How Kevin Durant & Suns picked apart Cavaliers, Phoenix biggest threat to Nuggets | Hoops Tonight

How Kevin Durant & Suns picked apart Cavaliers, Phoenix biggest threat to Nuggets | Hoops Tonight

All right welcome to Hoops tonight here at the volume happy Thursday everybody hope all of you guys are having an incredible week we got another jam-pack show for you today the Phoenix Suns continue doing really well against the toughest part of their schedule here at the end of the season we’re going to

Break down their big win over the Cleveland Cavaliers last night with some more film breakdowns we got like I think 10 clips that were going through today I had a blast with the film breakdown yesterday I was so thrilled with how it turned out it seemed like you guys liked

It too I’m sorry it took so long for us to get to this point but I’m really really excited about the future of the show and where we can take it from there with that uh after that opening segment we had a mailbag question yesterday from

A Spurs fan asking what the Spurs should do moving forward and so I wanted to do a little bit of a deep dive into the Spurs offseason plans and the realities of the time crunch that Victor wean yama’s rise puts them in and then last but not least we got a report this

Morning from Adrien wowski that Julius Randall is not going to return this season is going to have season ending shoulder surgery so we’re going to talk a little little bit about what that means for the New York Nicks all right before we get started you guys know the

Drill subscribe to our brand new YouTube channel mean a lot to me if you guys would take a second to scroll down and hit that subscribe button don’t forget about our podcast feed wherever you get your podcast under Hoops tonight it’s also super helpful if you leave a rating

And a review on that front don’t forget about my Twitter feed _ jlt so you guys don’t miss show announcements as well as the occasional film threads that I do from time to time and then last but not least keep dropping mailbag questions in those YouTube comments so we can keep

Hitting them throughout the rest of the Season all right let’s talk some basketball so the suns were going into a really really difficult part of their schedule here to end the season they had a couple easier games about a a week and a half ago and this last four game

Stretch to start this end of the season they went through at Denver at Oklahoma City at New Orleans and then here at home first game at home after a long road trip which is tough against the Cleveland Cavaliers and they’re three and one so far went into Denver and won

Had a tough one in Oklahoma City that they lost then they won dominant fashion in New Orleans and then one in dominant dominant fashion at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers now what’s particularly interesting to me about this is all four of these teams are top 10 defenses and so these are great

Examples of the stuff I’ve been talking about with Phoenix’s offense throughout this season and their ability to get defenses into rotation and play Advantage Basketball so I have some numbers that I want to use to to kind of demonstrate this concept but to start in kind of like the bigger picture uh

30,000 feet way of looking at it when you look at like kind of like the bald don’t stop bag culture type of of ideology as it pertains to like tough shot making and highlevel Hooper isms or whatever you want to call it where guys are hitting multiple dribble combinations into really tough shots

That’s fun and that’s a big part of the art of basketball and it’s always been a part of the art of basketball that I’ve been drawn to I personally my archetype as a player was a scorer and I was obsessed with footwork and dribble combinations and all those different kinds of things

So I’m not trying to pretend like that stuff doesn’t matter it does but it’s only half the battle the other half of the battle is the art of basketball in the form of the art of finding high quality shots right ideally the tough shot making is a ceiling razor it’s a

Thing you use to rescue possessions when things don’t work out it’s a thing you use against top tier defenses when they do an outstanding job of shutting down your advantage creation situations it is a ceiling razor ideally you want your meet and potatoes to be easy shots wide

Open Catch and shoot threes easy closeout attacks where you get you know uh some tougher shot making like pullup jumpers and floaters but they’re uncontested in the mid-range because that was the opening you found in drive and kick obviously getting all the way to the rim hitting vertical spacers

Under the rim for dunks when you find as much of that stuff as possible no matter how good you are at making tough shots you will never be as good at making tough shots as you will be at making the easy shots as long as you know how to

Generate them but they can be generated in many different ways and one of the core core ways has to do with your total offensive skill and there’s a gigantic Chasm this year between the Suns and their offensive skill and what they had last year even though they had Devin

Booker and Kevin Durant and DeAndre Aton they did not have nearly the Firepower from top to bottom on the roster that they have this year and that’s made them so much tougher to guard so again all four of those defenses the pels Thunder the the nuggets and the Cavs were all

Top 10 defense def so far this year yet the Suns averaged a blistering 119 points per 100 possessions in the four games now again as I’ve been talking about a key factor that will that will kind of demonstrate the difference in the shot quality between what the Suns

Get now and what they got last year in the postseason you can see that in assist percentage and the number of Pull-Up jump shots they take so last year in the postseason only 57% of the Phoenix Suns made field goals were assisted that means 43% of them were individual shot creation on an

