It’s been a fun first week of international basketball at the Olympics, and we’ve enjoyed watching the best of the best compete for Olympic Gold. Here are a few things that have stuck out in the tournament thus far.
1. “Next Defense” and “Peel Switching” – Spain
Spain is always fun to watch on the offensive side of the ball, but the connectedness of their team defense has been impressive thus far as well. Two concepts that continue to stick out are their great execution of Reverse Screen “Next Defense”, as well as how they “peel switch” on certain drives and PNR coverages. Often times, the two tactics are used in the same possession.
To illustrate the difference between Spain “Nexting” on a “Wide” (or regular on-ball screen going towards the open side of the floor), and how they do it on a “Reverse Screen”, here’s a look at their coverage on a “Wide” screen where the help is coming from the top nail defender in the two-man “I”…
“Next” Defense – “Wide” PNR
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And now, here’s Spain “Nexting” when the ballscreen is being set at a “Reverse Angle”…
Reverse Screen “Nexting” – Two Men on Strongside
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Reverse Screen “Nexting” – Two Men on Weakside
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Zooming In: The detail to note is that in both instances of Spain “Nexting” the Reverse Screen, their stunt/switch is coming from the Top Tag defender on the two-man side. In the first GIF you can see the help coming over from the strongside, and in the second from the weakside. In both instances Spain’s big is in drop coverage and it’s the job of the defender “nexting” to provide quick help, plug the gap, and attack the ball with active hands to dissuade an easy skip pass while the defense is rotating out of the “Next” coverage.
Spain’s “Peel Switching”
On top of Spain’s use of “Nexting” PNR’s, they are also highly effective at “peel switching” if the situation calls for a full switch rather than a stunt. Here’s Spain’s Ricky Rubio “peeling” back to switch onto Rui Hachimura after the top PNR…
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And here’s a “Corner Peel” on a lane-line drive…
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2. Defensive Pressure and “Weaking” – Argentina
Though Argentina hasn’t stacked up well so far in the win/lose column, being in an extremely difficult Group with Spain and Slovenia, they’re still one of the best teams to watch tactically on both sides of the ball. What sticks out right away in Argentina’s first two games is 1) How much pressure they put on the ballhandler and in the lanes, and 2) Their use of “weaking” or forcing the ballhandler to their weak hand on drives and PNR’s. Here’s a look…
Ball/Lane Pressure and “Difficult Ball Reversals”
As Jeff Van Gundy lamented in our podcast with him a few months back when we talked about coaching in the international game, “getting the ball inbounds against Argentina was literally impossible.” Argentina makes everything hard for the offense, whether it’s getting the ball inbounds, trying to bring it up the floor, or trying to reverse it to get into your offensive flow, everything is difficult. Here’s a look at how hard they tried to make it for Spain to get into their offense…
“Difficult Ball Reversals”
As soon as the ball gets to half-court, Argentina is up in the lanes and makes it as difficult on you as possible to reverse the ball through the trail to the other side. Here it leads to a backcourt violation…
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And here, even after Spain is able to reverse it to Gasol, the pressure in the lane on the backside forces Gasol to reject the reversal and go right back to the same side of the floor.
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Zooming In: Spain is talented and well-coached enough that they were able to handle Argentina’s constant pressure on their way to an 81-71 victory, but how, when, and why Argentina places extreme pressure on an offense is worth noting.
Argentina’s “Weaking”
Not only does Argentina apply great pressure on the ball and in the lanes, but they also will “weak” the PNR and drives to force the ballhandler to their off hand. Here’s a quick look…
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3. Pace of Play – Slovenia
Slovenia has played extremely well thus far in the tournament, and Luka Doncic continues to show why he’s one of the best in the world. In the half-court, opponents thus far are getting a heavy dose of the spread PNR with Doncic at the handle, but what’s really stuck out with Slovenia is how fast they play. At the time of writing this newsletter they are averaging 117 PPG in the tournament, the only team to be above 100 PPG thus far. The next closest team is Team USA at 98 PPG. Slovenia has done a terrific job of putting shooters around Doncic and getting out fast in transition. They’re a lot of fun to watch.
For a look at some other key stats and how the top teams stack up, here’s a comparison chart…
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As shown, Slovenia has really played well thus far offensively. It’ll be interesting to see as the tournament goes on if they’re able to keep that pace, especially against great defensive teams like Spain.
We’ll be covering more from the Olympics in upcoming weeks. Any suggestions on trends you see that we might look into please feel free to reach out at info@slappinglass.com.
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