biltalent
Starter
In part one of the filmroom series I looked at the defensive system of the Sacramento Kings and it turned out to be a great discussion about how we could improve. If you want to look back, here is the link:
http://kingsfans.com/threads/in-the-filmroom-pt-1-a-flawed-system-–-defense.63514/
In this second part of the filmroom series I want to look at the offense the kings run under George Karl. I don’t claim my analysis to be complete but I hope you enjoy it and I’d love to hear your feedback.
When you look at the raw numbers, the Sacramento Kings are a good-to-average team on the offensive side of the ball. They score 106 points per game, 3rd in the league. Shooting wise, they are 4th in FG% and 10th in 3P%. They are 4th in Assists per game and get the 5th most free-throws. But on the other side, they’re 28th in turnovers and 26th in free-throw percentage.
And how do the Kings score? Well if there is one word to describe it, then it is “run!”. The numbers show it as the Kings are first in pace (estimate of numbers of possessions per 48 min), even before the Warriors, and 3rd in points scored by fast break. And when you watch the Kings play, you will notice that as soon as a shot goes up, someone will sprint cut to receive an outlet pass.
And even when nothing is open on the fast break, they try to score as fast as possible before the defense is set. Playing fast was really the emphasis in training camp when Karl had them play with a 18-secoond shot clock and it has translated to the regular season games. The reasoning behind this is that Karl wants the Kings to score before the defense is set and can force them into a tough contested shot. As shown in the efficiency numbers above he has a point here. With defenses constantly evolving Karl feels like the easiest way to score is on the break and the numbers back that up. 3rd in scoring, 4th in fg% and assists show that we have a highly efficient offense.
But the up tempo style has a price. Playing fast puts much more pressure on everyone with the ball to make the right decision. This gets even worse when you consider that the Kings again had a complete roster turnaround and the players hardly know each other. As a result, they commit a lot of turnovers. The high pace also causes everyone to get winded quickly what may explain the bad free-throw percentage. It also makes it harder to spend your energy on the defensive end.
And there is also the fit factor. Yes, fast break points are very effective, but should you really run that much when your franchise corner stone is a 6’11’’ 270 lbs Center?
It also seems like they didn’t practice half court sets at all during training camp. The last game against the Pellicans really showed that. They do not have a single reliable set that they can turn to when they can’t score in the first 8 seconds. And it really hurts the efficiency of Cousins and Belinelli because they have to create and take tough shots as the main options on the team. Meanwhile Cousins has the highest usage of his career, a ridicoulous 35.8. By the way, this is one of the highest usages a Center has ever recorded in the NBA:
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/demarcus-cousins-is-a-usage-monster/
(thanks to Brick for coming up with the source)
The whole half-court offense is not working and this leads to even more pressure on Boogie as his talent alone is often the only way we can score. He is single-handedly carrying this team because no one else is capable of breaking his man down and make a play. We would have to rely on clever sets that get guys open, but we don’t have any.
The most “effective” set the Kings repeatedly run is to set a cross screen for Demarcus and give him the ball in the post. But there is no weak-side movement or screening action involved afterwards.
Notice how all 5 defenders are so close to Demarcus because they don’t have to fight through screens or watch their man while Demarcus has the ball. It is also way easier to doubleteam Demarcus in this situation and it makes it harder for him to pass out of the post. And this is although all 4 other players are spaced. But if you don’t have movement or screens it doesn’t matter.
In other sets they use him a face-up 5 trying to break his man down on a dribble drive from the 3-point line. This goes clearly back to the “dribble drive offense” as the coaching stuff sees Demarcus at its best as a perimeter player.
He can do that as he is the most skilled big in the NBA but I would argue that are way more effective ways to use him. For example I would rather see him attack from the elbows than from the 3 point line.
And of course there is also the patented “Marco has to come off screens and shoot a tough midrange fallaway” play a few times per game.
What I don’t understand is why they don’t take a page from the playbook of the Spurs or the Warriors. Take the Spurs “Motion Weak” for example. It starts with motion by the PG and then a cross screen from a shooter for the post guy. But after that, the shooter gets a screen to get to the top and is looking for an open 3.
In this video, the Spurs execute it very well. Tony Parker brings the ball up and passes it to the wing, Kawhi Leonhard. Leonhard makes a pass to the trailer Duncan, and he swings it again to Parker. Meanwhile, Danny Green sets a cross screen to give their post guy good post position and after that he receives a screen to the top and gets an open 3.