Island right then in this last four game stretch 70.3% of Phoenix’s shots that they’ve made have been assisted so again like they’ve gone from being a team last year in the postseason that was primarily like a solo on an island shot creation type of thing whether it was in ISO or

Shot making in pick and roll to this year much more of a drive kick finding open looks type of offense another stat there you’ll see is in the pull-up jump shooting they took 35 pullup jump shots per game last year in the postseason during this four game stretch they’re

Taking just 27 pull-up jump shots per game that’s a sizable difference that’s eight possessions a game that instead of taking pull-up jump shots they’re getting much higher quality shots Elsewhere on the floor that’s again the difference between playing on an island isolation SL pick and roll shot making basketball versus playing Advantage

Basketball meaning you’re taking not on an island Defenders that you’re facing but rather guys closing out at you you’re playing with an advantage versus not playing with an advantage basic example of this is King of the court if you ever played King of the court with

Your buddies and you line up and it’s one-on-one and the dude’s you know up in your personal space and you’re having to use a jab step to clear and to and to create space for you to go play one-on-one versus if you’ve ever played closeout King of the Court which is in

My opinion the most useful form of King of the court for young players and it’s what we work on a lot when I when I work with my high school guys the point there being I want them to practice playing the one-on-one that they’re going to play in real basketball games which is

For the most part at the high school level you’re not gifted enough in terms of your best players to just play one-on-one all night you need to generate advantages and then have guys be able to capitalize on those advantages by playing one-on-one with the defender closing out at them right

And that’s a big reason why I believe in that and it’s just so much easier it’s crazy when I watch those kids play King of the cour and when they play with an advantage versus without an advantage the gigantic difference in how frequently they score that it no matter

How good you are at the the tough stuff Advantage Basketball will always be easier the second thing that I wanted to highlight really quick before we get into the film was uh Phoenix’s pick and roll defense has been really good during this stretch they were outstanding last

Night in the last two games against Cleveland and New Orleans and I want to say like 68 possessions they’re allowing just 0.84 points per possession in pick and roll including passes which is an outstanding number and it really comes down to communication and effort on the backline

Of their defense and so in our film session today we’re going to be looking at a bunch uh uh of examples of these two particular things just Advantage creation basketball for the Suns on the offensive end of the floor and then also the uh defensive effort that the Suns

Have been having in pick and roll now uh for those of you guys who are listening on the podcast feed I’m going to try to be as descriptive as possible but if you’re having trouble picking up what I’m putting down make sure you head over to YouTube to check this out in our

Final two segments the Julius Randall and the um and the Victor wanyama Spurs segment those are both going to be uh without film so the podcast feed will be fine for those all right let’s head over to our film session so this is the first possession of the game for Phoenix against

Cleveland we are um uh we’re going to get what’s called Hammer action this is actually named after Darin ham so what we have here we have Kevin Durant on the right side of the floor Devin Booker’s pointing for Kevin Durant to go the other way because they’re getting ready

To set up this action we have Royce O’Neal and Yousef nerkach here are going to set basically a double flare screen for Devin Booker to run to the corner while Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal are essentially running a decoy action here on the right side of the floor so again

Any a hammer action is basically a d a flare screen for the shooter in the weak side corner with a decoy action on the strong side so this is the strong side where the ball is they’re going to run a decoy action here on the weak side we’re

Going to get our double flare so as we get going the way they’re going to do this Kevin Durant’s going down like he’s going to set a ball screen for Bradley Beal he’s throwing the ball to him running like he’s going to set a screen Bradley Beal is basically going to

Reject that and rip through to the Baseline so he rips through to the Baseline Royce O’Neal sets the first pick youf nurkic sets the second pick and as you can see Devin Booker’s breaking open here in that weak side corner that’s our Hammer action but we get a really nice defensive play here

From Donovan Mitchell chasing over the top and he’s going to actually take away this shot as an opportunity for Devon Booker okay he goes up we get a pump fake now he has another open three but we get another another layer of defensive effort here from Max stru he

Sells out off of Bradley Beal to close out and he forces Devin Booker to pass off to Bradley Beal wide open here under the Basket Bradley Beal catches Jared Allen steps up and now we have Kevin Durant wide open on the wing Darius Garland if we go back a little bit here

Darius Garland is guarding Royce O’Neal up top right but one once Bradley Beal makes this kickout pass to Kevin Durant Darius Garland has to rotate to Kevin Durant on the wing and now we get Roy sonal wide open at the top of the key for three and again an important element

There that’s normally Grayson Allen too that’s like this was mostly a full strength match up between the two teams all five Cav starters were playing but we didn’t have Grayson Allen in this game Grayson Allen is literally one of the very best spot up players in the

