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Learn from the best: Antocompo gives an instructive lesson to the rising stars of the NBA - Walla! sport

2022-05-08T11:01:10.891Z


Morant's injury shines a spotlight on the future troubles he will suffer, Doncic's defensive weakness reveals his next developmental stage. What can they learn from the Milwaukee star?


Learn from the best: Antocompo gives a thousand lessons to the rising stars of the NBA

Morant's injury shines a spotlight on future troubles caused by his adventurous style of play, Doncic's defensive weakness reveals his next necessary developmental stage.

The regional semi-finals teach the two future stars of the league important lessons, and illustrate the uniqueness of the present star

Assaf Ravitz

08/05/2022

Sunday, 08 May 2022, 14:00

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Ja Morant Lame After Injury in Game 3 Against Golden State (From Twitter)

Boston - Milwaukee

Like last year, this year Milwaukee is also involved in a second-round series that feels like a final.

It’s a meeting between the two best defenses in the playoffs and two coaches who make adjustments to each game and get into the thinnest nuances to help their players create acceptable shooting situations.

Milwaukee stole the home game in the first game, and that away win could turn out to be critical, because since 2018 the Bucks ’balance in the playoffs held at home has been 4:22.

It's very hard to win there, and it could be that the Celtics missed their best chance in the third game tonight.

If Chris Middleton had been a Milwaukee player it would have been a clear favorite to win right now, without him everything is open, because the Bucks' offense is very dependent on inconsistent sub-players and Boston's defense gives nothing.



The starting point of the chess game between coaches is that Boston have a very hard time scoring in the face of Milwaukee’s formidable defense close to the basket, with Brock Lopez waiting near the ring and Yannis Antocompo always on the sidelines.

Aima Judoka's players score 25.3 points per game in color at 42.3 percent, for comparison no other team in the second round scores less than 40 points in color at less than 49.8 percent.

The Celtics' inability to get to the ring was the deciding factor in the first game, so for the second game Judoka came more prepared.

He attacked Bobby Fortis in Pick N. Roll, who comes out high in the blocks, to create situations that allow ball movement, penetration and spending.

His players were not content with throwing every reasonable three-pointer they get, but insisted on getting into the color and moving the defense a little further.

Boston has built strong ball-moving foundations throughout the season that have allowed it to take advantage of the few holes that can be created in the Bucks defense.

Bodenholzer's reaction was to take Fortis out of the top five in the third game,

But Grayson Allen who came in his place is the weakest squad in Milwaukee's defense.

Without Middleton missing Coach Bud a reliable defensive player for the wing, I would not be surprised if we see more Jabon Carter and less Allen later on.



On the other hand, everything of course revolves around Yannis and every game looks different.

In Boston's first defense he crowded in front of him and he expressed his improvement as a morale, finding more and more players available for threes.

In the second game Judoka moderated the help and let Al Horford and Grant Williams (who has kept the two best players in the world great in recent weeks) face Yannis one on one with help coming late, they managed to make it difficult but maybe also because he slowed down and used this game to test the the surface.

In the third game Yannis already looked like a Greek god even against the Boston defense.

He attacks in every way possible: from the middle as before, from the side in isolation, as a blocker in Pick n 'Roll, after a substitution on more comfortable guards (he looks for Jaylen Brown in substitutions).

When he is sharp, Yannis is not just a physical natural phenomenon, he has a sense of identifying the right moments to attack, the moments when the defense is a little unprepared, the help is inaccurate, an advantage is created that no one else notices.

If Yannis continues to dominate games like this,

More on Walla!

Morant vs. Golden State, Boston vs. Referees: "The NBA needs to be shocked"

To the full article

There are things only he sees.

Yannis (Photo: GettyImages, Stacy Revere)

More on Walla!

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  • Morant vs. Golden State, Boston vs. Referees: "The NBA needs to be shocked"

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Miami - Philadelphia

The first two games, without Joel Ambide, were very easy for Miami.

Eric Spolstra now earns the credit he has given all year to players like Max Strauss and Gabe Vincent, who both went up in the top five in those two games and seemed to belong completely.