Here is another example of the same play, but this time the 3 is not open and the post guy gets the ball with good spacing and scores.
I like motion weak because it fits with the strengths of our players and reduces the impact of their weaknesses. It also gets everyone involved instead of standing around and watch the ball. And remember it is only a basic set. As players get more comfortable with it you can always add new elements for it. For example, after getting the ball to Demarcus in the post, Rondo could set a screen for the shooter at the top and then cut to the basket to prevent his man to double the post. Or you can flow into Horns afterwards and get another good shot out of it.
I don’t see any reason why they could not to run this after a full training camp when even the Memphis Summer League Team apparently had enough time to implement it. But we haven’t seen any good motion like that the whole season.
Then there is also the issue that they don’t go to Demarcus in the post at all when Cousins is guarded by a big Center. In the games against Indiana and Charlotte, they went to Demarcus in the post all the time and he scored more than 45 points each time. But he was guarded by Jordan Hill and Spencer Hawes. And what do they do in the game against the Pellicans, where he is guarded by Asik? Back to perimeter drives and pull up jumpers. Of course you want to adapt your strategy to your opponent but every time Demarcus or someone else shoots a jumper after a dribble drive you bail the other team out.
All in all, I think our offense is a mixed bag. We are a very efficient team by playing up tempo, but we also turn the ball over like crazy and don’t have a single effective set play that we can turn to when we need a score in the half court. In some crazy way that only our Kings franchise can pull of we go away from using our franchise player the right way only to depend on him more than ever before.
So how should we move forward? I think we should slow the pace a bit down and try to run clever sets with Demarcus in the post. He doesn’t even have to score there but his mere presence down low opens up a lot for others as for example passes out of the post for open 3s are really deadly. This will not only reduce his usage but also allow his fg% and our 3-P% to go up.
It doesn’t have to be a either or situation with fast breaks and a slower defensive game in the half court. Both defense and offense fuel each other. If you come out aggressive on defense and you get stops you will be able to run. If you don’t get anything of the fast break, slow down and run your sets. Score effectively in the half-court and the defense will have the time and energy to get back and be aggressive. Rinse and repeat.
Hope you enjoyed it!
Related videos:
Coach Daniel goes into detail on post up concepts:
(7:30 min)
Coach Nicks explains the value of post passing for 3-Point shooting:
(7:10 min)
http://kingsfans.com/threads/in-the-filmroom-pt-1-a-flawed-system-–-defense.63514/
In this second part of the filmroom series I want to look at the offense the kings run under George Karl. I don’t claim my analysis to be complete but I hope you enjoy it and I’d love to hear your feedback.
When you look at the raw numbers, the Sacramento Kings are a good-to-average team on the offensive side of the ball. They score 106 points per game, 3rd in the league. Shooting wise, they are 4th in FG% and 10th in 3P%. They are 4th in Assists per game and get the 5th most free-throws. But on the other side, they’re 28th in turnovers and 26th in free-throw percentage.
And how do the Kings score? Well if there is one word to describe it, then it is “run!”. The numbers show it as the Kings are first in pace (estimate of numbers of possessions per 48 min), even before the Warriors, and 3rd in points scored by fast break. And when you watch the Kings play, you will notice that as soon as a shot goes up, someone will sprint cut to receive an outlet pass.
And even when nothing is open on the fast break, they try to score as fast as possible before the defense is set. Playing fast was really the emphasis in training camp when Karl had them play with a 18-secoond shot clock and it has translated to the regular season games. The reasoning behind this is that Karl wants the Kings to score before the defense is set and can force them into a tough contested shot. As shown in the efficiency numbers above he has a point here. With defenses constantly evolving Karl feels like the easiest way to score is on the break and the numbers back that up. 3rd in scoring, 4th in fg% and assists show that we have a highly efficient offense.
But the up tempo style has a price. Playing fast puts much more pressure on everyone with the ball to make the right decision. This gets even worse when you consider that the Kings again had a complete roster turnaround and the players hardly know each other. As a result, they commit a lot of turnovers. The high pace also causes everyone to get winded quickly what may explain the bad free-throw percentage. It also makes it harder to spend your energy on the defensive end.