League this year I haven’t checked the numbers in the last week or so but he’s been basically the best spot up guy in the League this year just absolutely deadly on catch and shoot threes and so that’s the predicament the and the theme here that we’re going to get into as we

Get further into these clips it’s running an action to get an advantage star players operating with an advantage and then role players that are actually deadly spot up players can make you pay when you help on those stars and so we ran an action that got an advantage for

Devin Booker that he ended up bringing two defenders in a close out from Donovan Mitchell and a close out from Max struse which got Bradley be a catch under the rim which forced a rotation to Kevin Durant in a wide openen look for Royce O’Neil that is Advantage

Basketball all right here’s our next clip this is a great example of the value of use of nkit as a size Advantage when they’re running these types of actions so Deon Booker brings the ball up the floor and basically what we’re going to get is a dribble handoff

Between Yousef nerkach right here and Devin Booker with Max Tru on the ball and Jared Allen on nkit now they don’t want to switch this Max Tru wants to run over the top here but nerkish sets an outstanding screen just absolutely drills Max stru with the shoulder there

And again you can get away with a little bit of contact here this is technically by the book in illegal screen but basically Yousef nerk is is just making sure to extend that contact long enough to allow Deon Booker to get separation the longer now what one of the things

That Deon Booker does here that’s really smart is he’s trying to get the switch so he snakes the pick and roll what snaking the pick and roll means is you’re work over to the other side so he snakes the pick and roll acrossed now Jared Allen has to follow him and this

Ends up turning into a switch so now Max stru is Switched onto Yousef nerkish so again a really good screen from nkit and then a snake of the pick and roll by Devin Booker forces switch now we make the post entry to Yousef nkit now Evan

Mobley has no choice because of the size Advantage but to come over and offer St uh help on that Baseline side that’s the guy that’s guarding Kevin Durant Kevin Durant identifies this immediately and just makes a flash cut to the high post he is now wide open he’s now wide open because nage

Drew that second Defender and you get a wide open Catch and shoot three for one of the best jump Shooters in the history of the game so again simple action with a really smart screen a really solid screen from Yousef nkit a Smart Action from Devin Booker to snake the pick and

Roll nurkic’s size in the post drawing that double team and Kevin Durant operating with an advantage you’re giving one of the best players in the world a wideopen catch and shoot jump shot at the foul line because of your ability to create advantages that’s not ISO ball that is Advantage creation

Basketball clip number three all right so this is a textbook example of a ghost screen to attack a hedge and recover so here we’re going to get Kevin Durant up at the top of the key with Jared Allen on him Royce O’Neal right here is going

To set what’s called a ghost screen he’s going to run over like he’s going to set a screen and then he’s gonna quick flare to this opposite Wing right here Donovan Mitchell does not want to switch onto Kevin Durant and so what do we do and

We’ve talked about this concept A Lot on the show what do we do in a ghost screen situation when we don’t want to switch we hedge and recover right so as Roy O’Neal kind of set the brush screen and runs through Donovan Mitchell steps up and hedges but because Royce O’Neal

Slips it he doesn’t actually set the screen he just Sprints out that’s why they call it a ghost screen they call it a ghost screen because you’re not actually setting a screen you’re faking like you’re setting a screen and you’re sprinting out to the Wing So now Donovan

Mitchell has hedged and Royce O’Neal’s open because Royce O’Neal’s open Darius Garland has no choice but to rotate over to Roy O’Neal and now we’re getting a wide open Catch and shoot three for Bradley Beal who’s been outstanding this season in w open Catch and shoot situations so again a star level player

Operating with an advantage because of a basic action set at the top where you don’t want to switch one of your smaller Defenders onto Kevin freaking Durant so again that’s using KD not to play Bag basketball but rather to generate an advantage that a star player can take

Advantage of on the on the backside Al righty clip number four this is a really fun example if those of you guys to remember the Cavs Sons game earlier in the season the Cavs were dealing with some injuries and and georgees Nang was in the starting lineup

In this particular game and he drew the Kevin Durant assignment for most of the night and Kevin Durant just absolutely flambay him all over the floor you know who remembers that Yousef nurkic so we dribble up the floor Nang has checked into the game nurkic immediately is

Pointing over and he’s like look look look look at him he looks he sees Kevin dur Nang you could see nerkish identifying it and he’s like just give him the damn ball give him the ball so Devin Booker’s going to make an absurd postentry pass here across the court uh

And KD does a nice job of ceiling now once again we’re going to play Advantage creation basketball so KD is looking to post on Nang rip through and we’re going to get a hard double team from Evan Mobley on the Baseline side okay now this is where uh the Cavs have basically

Set up uh uh stru is supposed to be guarding Gordon but stru is now sliding in because Moy to keep Yousef nerkish unavailable so the open read here is Eric Gordon Caris LeVert and Darius Garland are still kind of matched up and they’re in position to

Close out so KD makes the right read you can see him see it but he has to make a whip around pass this is just an example of KD’s physical tools he can whip the ball around there now Darius Garland had to rotate off of Royce O’Neal to get to

Eric Gordon so the obvious next step in the tic tac toe is Royce O’Neal right here at the top of the key we get the kickout pass now Max stru is closing out but but again now this would typically be Grayson Allen who’s actually one of the better closeout attackers in the

League Royce Neil is not as good as him but he does a good job here pump AES gets stru to take a hard step towards his right shoulder so he can beat him off the dribble now as he beats him off the dribble LT is looking at the help

Situation here he knows MO is going to have to step up on Royce O’Neal so Levert’s trying to read the situation it looks like Nang is going to help on nkit so now Levert is basically guarding two-on-one here against Devon Booker and Kevin Durant you can actually see Levert

Guessing he’s like which way is he going to go which way is he going to go Nang Nang tags nkit which way is he gonna go he guesses Durant so he runs to Durant side so now Royce O’Neil is able to make this kickout pass to Devon Booker and

Now Carris Levert is now closing out again look at this ball’s in the air Devin Booker one of the best offensive players in the world is now catching on the perimeter wide open with a Defender closing out at him an advantage created for the star he catches and quick makes

The extra swing pass to Kevin Durant in the corner who knock he actually misses this three but this is a great example of a super highquality shot that they generate again through Advantage creation basketball for one of the best Shooters in the league all right here we go heading to

Clip number five by the way that blast play ended with nkic getting an offensive Rebound in the chaos throwing it back out to Devon Booker and he ended up making a jab step three at the top of the key all right so here we’re going to

Get the first sight of bub who was an absolute monster in this game we’re going to be talking about him quite a bit here but we’re going to get multiple screening actions uh that’s going to end with Beal and Eubanks on the right side of the floor so we get this screening action

Here it’s going to be swung across the floor here to uh to Eubanks this play was actually designed I believe um for Beal on the strong side the whole time to uh run a screening action for KD so my guess is the original design of this play was Eubanks was supposed to screen

For Kevin Durant coming out Cleveland just defends it really well so you can see Beal’s looking he’s looking for KD stru just does a really nice job navigating this and shutting that action off so the next step in this flow here is this screening action didn’t work KD

Is going to go space to the corner and Eubanks is going to set up step up and set a ball screen so you could see you can actually see eubank’s Point like all right I’m gonna go set it you slide down he’s literally pointing like go down so

Then he comes up and he sets the screen Evan Moy is now up at the level of the screen now as we know when you get the screen Defender up to the level that’s going to have to pull one of these guys in to tag the roller almost usually

Carris Levert in this particular situation so we have Moy at the level Beal comes over the top Eubanks is rolling into the lane Mitchell’s going to kind of sort of stunt at him but Beal at this point has already identified that Levert is coming in to step in and

Guard Eubanks and Beal makes a very nice skip pass to the weak side corner to b b who by the way is shooting 48% field goal percentage on catch and shoot jump shots this season and he knocks down the corner three alrighty this is uh our last

Offensive play before we get into our pick and roll coverages this one actually starts with bbow on a switch against Donovan Mitchell picking him clean doing more work on the defensive end that’s not the last we’re going to hear of BB on the defensive end we’ll

Get back there in a minute we run down to the other end of the floor we’re going to get what’s called a Rams for youf nkit so I’m so excited about this because I’ve talked about so many of these Concepts on the show and I haven’t been able to actually give you

Guys visual examples and now we can so a ram screen as I’ve talked about so many times over the years the purpose of the ram screen is to get a gap between these two guys because if Jared Allen who’s an excellent pick and roll Defender is able

To just walk into his defensive coverage it’s a lot easier for him to do his job but if you can create a SE ation between these two guys Yousef durage can Sprint up into the screen and there’s going to be a minute there or a second there

Where it’s a two onone where the screen Defender is trailing the play and you can create an advantage and uh this one doesn’t actually amount to anything but I wanted to actually just kind of demonstrate to you guys the concept this does turn into a bucket for Phoenix put

In a counter so here’s our Ram screen Eric Gordon is setting the pin down on Jared Allen to try and Yousef nkit is running up to set the screen right so Eric Gordon does a good job he makes contact now we get our separation there’s our separation right Levert

Counters this by icing the ball screen so nkit is coming up to that right hand side if if Devin Booker could get to his right hand here Allen would be compromised because he’s fighting up around this way Devin Booker in all likelihood would turn the corner and get

All the way to the basket so Levert counters this by icing the screen which means denying the use of the screen so look he’s sitting on the high side in begging Devin Booker to drive back to this leftand side so again there’s another hop to the

High side as nkit tried to create even more uh angle for Devon Booker to go right lever is completely denying the use of the screen in the move to the right but obviously that bakes in a driving lane to the left which is Jared Allen’s job to catch right in any sort

Of ice coverage this big guy is typically going to drop back and catch that drive away from the screen so Devon Booker drives he engages Allen and dein Booker knows he’s not just going to drive by him or shoot over the top he is now waiting for nerkish to break open as

He slips out of the screen patiently waiting patiently waiting makes the pass puts it in a perfect spot where Levert can’t get to it nurish does a good job of a low gather there you can see him actually take a low gather to prevent um to prevent Darius garland from reaching

Down and because he’s behind the roll man because or because the roll man is behind the screen Defender that that forces stru to step over from BB out of the corner which creates a wideopen three for BB in the corner who again is shooting 48% on catch and shoot three so

That’s it for the uh for the offensive end of the floor and again I think I I hope that that provides you guys a good example again we’re talking about a difference here of 133% in the percentage of their field goals that are assisted during this four game stretch

Compared to what it was like last year in the postseason they are not playing herob ball they are not playing we uh we have to take tough shots every time down the floor they are playing Advantage creation basketball and they’re giving really high level offensive players high quality opportunities to convert into

Points and that’s how you light up a bunch of top 10 defenses consecutively all right let’s get back to the film and talk about the defensive end of the floor we’re gonna be going over here for this one so our first pick and roll defensive clip now on this first action we’re

Going to get a ball screen here with Evan Mobley on Darius Garland okay as he sets the screen Devin Booker identifies it immediately if you look at Booker he’s chilling here in the corner but he identifies the ball screen immediately and steps up into the driving lane so

See steps up into this driving lane he’s put himself in a position where if Darius Garland turns the corner he can offer help but he also feels comfortable closing out to the high side of Carris Levert and chasing him on that Baseline side where Kevin Durant can help and in

That case if he were to chase Levert off Kevin Durant would help and knee yangs coming out Booker could honestly just switch after he gets beat so this is really smart help from Devon Booker typically you don’t help out of the strong side corner but he just knows

That he has the ability to chase Levert off there so this forces a reversal the ball gets reversed around to the other end of the floor and we’re going to get Max stru in a ball screen with Evan Mobley we have Roy O’Neal chasing over the top does a good job staying physical

And staying attached but Max nice little extra crossover dribble to beat Royce O’Neal and get into the lane watch Deon Booker here though Devon Booker this whole time this action’s happening over here look he’s pointing he’s telling KD hey they’re running a ball screen they might get beat you’re going to have to

Be the low man here which means if Mooby sneaks behind or if anybody gets downhill Kevin Durant’s cleaning that up that means the next step in the wind shield wiper rotation is Devin Booker has to rotate down here to Nang in the corner and Eric Gordon has to rotate

Here to Caris LeVert on the wing Deon Booker’s ahead of the play this is that communication piece the the action hasn’t even the action is just now happening Booker’s been calling out the coverage here for a few seconds and that allows them to be ahead of it so when he

Gets beat KD steps up as KD steps up look at Booker Booker immediately takes a slide step as soon as KD goes KD goes Booker slide step and he forces the turnover and you can actually see if you watch Eric Gordon Eric Gordon is already ready right here to make the rotation to

Levert see he’s not wor about Garland anymore he’s rotating to Levert so again the communication on the backline and the effort to get to the right place in time and you force a turnover another interesting example here is Devin Booker is one of the best pick and role players

In the league he understands these reads better than everybody and so he as a Defender can actually channel that offensive IQ to understand the reads and actually get ahead of them as the defensive player all right on to clip number eight this is a textbook example of what’s

Called a peel off switch so we have a TR a transition opportunity here for the Suns Levert sees an opportunity he’s like I’ve got bub on me bub is a forward he’s not going to be particularly good at navigating screens we talk about this

All the time so what a great time to run a ball screen because B probably doesn’t know how to guard it well it turns out b b does know how to guard it so as the ball screen comes Moy comes to set it as

He sets it you can see bbo try to fight over the to he tries to fight over the top of the screen but then he sees right here he identifies that Bradley Beal has effectively switched so this is what’s called a peel off switch when you’re in

A ball screen and you’re trying to fight over the top and you end up getting caught a little bit and your screen Defender switches your read as the on ball Defender is to peel off of your man and to take the rle man and to in many

Cases if the guard is looking to shoot in many cases your job is just to keep him off the glass but in this case Caris lt’s going to try to throw an over-the-top pass to Evan Mobley but because BB peeled off so quickly and because he has such outstanding physical

Tools he’s able to knock that away so he blows up the play guarding guarding on the ball in the ball screen by knowing what to do which is example which is an example of him being an extremely versatile defensive player but again Carris Levert thought he saw food there

He thought he s he thought he saw an opportunity to take advantage of a defensive weakness in that situation and it turned out to be a defensive strength alrighty here we go this one is really high level pick and roll defense against a complicated action so what these uh Cavs

Are doing here is they’re running an action that feeds into a ball screen so MO is going to try to screen Gordon first and then Mitchell’s going to set the first pick and they’re setting a staggered ball screen typically in a staggered ball screen the one of the

Guys is going to roll hard to the rim and the other guy is going to pop in this case obviously that’s going to be Mitchell as the popper and Evan Mobley as the roller the um the idea here is to try to confuse this coverage because it’s a three-man action instead of a

Two-man action you can actually see Donovan Mitchell watch Donovan Mitchell try to reach out and tap just tap Devin Booker on the hip watch this see that little tap there’s a very specific reason why he does that he’s think a lot of teams will switch the guard guard

Version of this screen so a lot of teams would be like oh Eric Gordon’s going to jump off on Darius Garland here and Devin Booker is going to now switch on to Donovan Mitchell Donovan Mitchell is trying to trigger that because he sees Eric Gordon with his back turned to

Garland and he knows if he can force a switch Garland will be able to come over the top here easily into his spot but instead Mitchell’s trying to tap the uh Devon Booker to fool him into thinking that’s a screen trying to get Devon Booker to trigger a switch so that he

Switches on to Mitchell Booker does not fall for it Eric Gordon stays attached Booker fights over the top now this is a textbook example of no roller behind drop coverage so watch uh nurkic he’s staying in a position where he can help on on Moy and help on Garland he’s

Playing he’s playing the low man here Roy O’Neal is trying to read nurkic and he’s in there just just in case he does need to help but he quickly identifies watch O’Neal right there he identifies nurkic has this he’s like I’m in there I’m in there I’m in there right now he’s

Like nurkic has this he hops back okay now Garland makes the skip pass because of that hop he’s in position to close out if he doesn’t make that hop and he’s in the lane this is a wide open three for Carris Levert we get a really good

Close out from Royce O’Neal traps him on that Baseline side and he ends up ripping him from behind on the dribble move in forcing the turnover so that’s really good pick and roll defense because the guys out top at the initial action were communicating and not

Falling for the disguise of that of that specific action and then Bo O’Neal in his pick and roll coverage identifying as the low man that nurkic was in in good position and staying in a position where he could close out on the weak side that’s an example of not overh

Helping all right here’s our last clip of our film session this one actually ends in a basket uh but I thought it was an interesting example of pre- switching to beat a ram screen so let’s go over how this works out here so uh Cleveland is setting up in the same type of

Situation that we saw Phoenix set up in earlier Darius Garland wants to create a gap between Jared Jared Allen and de and Drew Eubanks and so they’re going to use donov Mitchell to set a ram screen down on Eubanks to try to get Allen a gap Devin Booker super smart offensive

Player runs this same action himself he identifies it him and and Eubanks are looking at each other right now and they’re communicating and they know here comes a ram screen so they’re going to talk hey let’s pre- switch it see they both signal to each other we’re going to

Pre-switch this action so what they’re doing is Devin Booker is switching onto Jared Allen so now that Ram screen is completely neutralized and now you can switch this ball screen out top now here’s where they make a mistake though uh Bradley Beal as soon as he identifies that Devon Booker is up here

And that Allen is actually trying to uh screen on his outside side Bradley Beal should just be jumping up to this high side immediately because he knows if he gets beat to the right hand side Devin Booker’s there so this is an example of them botching this part of the coverage

But I did think that the pre- switch was a really interesting example of a way to counter the ram screen so because they don’t do that Darius Garland’s able to turn the corner going left which pulls uh uh which pulls Beal up high enough that they can get the ball to Allen and

He just catches too deep and that’s just too easy of a shot uh but again I thought that that was an interesting example uh as you can tell even though they gave up a basket in that specific case the uh the the effort on the backline of those guys like again as the

Action is developing Devon Booker and Drew Eubanks are talking to each other they’re pointing they’re communicating they let they’re letting each other know where they need to go I thought that was a consistent theme throughout this particular set of Clips just seeing that level of communication and effort on the

Backline defensively to guard in pick and roll and again they were excellent in pick and roll throughout that particular game um final note on the Suns like I you know it’s interesting I don’t necessarily think Phoenix has a lot of of physical strength after nkit that’s definitely the weakness of their

