Coach Spins Clipboard: Short Rolls, Lazy Switches & Brook Lopez's Massive Impact
Plus Desmond Bane's scoring jump, Mikal Bridges new offensive role, and the emergence of Isaiah Jackson in Indiana
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I’m a big believer in the law of averages. Over time, all data comes to rest close to where it belongs. Out of the gates, the NBA season can provide some massive outliers and skew the perception of how teams’ seasons are. It isn’t until Thanksgiving that we start to check the standings and sift through which teams are in trouble or doing better than we expected.
That shouldn’t invalidate the entire first month of the season, though. Some teams and players are impactful enough to show their lasting power. Others are trying new things, utilizing players in different roles, and illustrating the importance of evolution within an NBA team.
It’s on those topics that we focus on this week. The return of some veterans, the improvements of other youngsters, and the epidemic of lazy switching that is plaguing NBA defense across the board.
The Brook Lopez Backline
I think we all massively underrated the absence of Brook Lopez a year ago.
The Milwaukee Bucks, 2021 NBA Champions, won the title on the backs of Giannis Antetokounmpo and a top-ten defense. Last season, Brook Lopez only played in 13 games due to injury, though he did make it back in time for the playoffs. Lopez didn’t quite look like himself during the postseason and played a slightly more limited role as a result. It was understandable to wonder if he would ever get back to his pre-injury impact.
Well… Lopez looks like he’s back to his 2020-21 self. And with that comes a real belief that the Bucks have the most dominant defense in the league. It’s helped them soar out of the gates to a 9-0 start.
Brook has always been utilized in Drop coverage when guarding the pick-and-roll due to some of his physical limitations. He’s become one of the best technicians at knowing how to play angles and limit space for the offense. Against the Detroit Pistons this week he put his rim protection prowess on full display.
The Pistons have two main drivers who put pressure on the rim in different ways. Cade Cunningham is the cerebral, strong slasher who plays off two feet and uses angles well of his own. Jaden Ivey, the other pick-and-roll threat, is the livewire attacker with elite top speed and bursty athleticism. Lopez proved early and often that he’s impactful against both types of scorers.
Watch how active Lopez’s feet are as he backpedals from the elbow to the rim. His feet are the furthest things from clunky and slow. He’s aging gracefully as a defender, despite his lack of vertical burst or elite athleticism, because he’s so good with angles and is willing to move his feet.
In general, Lopez just looks sprier on his feet. While the Bucks love to play him in a deep drop, the existence of length and size within their lineups from Antetokounmpo and Portis give them rim protection in the moments teams scheme to get Brook away from the basket. Several teams have tried to stick their 5-man in the corner or on the wing so that Lopez has to stick there and be removed from the hoop.
With length behind Lopez, the Bucks worry less about him getting beaten off the bounce and then being naked on the rim. But here’s the thing: Lopez hasn’t been some stiff, unbalanced defender when he’s out on the perimeter. So long as he is on a big body, he can move his feet adequately in ways that I wouldn’t have predicted for a 34-year-old big man:
This isn’t just against the lowly Detroit Pistons, either. Every on-off metric and defensive rating number indicates that the Bucks are a dominant defensive group when Lopez is on the floor. A five-man lineup of Jevon Carter, Jrue Holliday, Grayson Allen, Giannis and Lopez is holding opponents to only 37.2% shooting in 81 minutes. Opponents are only shooting 52.2% inside six feet when Lopez is the closest contesting defender. There are so many indicators that Brook has been the most important defensive cog in their success.
A fresh Lopez, if he can hold up throughout the season, is a game-changer for their hopes of heading back to the NBA Finals.
Isaiah Jackson the Playmaker
I feel like this doesn’t get said enough: Tyrese Haliburton is an unbelievable player.
Already, Haliburton is receiving extra attention and double-teams in ball screens from opponents on a nightly basis. Part of that is from the Pacers having few other trusted creators, but the attention is a testament to his unreal production and seemingly always accurate decision-making in the pick-and-roll.
The Indiana Pacers have surrounded Haliburton with shooters whose roles can be simplified as a result. Bennedict Mathurin (42.9% from 3), Buddy Hield (42.5%) and the recently-injured Chris Duarte (34.2%) are all snipers of the catch-and-shoot variety. The Pacers are hoping Aaron Nesmith and Jalen Smith turn into reliable spacers as well.
Trapping Haliburton makes a lot of sense when the floor is so effectively spread around his ball screens. One area the Pacers haven’t been able to put out there next to him is an effective short roll threat, somebody who can set the screen and make accurate decisions at the nail hole. Myles Turner is a solid shooter and finisher, but he’s never shown a propensity to make plays for others.
Enter Isaiah Jackson.
The second-year big man from Kentucky has emerged as the go-to option for the Pacers when Haliburton is trapped. His short roll passing has been much better than anticipated and helps him become the offensive connector piece that keeps the entire offense humming.
None of these passes went down as an assist for Jackson, but he should get a lot of credit for helping create open looks or advantages for his teammates. Jackson is good enough of a roll man and lob threat to command help defenders sinking into the lane (unless you’re the Brooklyn Nets and are content with watching him stroll down main street). That opens up others and allows the ball to move freely and simply to the open man.
Keep an eye on Jackson as the season progresses and whether he shares more of his minutes with Haliburton. This is a great development for him and his game.
Mikal Bridges the Short Roll Passer
Speaking of pairing a short roll threat with an elite passing point guard…
Chris Paul looks a half-step slow and is doing far less as a scorer, averaging a mere 10.3 points per game. But Paul is as cerebral as ever, averaging 10.2 assists and only 1.4 turnovers. That’s an insane ratio through as many games as he’s played.
Like in Indiana, Phoenix doesn’t have a true 5-man who is best served to operate as a short roll threat. Deandre Ayton is a good roll threat and can score it, but he isn’t a polished passer or someone to make consistent plays off the bounce. The Suns play fairly small 1 thru 4 (meaning there isn’t another big man to exchange with Ayton) and the backups like Jock Landale and Bismack Biyombo aren’t more skilled here.
Offensive guru Monty Williams has reshuffled the deck and found ways to utilize Mikal Bridges as the screening 4-man — and not just in pick-and-pop zoom actions that are so common nowadays. Bridges is surprisingly natural at screening, holding off a switch on his high side, rolling to the hoop and making a long-stride finish without a bounce:
There’s clear trust here, as Monty dials up these play calls in the final two minutes of games. Bridges is indispensable as a defender, and he’s found so much utility and impact as an offensive piece by growing his game year after year. This scoring appears to be part of his next stage of improvement.
Bridges is also averaging a career-high 3.0 assists per 36 minutes, and his work as a playmaker meshes well with the new roll (pun intended).