Timberwolves Get A Lesson From Los Spurs On Exploiting Mistakes To The Fullest
"I guess that was acceptable, guys." There has been much rending of garments and gnashing of teeth over the past few weeks about the continued struggles of the Minnesota Timberwolves to win either close games or games versus the better teams in the league. While there has been some silliness about team unity and guys not joining huddles (not good, but not why you lose the game), the reasons for these struggles are not based in narrative, but in personnel and system.
I've talked about it on the podcast and in passing when discussing the specific struggles of Ricky Rubio, but what's really going on here is a team not well constructed to win either close games or beat better teams. The short version (since a full post on this would feel a little like piling on) is that on both sides of the ball, they are good at exploiting mistakes; on defense with Brewer's gambles for steals and their fast break play, as well as the worse teams in the league being unable to resist the 20 foot jumpers conceded by Kevin Love's (and Pekovic as well, to be fair) pick-and-roll defense. On offense they are excellent at punishing mistakes but less good at creating mistakes.
Defense mistakes can be "earned" either by talent or system. LeBron James creates mistakes because nobody can guard him one on one. "System" mistakes occur when an offense forces defenses to make choices about what to guard with the hope that either the decision will be wrong, or even better their will be indecision. I've talked about this with respect to the Blazers at excruciating length, but really there is no better team in the league at probing for and then ruthlessly exploiting the smallest error and the tiniest deficiency in an opposing defense. Last night's fairly comfortable Spurs win provided some fantastic examples.
First of all, the Spurs predicate a lot of their action on quick early ball reversal. As discussed in the context of Indiana's defense, ball reversal is one of the more difficult things for a defense to deal with, especially for modern defenses which depend heavily on flooding the ball-side of the floor with defenders. The Spurs use this simple technique early in possessions to change the angle of attack and get defenders just slightly out of position. Then they pounce on the most minor of missteps.
Here for example, early ball movement has gotten Corey Brewer slightly out of position, where he is then buffeted by screens allowing Kawhi Leonard an eventual layup:
Defense mistakes can be "earned" either by talent or system. LeBron James creates mistakes because nobody can guard him one on one. "System" mistakes occur when an offense forces defenses to make choices about what to guard with the hope that either the decision will be wrong, or even better their will be indecision. I've talked about this with respect to the Blazers at excruciating length, but really there is no better team in the league at probing for and then ruthlessly exploiting the smallest error and the tiniest deficiency in an opposing defense. Last night's fairly comfortable Spurs win provided some fantastic examples.
First of all, the Spurs predicate a lot of their action on quick early ball reversal. As discussed in the context of Indiana's defense, ball reversal is one of the more difficult things for a defense to deal with, especially for modern defenses which depend heavily on flooding the ball-side of the floor with defenders. The Spurs use this simple technique early in possessions to change the angle of attack and get defenders just slightly out of position. Then they pounce on the most minor of missteps.
Here for example, early ball movement has gotten Corey Brewer slightly out of position, where he is then buffeted by screens allowing Kawhi Leonard an eventual layup:
After the ball reversal, Brewer is only a half-step out of position:
If Brewer was here instead, he would be in much better position to dodge/fight the impending screens.
Taking advantage of minor errors really is a hallmark of the Spurs' sets. Here, Kevin Martin and Kevin Love each make tiny mistakes which coalesce into a layup for the immortal Jeff Ayres:
If Martin fights just a little harder on the initial screen, or Love is just 2 feet higher on the curl, this easy basket can be avoided.
However, simply stopping the initial action or even recovering more or less perfectly from a small mistake is often not enough against the Spurs, who are well drilled to immediately attack any miscue. Even if the next player does not have create a shot, the Spurs really are excellent at keeping the defense in a scramble as these next two plays will illustrate.
In the first example, the initial break down occurs when Danny Green back cuts a defender overplaying a down screen:
However, simply stopping the initial action or even recovering more or less perfectly from a small mistake is often not enough against the Spurs, who are well drilled to immediately attack any miscue. Even if the next player does not have create a shot, the Spurs really are excellent at keeping the defense in a scramble as these next two plays will illustrate.
In the first example, the initial break down occurs when Danny Green back cuts a defender overplaying a down screen:
So far, the Wolves have recovered well from Martin's mistake, but the Spurs continue to attack the disadvantage:
All things considered, giving up a baseline 17-footer isn't the worst thing in the world, but this represents the BEST possible outcome for the Wolves from the initial mistake. For my last example, I'm going to use what is one of my favorite possessions of the season to illustrate the other end of the spectrum once the Spurs put a defense in a scrambled situation:
Watch it in real time, and then realize that this is the Spurs second unit, with only one starter in Leonard on the floor.
Of course, a lot of this is personnel. Tony Parker's non-stop movement and Tim Duncan's never-ending greatness put something of a floor on the worst offensive possessions possible, but the combination of talent and system allows the Spurs to grind out good shot after good shot by putting the defense to tough decisions many times per possession, which over the course of games, series and seasons add up to offensive greatness.
Of course, a lot of this is personnel. Tony Parker's non-stop movement and Tim Duncan's never-ending greatness put something of a floor on the worst offensive possessions possible, but the combination of talent and system allows the Spurs to grind out good shot after good shot by putting the defense to tough decisions many times per possession, which over the course of games, series and seasons add up to offensive greatness.
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