And there is also the fit factor. Yes, fast break points are very effective, but should you really run that much when your franchise corner stone is a 6’11’’ 270 lbs Center?
It also seems like they didn’t practice half court sets at all during training camp. The last game against the Pellicans really showed that. They do not have a single reliable set that they can turn to when they can’t score in the first 8 seconds. And it really hurts the efficiency of Cousins and Belinelli because they have to create and take tough shots as the main options on the team. Meanwhile Cousins has the highest usage of his career, a ridicoulous 35.8. By the way, this is one of the highest usages a Center has ever recorded in the NBA:
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/demarcus-cousins-is-a-usage-monster/
(thanks to Brick for coming up with the source)
The whole half-court offense is not working and this leads to even more pressure on Boogie as his talent alone is often the only way we can score. He is single-handedly carrying this team because no one else is capable of breaking his man down and make a play. We would have to rely on clever sets that get guys open, but we don’t have any.
The most “effective” set the Kings repeatedly run is to set a cross screen for Demarcus and give him the ball in the post. But there is no weak-side movement or screening action involved afterwards.
Notice how all 5 defenders are so close to Demarcus because they don’t have to fight through screens or watch their man while Demarcus has the ball. It is also way easier to doubleteam Demarcus in this situation and it makes it harder for him to pass out of the post. And this is although all 4 other players are spaced. But if you don’t have movement or screens it doesn’t matter.
In other sets they use him a face-up 5 trying to break his man down on a dribble drive from the 3-point line. This goes clearly back to the “dribble drive offense” as the coaching stuff sees Demarcus at its best as a perimeter player.
He can do that as he is the most skilled big in the NBA but I would argue that are way more effective ways to use him. For example I would rather see him attack from the elbows than from the 3 point line.
And of course there is also the patented “Marco has to come off screens and shoot a tough midrange fallaway” play a few times per game.
What I don’t understand is why they don’t take a page from the playbook of the Spurs or the Warriors. Take the Spurs “Motion Weak” for example. It starts with motion by the PG and then a cross screen from a shooter for the post guy. But after that, the shooter gets a screen to get to the top and is looking for an open 3.
Here is another example of the same play, but this time the 3 is not open and the post guy gets the ball with good spacing and scores.
I like motion weak because it fits with the strengths of our players and reduces the impact of their weaknesses. It also gets everyone involved instead of standing around and watch the ball. And remember it is only a basic set. As players get more comfortable with it you can always add new elements for it. For example, after getting the ball to Demarcus in the post, Rondo could set a screen for the shooter at the top and then cut to the basket to prevent his man to double the post. Or you can flow into Horns afterwards and get another good shot out of it.
I don’t see any reason why they could not to run this after a full training camp when even the Memphis Summer League Team apparently had enough time to implement it. But we haven’t seen any good motion like that the whole season.
Then there is also the issue that they don’t go to Demarcus in the post at all when Cousins is guarded by a big Center. In the games against Indiana and Charlotte, they went to Demarcus in the post all the time and he scored more than 45 points each time. But he was guarded by Jordan Hill and Spencer Hawes. And what do they do in the game against the Pellicans, where he is guarded by Asik? Back to perimeter drives and pull up jumpers. Of course you want to adapt your strategy to your opponent but every time Demarcus or someone else shoots a jumper after a dribble drive you bail the other team out.
All in all, I think our offense is a mixed bag. We are a very efficient team by playing up tempo, but we also turn the ball over like crazy and don’t have a single effective set play that we can turn to when we need a score in the half court. In some crazy way that only our Kings franchise can pull of we go away from using our franchise player the right way only to depend on him more than ever before.
So how should we move forward? I think we should slow the pace a bit down and try to run clever sets with Demarcus in the post. He doesn’t even have to score there but his mere presence down low opens up a lot for others as for example passes out of the post for open 3s are really deadly. This will not only reduce his usage but also allow his fg% and our 3-P% to go up.
It doesn’t have to be a either or situation with fast breaks and a slower defensive game in the half court. Both defense and offense fuel each other. If you come out aggressive on defense and you get stops you will be able to run. If you don’t get anything of the fast break, slow down and run your sets. Score effectively in the half-court and the defense will have the time and energy to get back and be aggressive. Rinse and repeat.
Hope you enjoyed it!
Related videos:
Coach Daniel goes into detail on post up concepts:
Coach Nicks explains the value of post passing for 3-Point shooting:
