Coach Spins' Clipboard: Opening Night Notes
We revamp an old series as part of our continued expansion into NBA analysis. Check up on the Blazers, Raptors, and the pride of Loyola.
About eight years ago, I started writing for the website BBALL Breakdown as a means of amplifying my voice and developing as a writer. In working to come up with a theme for a regular column in the framework of Zach Lowe’s Ten Things format, our editor came up with the idea to utilize some pun that would leverage my coaching background.
Thus the “Coach Spins’ Clipboard” series was born. While BBALL Breakdown is no more, the roots of my NBA writing and film analysis poured forth from an around-the-league article instead of simple team-centric deep dives. The idea was to focus on the minutia, the pieces that the sickos and diehard basketball junkies would appreciate, if not notice on their own. Sure, talking about star players is important and gets the headline clicks. But the fun stuff is on the margins, and the clipboard is a place to take note of those little areas that don’t end up on the front pages.
Through nearly all my writing stops, the clipboard series followed me around and remained a staple. It was a weekly post at NBA Math from 2018-2019, made an appearance on the now-defunct The Basketball Writers, and then stopped when I stopped covering the league at large in 2020, as I became a Celtics-only contributor on SB Nation.
But with a new season comes a renewed push to watch the entire league once again. I’ll be writing for SB Nation on the national site, and with about 25% of the league being guys we once covered from a draft perspective, picking this up should be like riding a bike. So hoopaholics — come here for a sicko’s deep dive, the pallet-cleanser for the sophisticated eye, the peek behind the curtain of what we see when watching film.
It’s Friday morning, so finally every team has officially kicked off their NBA season (side note: opening night is more like opening week, I guess). We’ve found time to catch snippets of several games and the entirety of others — but we saw every team play at least a little bit.
To call a long-form column bouncing around the league after one game a reach would be an understatement. It’s not that we’re stretching for topics to write about, though — we’re just thrilled that basketball is back, especially that we’re writing about the NBA more again.
So let’s jump back in with a few proper musings from the kickoff of the NBA season.
Toronto’s Closing Defense
Yeah… Masai Ujiri knows what the hell he’s doing. So does Nick Nurse.
Down 97-92 with 4:55 left, Fred VanVleet subbed in for Precious Achiuwa, joining Gary Trent Jr., OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam on the floor against the Lanky Lob threats & company for the Cavs. Toronto went on a 16-8 run over the final five minutes to seal a late-game victory. Over that stretch, the Cavs went 1-6 from the field with three turnovers.
We all knew when Ujiri constructed this court-shrinking experiment of length and lateral coverage that the Raps would be a great defensive group. But even against a team like Cleveland, with a strong scoring guard in Mitchell and with two true bigs in Allen and Mobley, they were dominant when they needed to be.
The Cavs were even aided by two questionable foul calls on possessions where the Raps were defending the hell out of them.
Watch this initial possession with the fervent pressure from Toronto. Whether it’s a switch, a pseudo-denial in the passing lane or ball pressure applied to the handler, they are suffocating Cleveland’s attack. The ball doesn’t ever go within 20 feet of the basket as the Dino Dudes switch their way through a flurry of screens and handoffs:
Unreal. Cleveland is a good offensive team! They’re not running isolation actions here, either. What the Raps do on complex actions is outstanding: they not only guard the individual movements well off-ball but they crowd the handler/ passer to prevent any cracks behind them from being exploited. Just all around greatness on the perimeter.
That wasn’t the only area the Raps were dominant. Whenever Mobley or Allen would get into the paint and have even a sliver of room to get to the hoop, the lanky defenders converged like a group of drunk frat guys on a Taco Bell DoorDash. Before Mobley knew it, he was surrounded by three red jerseys and needed to kick the ball out to the perimeter.
That’s such an impressive play from a ground coverage standpoint. The Raps pretty aggressively show on Donovan Mitchell, opening Mobley on the roll. But both Barnes and Anunoby start sprinting to the short rolling big man immediately, then the others quickly scurry back to the perimeter once Mobley makes the pass. There’s so much value in not just their length but collective IQ.
If the Raptors can bring the boom like this in crunch time minutes, they’ll be a hilariously tough team to score on in ways other than isolation. Ultimately, forcing those shots is the trademark of a great defense.
Jalen Duren’s Impressive Start
Expectations for rookies are generally low, particularly at the big man position. A young, 18-year-old whippersnapper who is the youngest player in the NBA this season? Has to be pretty low at the start, right?
Duren is blowing the doors off those expectations out of the gate, opening his career with a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double off the bench in Detroit’s win over Orlando. Duren was sensational from an energy standpoint, but he impressed with his polish on the defensive end.
There were only a few moments when he challenged shots at the rim, but he was effective in all of them. Duren’s timing, verticality, strength, and overall ability to snatch balls out of midair were all on display at different points. One thing that is clear: he’s really strong and can put grown men on their asses.
The Pistons are toying with some switching 1 thru 5 at times, and Duren was impressive during the preseason with his ability to play angles and contain the ball on the perimeter. The rest of the roster has the length to make that scheme work, but they’re so young that the details to successfully switch from a team standpoint (especially their help from the weak side) are a long way away. For now, that means guys who can protect the rim may have to fly around and cover up mistakes. Duren has a naturally strong feel on that end to be a clean-up specialist. Just so rare for an 18-year-old.