talon GC one day after Shotz scored 33—more than two-thirds of his team’s point total—in a big win over Warriors Gaming Squad.
In their win, Cavs Legion held Shotz (who’s deserving of mention in the MVP discussion) to just 15 points in the game. In the first half, the Cavs doubled Shotz on the wing, especially with a shooter—MrStylez or Rando—on a cold ring.
CavsLegionDefensiveDouble (Week7)
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That limited Shotz’s playmaking and driving ability, and the Cavs relied on their weakside help defense and rotations to limit any opportunities thereof.
I’d be very interested in seeing more double teams. Here’s the Mavs forcing a jump ball against BP with a timely Dimez double:
MavsDoubleTeamJump (Week7)
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On the wing in particular, double teaming has the potential to be extremely potent, with a shorter strongside rotation (especially against teams with poor spacing). It all comes down to the quality of a team’s help defense and rotation, though, and not all teams are capable of playing 4-3 if scrambled.
The key cog was Larry in the middle. With the double team, he proved vital in stepping into the cross-court passing lane. He picked up a league-record (shared with several other players, including the Legion’s own Godddof2k) 8 steals in the game and flashed 14 assists, primarily on fast breaks off his own steals.
In the second half, the Cavs reverted to more of a traditional man defense, and Larry’s role shifted to more of a paint protection role, and there he flourished as well.
LarryRimProtection (Week7)
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The Cavs have been hyping up their defense all season, and with good reason (a massive comeback, about which more momentarily, for one). Godddof2k is a legitimate DPOY candidate, but team defense is more important than individual defense, and the Cavs’ team defense is coalescing at the right time.
Non-big off-ball screens are legitimate
I’ve harped on this forever now, but I truly think more teams are starting to incorporate off-ball screens with more than a big man.
Here’s one of several times the Cavs had Strainer set a downscreen of sorts for Trey flashing up from the wing.
StrainerOffballTrey (Week7)
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Yes, it’s more a clip than a downscreen, but it delays Rando for an extra half second, and Trey’s release is more than quick enough to capitalize on that.
Here’s Knicks Gaming getting a clip from point guard Adam off an inbounds play:
AdamInboundsScreen (Week6)
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The non-big off-ball screen is eternally useful. It creates space. It’s unexpected. When/if it becomes expected, the screener can fade, and that’s actually lethal now that the screener probably has shooting in the build.
T-Wolves Gaming, Stagnating
Ouch.
Nap – WR on Twitter
THE COMEBACK! @NBA2KLeague @CavsLegionGC x @TWolvesGaming @Dirk_JDR @deluxpike10 https://t.co/maN4Zm8i0A
That, needless to say, can’t happen, and there’s plenty to break down in the comeback itself. But one area that pervaded throughout the game: the T-Wolves halfcourt offense is stagnating.
The offensive playbook is a shell of what coach Shawn Vilvens, dismissed early in the season, was beginning to implement. The T-Wolves still run more action than most teams—downscreens, wing cuts, etc.,—but the action hasn’t progressed since Vilvens’ dismissal.
If anything, it’s gotten worse due to a lack of practice and attention.
TWolvesDoubleScreenStagnate (Week7)
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That’s not an effective double screen up top. The screening doesn’t lead to any real action. JMoney, acquired for Hood (who was not himself particularly adapted to the intricacies of the playbook), hasn’t looked comfortable with the team’s old actions.
He’s been involved in some. The T-Wolves ran a lot of this double screen wing cut for JMoney, which is a good idea. It gets him the ball with a mismatch or in isolation on the wing. The problem, however, is that it’s easily recognizable and, without a secondary action, becomes predictable.
CavsDefensiveAwareness (Week7)
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The Cavs sniff that out and switch, denying the ball and causing an eventual shot clock violation.
This double screen morphs into horns. But it’s too obvious and too cluttered, and the Cavs get an easy steal.
TWolvesDoubleScreenHorns (Week7)
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Execution wins games. The T-Wolves haven’t executed sharply and haven’t completely found themselves offensively. That’s a recipe for catastrophe.
Mavs Gaming, shutting down BP
The Mavs played about as good a defensive game as you could ask for against dribble-legend BP and Kings Guard Gaming. They swarmed the Rookie of the Year leader, with team-heavy, swarming defense that hounded BP into 7 scant points on just 3-for-13 shooting.
MavsDefenseBP (Week7)
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They switched Sherm and Mo on wraps. Each played his heart out to fight through screens and stay in BP’s face. Switching lock and sharp is probably the way to go against BP, since he’s not the type of point guard to try and attack at the nexus of a switch, content to dribble his way into something.
Pete did his part, playing high and closing out even at the expense of a pass to the roll man.
MavsDefenseBP2 (Week7)
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That works, since Colt and Yusuf aren’t the best facilitators in those situations. Moreover, the Mavs have some skilled off-ball defenders (see Sherm’s activity in help and rotation in the above clip) and well-timed help.
RuxHelpDefense (Week7)
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They wore BP down. He lost confidence and missed shots even in isolation after making defenders look silly, which will happen to any defender.
BPSauceMo (Week7)
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The Mavs held the once 7-2 Kings to just 40 points. Shutting down BP is the key, and the Mavs did that as well as anyone ever has.
Stop ceding mismatches
The rigid nature of the archetypes selected each game makes certain mismatches more attainable—center on guard, guard on big, etc. Why do teams not search these out, or worse, go away from the mismatches when they’ve gotten them?
BPMismatchKick (Week7)
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BP is one of the best scoring guards in the league. Why is he passing out of a potential isolation against slashing stretch 4 Rux? He should settle this, have his teammates clear out, and torch the slower defender. Ironically, this play came after a version of Mavs Gaming’s own principal offensive set, with a strongside pick from the 4 and a high off-ball screen by the 5.
Procuring mismatches produces buckets. ZDS gets caught on a PeteBeBallin screen and, with Steez leaping out to shut down a Mo wrap, is forced to switch onto Pete. Smartly, the Mavs go to Pete in the post, where he goes to work and scores easily.
PeteZDSMismatch (Week7)
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Teams don’t go mismatch-hunting enough. When they stumble on one, they need to make it count.
Is super-high pick-and-roll the new wave?
Pick-and-roll is obviously the principal meta in the league for 2019. The team that maximizes it best is the team that often wins.
Can that be done with a dose of extremely high pick-and-roll?
ZDSHighTrey (Week7)
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On the back end of that clip, ZDS—racing against the shotclock—passes it to Steez just beyond the time line. He gets Mo on his hip before flipping back to ZDS who has a massive runway with Pete sitting in the paint. ZDS pulls up from deep and drills it.
HawksHighPnRDunk (Week7)
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There, the Hawks get a high pick from Arsonal and Stylez drives hard against Larry, who’s way up out of the paint. That decisiveness creates a two-on-one and Arsonal, with Godddof2k trailing him from the start, gets the dunk.
Very high PnR is interesting because it offers better spacing. Whereas traditional PnR has a minimal runway for the ballhandler to drive, as well as four or so players jumbled together around the arc, very high PnR offers a runway for a drive (if the center plays up, like Larry) or a pull-up three (if the center plays deep, like Pete). It also allows you the chance to reset in a more standard PnR if the center doesn’t get a proper pick on the primary defender. Throw in some wraps between the high screening action and a center playing deep and you can cause some havoc for defense.