Strauss is a favorite of Duncan Robinson because he saves much better, in Spolstra's rotation only Tyler Hiro has a defensive difficulty, and he also tries very hard.

Miami expresses its diversity on both sides, the ability to attack in all sorts of ways with all sorts of players and move between different types of defenses.

The feeling was that Miami was always one step ahead of Philadelphia.



Doc Rivers insisted on Diandra Jordan as Ambide's central replacement, even though for two years he has not functioned as a legitimate NBA player, and gave a few minutes to the low lineups with George Niang as center, even though they were the only ones to make it a little difficult for Miami.

It also seems like the best option for Ambide's rest minutes,



Ambide's earlier comeback completely changed the third game.

His return put the crowd and players in a frenzy, Philadelphia played with uncharacteristic energies and provided its most impressive defensive display in the playoffs.

The presence of Ambide helped greatly, of course, with this defense.

When it is found it is easier for the other players to stick to their players and know that there is help in color.

And while we're busy with a match-up between Ambide and Bam Adbaio on the other side of the floor, it's important to note that Ambide almost completely neutralizes Bam as an offensive option.

The Cameroonian chin is currently carrying a number of injuries and appears to be limited in offense, but even there his very presence creates a different kind of play.

Like Toronto, Miami also makes a substitution on its pick n roll with Harden and tries to prevent Ambed from getting the ball with help from behind.

And as against Toronto, even in the third game Philadelphia knew how to make great use of the openings that are created elsewhere with the defense focusing on the two stars.



Miami was surprised in the third game, did not know what to prepare for and looked confused.

This is not typical of Spolstra's team and it's hard to believe it's going to happen again.

She still looks like the more stable and deeper team of the two.

In a game where nothing else worked, Jimmy Butler took control of the offensive game with his pick n 'roll with Bam on the right.

It's a move that the Sixers' defense really has no way of dealing with, to prevent Butler from getting comfortable shots from half distance, without Matisse Thaybull interfering with the offensive flow.

Kyle Laurie, who also did not play in the first two games, looks very rusty in the third but will improve later, Hiro is able to score 30 points on a given day, the revival of Victor Oladipo in the last two weeks could turn out to be one of the important stories in the playoffs.

It’s hard to imagine Philadelphia beating this team in four out of five games, not when Arden is no longer able to take control of games and Ambide is carrying injuries.

But if the Sixers retain the energies from the last game, they can certainly stay in business in this series.

His very presence changes everything.

Ambide (Photo: GettyImages, Mitchell Leff)

Memphis - Golden State

Two teams that love to run and flourish in chaos are responsible for the fastest and messiest series of the second round, surprisingly it is not.

It's just a pity that the mess also includes distances and injuries, because behind the incessant noise there is a fascinating meeting of styles between two teams that can not really stop the stars of the other.

Gary Peyton II's injury was particularly sucks because it came after a wonderful game of this refreshing phenomenon, of a player around 1.90 meters who functions as a kind of unique inside player and among other things controls an offensive rebound.

And if Ja Morant was injured tonight everything else does not matter.

Beyond the issue of Jordan Paul's contact with Ja's knee, it looks like a cumulative load injury, which is probably the biggest question mark around this rising star.

With a style of relentless intrusion into a forest of colored players, reminiscent of actors like Derek Rose and Dwayne Wade, hopefully he does not wear his knees like those two.



In a sense, Steve Kerr's defensive plan against Ja is that he will eventually fall off his feet.

The player guarding him waits for him deep in color and passes under the blocks, enticing him to throw from the outside.

Morant scores quite a few of these shots from the outside, and takes advantage of the free space to reach the basket with momentum.

This situation reveals the biggest problem of the Warriors' low lineup: apart from Raymond Green, no player is waiting in a helping position who could interfere with a senior scorer.

Ja attacks from the side where Drey is not on and easily reaches positions from which he hits floaters with his eyes closed.

Despite this, Kerr stays with this defensive method, mostly because it does not allow the other Memphis players to express themselves, forcing Ja to do everything alone.

This is a big compliment to Desmond Bain who is the second Grizzlies player to receive special care.

Kerr decided to take the threes, he always has a player close to him and if there are blockages then immediately there is a substitution, do not give him even half a meter to go up for a shot and are not really bothered by his penetration.



Taylor Jenkins, for his part, is trying to prevent the Splash Brothers trio from getting free throws.

The Memphis defensive players barely leave the three-point line and aggressively go out for any of the three that are with the ball.

The problem is that it leaves a lot of spaces close to the basket, and Golden State specializes in utilizing these spaces to create a lay-up celebration.

Kerr's players score 59.3 points per game in color in the second round, far more than any other team.

It's very difficult to beat them like that, nor can they be completely prevented from the threes, not when three such good shots are in constant motion in front of insufficiently responsible defense.

Jenkins' hope is that his players are nimble and athletic enough to force losses and interfere with color, sometimes it works and it allows Memphis to run, but in the big picture Golden State's offense is very easy in the meantime and it's hard to see how that will change later.

Life is easy, too easy.

Kerry and Thompson (Photo: Reuters)

Phoenix - Dallas

When two teams play in a similar style, the quality gaps between them are more noticeable.

Both Phoenix and Dallas are based on a calculated game manager who specializes in pick n 'roll, but what a difference in the way they both make this basic move.

In Dallas, Luka Doncic gets a block from a player rolling in or out, and the rest of the players spread out on the line of three and wait.

In Phoenix there is always something else: double blocking for the ball carrier, blocking away from the ball, movement on the line of three to create maximum spacing, cutting without a ball.

Phoenix's senior quartet is made up of fine attacking players who complement each other: Chris Paul runs the game and takes control of games in the final quarter, Devin Booker creates shooting situations in isolation and without a ball, Diandra Eyton scores from every color range and exploits miss-matches in the post so hard Very much in front of him to make automatic substitutions, Michal Bridges constantly moves to the intervals created in the defense and gives momentum to stuck attacks.

With those four Phoenix comes to a good shot in almost every offense and in the first two games dismantled the Mavericks ’quality defense.

Just a great group.



The story of the second game was the way Phoenix attacked Doncic on defense.

Luca keeps Jay Crowder most of the time, so the Suns constantly involved Crowder during the main course.

Usually teams that try to attack a weak link in defense try to force a spare that will leave him on their planet, the polished Phoenix attacked Luca in much more varied ways, making it difficult for Jason Kidd to react.

Sometimes Crowder led a ball and left it for Paul or Boker, sometimes it was part of a double block, sometimes an early cut to clear for a three.

Phoenix was able to expose Luca without changing her style, she just incorporated Crowder into her regular drills and took what the defense gave.

Doncic is not a terrible defensive player, but with the load on offense he finds it difficult to work consistently on defense.

This should probably be his next developmental stage - not to become a big guard but one that is not considered a hole that can be exploited.

Phoenix reveals what should be its next developmental stage.

Doncic on defense (Photo: GettyImages)

For the third game Dallas came in very focused and Phoenix took half a day off, mostly Paul.

But there were also some Kidd adjustments that could affect the continuation of the series and would require a response from Williams.

On defense Luca consistently performed a half and recapture, leaving Crowder free for a second or two.

For Dallas it's better to let Crowder try to beat her, that's probably the least bad thing.

On offense, Doncic sought to get Chris Paul in exchange, both to force him to work and also because the size differences make it easier for him to see the basket and teammates.

And perhaps the most important move was Luca's use of the post.

Michelle Bridges keeps his pick n 'roll great, fights blocks and many times neutralizes the main move, but is not physically strong enough to deal with Luca in the post.

This is a good starting position for the Dallas attacks and we will probably see more of it later.

  • sport

  • NBA

Tags

  • Golden State Warriors

  • Memphis Grizzlies

  • Boston Celtics

  • Milwaukee Bucks

  • Philadelphia Sixers

  • Miami Heat

  • Dallas Mavericks

  • Phoenix Suns

Source: walla

All sports articles on 2022-05-08

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