What can we learn from Coach Nick's breakdown of the Spurs defense? Don't sleep on the Spurs.
- The Spurs net differential is only slightly below the Warriors
- Their defensive efficiency could be the best in the NBA in the past 41 years
- Amazingly Leonard is only fifth on the Spurs in defensive rating but has a big impact on those around him
- LaMarcus Aldridge is providing great protection in the lane as is David West
- At 3:21 Diaw gets caught as the Celtics run the Spurs' "loop" but Ginobili and West provide great help to prevent Olynyk from getting an easy hoop
- Great teams fight to win each possession. At 3:50 the Spurs show "multiple efforts" to win a possession.
- At 4:50 the Spurs have Leonard on the ball and "Ice" the high ball screen.
- Coach Nick reinforces the "Hard 2" concept
- At 5:37 Coach shows another dimension to the Spurs limiting 3-point shooting: ball pressure
- At 6:07 the Spurs "Ice" the side ball screen with the baseline force. In my opinion, one reason the Celtics have been inconsistent lately is the absence of Marcus Smart defensively. For a young player, Smart really "gets it."
- At 6:58 the emphasis goes to communication. There's the "E-L-C" (early, loud, continuous) teaching on communicating.
- The summary? The Spurs communicate, pressure the ball, keep the ball out of the paint, limit 3s, and contest everything without fouling. Those are great messages for young players and teams with high aspirations.
On my semi-weekly cable TV show, I lamented what passes for low "basketball IQ" these days. I suspect a big part is players not watching much tape. Yes, it was painful to see those 8 mm black grainy mistakes, but they were instrumental in ramping up our vision.