Particular roster as you look around the league every team has weaknesses that’s not a shot uh but after nurkic they have a ton of speed a ton of skill and a ton of basketball IQ and then nerkish brings the unique element of strength for that very specific Denver matchup in Nicole

Yic and so because they’re playing a better brand of basketball now because they’re not playing hero ball they’re playing Advantage creation basketball again like I mentioned earlier assist on 70% of their made field goals in this four game span versus 57% in the playoffs last year that’s allowing them

To reach a higher level offensive ceiling and then they’re competing defensively and communicating and defending pick and roll really well I personally think that Phoenix is probably at this point if I had to pick a team out west that I think is the second best team in the west behind

Denver right now I lean towards Phoenix I think they have the best combination of personnel SC playoff scalability and the ability to compete on both ends of the floor not to mention the the the big white whale in the west being that’s a unfortunate accidental metaphor for uh

For yic but I meant just like Denver as a unit as an entity they are the the the terrifying you know World destroyer in the Western Conference Phoenix is the team that I think is most well equipped to beat them so as of right now I think

They’re the team that I view as the second best team in the Western Conference the thrill and excitement of March Mania is here and draftking Sportsbook one of America’s top rated Sportsbook apps is giving new customers a shot to turn five bucks into $150 instantly in bonus Bets with any

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$150 in stantly in bonus bets only at draftking Sportsbook with code Hoops that’s h o o PS the crown is yours all right let’s move on to our next segment in our mailbag hey Jason Wy question I’ve been watching your show for a few years now

Top 0.1% of Spotify listeners by the way huge fan thanks for supporting the show I really appreciate it and I’ve heard that you say the primary goal of rebuilding a franchise is to go get a superstar by all metrics it looks like wemi is that guy if you were the GM of

The Spurs what would you do next who are you keeping who are you letting go what kinds of player archetypes are you looking to bring in through trades slash drafts um and then thank you so much for your work it has helped me understand and enjoy basketball so much more than

Before again I sincerely appreciate the kind of words and for supporting so the initial structure is what I want to look at here so if we agree that Victor wanyama is our Superstar to kind of anchor everything with San Antonio now we look at like the ideal kind of

Fiveman lineup right now for me right next to Victor wanyama at that forward spot I’m looking for a big strong forward that can help in defensive rebounding situations and in low man situations kind of like we were talking about in the Suns earlier that guy that steps over in ball screen situations

When Victor wanyama has to come up to the level of the screen right at the three spot we’re looking for a guy who could defend on the perimeter knock down threes and attack Closeouts really well at the two spot I’m primarily looking for in the 2-1 depending on uh who you

End up building around if it ends up being Deon Vel Devon Vel at the two ends up being your skill guard right like he’s the guy that is going to have the ball in his hands a lot be running a lot of pick and roll I really need the point

Guard in that case to be an outstanding perimeter Defender a guy who can navigate screens well guard the other team’s uh best guard so on and so forth now with Devon Vel being a skill guard I do think that from the uh from the forward position one of those two

Forwards whether it’s the three or the four needs to be a really highlevel offensive player I do I do think that’s something that they’ll need in the long run what makes this complicated is you look at the payroll Devon vasel is locked up on a pretty affordable deal

Especially when you factor in uh how the salary cap could change over the next TV deal uh Kellin Johnson and Zach Collins are your main larger contracts they’re in the High Teens but most of the young guys are on rookie deals so like with those guys there you’re not going to be

Dumping them for salary you might include them in a star trade if you’re looking to bring somebody back but there’s no reason like they don’t really make up much of a of a factor in your payroll situation right but we also have to acknowledge the reality of W’s

Development Arc he is so good so fast there’s like a better than 50% chance in my opinion that he’s going to be a top 10 player in the league next year and it’s on the table that he could be a top five player in the league next year

That’s how freaking good Victor wanyama is and we’re talking about another six seven months uh or longer of development before we get to that point so like that that that you can’t be Oklahoma City and do a fiveyear slow burn of a rebuild you can’t take this slow there’s a certain

Urgency element here based on the reality of Victor wean yama’s development so from there I I I I would look at as far as the young guys go none of them would be safe for me except for Devon vasel and vikor wenyama and I would trade Devon vasel if it brought

Back a superstar shot Creator but like the other guys like like I like Jeremy soan Sohan not not enough to to view him as Untouchable like Trey Jones not enough to view him as Untouchable I’ve never been a big Kellan Johnson fan I think he’s a little tunnel vision and

Not a good enough shooter so like from there it it it really is about who you who who becomes available in the off season I really do think they need to make some type of all-in move for an All-Star in their Prime sooner than later sometime in the next two years

Trey young is an interesting option but he’s a very risky option he’s a guy that I think unlocks a lot offensively right away but he’s going to be expensive to get and then two there’s a there’s a there’s a a case to be made that it’s

That it’s cashing in too early and for not a good enough player and so the Trey young thing I’m kind of more leaning towards I would hold back if I was San Antonio but that is an interesting option and I do like the offense to fit with Victor wanyama from there I’d be

Looking for a forward someone that can work in that three four spot who is a much higher level offensive player than what you’ve had in uh uh over the course of this season a guy like Lori marinan is a guy i’ look at at guy like Brandon

Ingram like what if the pels flame out and they decide that you know Zion is the guy they want to build around and they’re and the guy that they need to cash in as someone like a Brandon Ingram that’s a guy that I’d be looking at male

Bridges I know Brooklyn loves him and Views him as a foundational piece but that’s completely irrational given where they’re at in terms of Talent on that roster and Mel Bridge’s age and where he at where he’s at in his development and the fact that he’s kind of close to his

Ceiling Mel Bridges is a guy that I’d be looking at but again if you in terms of the actual structure of the roster two forwards there one of them needs to be a a score of some kind a high level offensive player the three needs to be able to navigate on the perimeter

Defensively the four needs to be bigger and stronger especially since Victor’s a little bit on the skinny side and then at those guards one of your guards needs to be a high level skill guard and then the other one needs to be some kind of Bulldog like point of attack Defender

That can navigate screens that would be the the structure that I’d go with from there but I do think that they need to make some sort of all moves sooner than later just because of Victor Wan yama’s development all right before we get out of here the Julius Randle injury so it

Turns out that he tried to rehab the shoulder and it just isn’t going to come around and so he’s getting surgery and he’s going to be out for the rest of the season what does that mean for the Knicks here’s the thing theoretically if ogan anobi can come back and get the uh

Uh the elbow inflammation under control I do think he can slide into that four spot and Isaiah hartenstein is playing so incredibly well and Mitchell Robinson is back into the equation in a way that he wasn’t earlier in the season right so like the Knicks are still formidable but

The reality is they need a consistent shot Creator Beyond uh uh Beyond Jaylen Bruno we saw last year when Julius Randle was available and he just wasn’t quite good enough because he was out of rhythm and playing on a bum ankle we saw that that wasn’t enough and so I it’s a

Lot of pressure on ogan and noi to kind of be that matchup attacking forward to create shots and so I had really high aspirations for the Knicks and I still do in the long run and I’m really curious to see what they do this summer to kind of bring in that legitimate

Secondary shot Creator next to Jaylen Brunson whether that’s just Julius Ral getting healthy or some sort of trade or or free agent acquisition but I’m interested to see what they do in the long run but I just don’t know that they can get through that Gauntlet at the top

Of the Eastern Conference without having a Bonafide secondary shot Creator and so I kind of view that Julius rle injury as a bit of a death sentence that said again I think the way you kind of structure this in the short term is when ogn and Obi comes back you play him at

The four and essentially ask him to do a lot of what Julius Randall does targeting smaller uh guards and screening actions to get switches and to do that bullyball postup attack just to have an option to spell Jaylen Brunson as much as you can New York is still

Going to be a pain in the ass again Julius Randle wasn’t even very good last year and they were you know a few shots away from uh being uh being in a good position to make it to the conference finals so I still believe in the Knicks

As a as a like a kind of a pain in the ass type of threat but I Firepower is just going to eventually be an issue for them there’s just too many teams around the league that have more shot creation than the Knicks do and so the Julius

Randall uh injury is more or less a death sentence at this point unfortunately it’s been a fun Nick season they’ve competed through it all and they have such a bright future and they have so much talent on the roster but it’s just they they their only hope

Uh relied on Julius Randle coming back this year and being a reliable secondary shot Creator all right guys that is all we have for this morning as of right now we’re planning on going live tonight on YouTube after the final buzzer of Nuggets Clippers unless a bunch of

Superstars end up not playing so we’ll see how the injury report comes out uh but I hope you guys have been enjoying these um uh these film sessions I’m excited to keep building them out in the long run I appreciate you guys’ support and I will see you next Time

Jason Timpf reacts to Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and the Phoenix Suns’ 122-101 win over Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Jason breaks down film to show how the Phoenix offense has evolved this season to the point where he now views them as the biggest threat to Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference. Later, Jason discusses how the San Antonio Spurs should build around Victor Wembanyama and the news that New York Knicks’ forward Julius Randle will miss the rest of the NBA season. Does this completely eliminate New York from contention?

Timeline:
00:00 – Introduction
01:30 – How Suns have improved
08:16 – Film Study: Suns offense vs. Cavaliers
23:15 – Film Study: Suns defense vs. Cavaliers
34:35 – How should Spurs build around Wemby?
40:00 – Julius Randle out for season

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