The Pick-and-Roll Is the N.B.A.'s Old Reliable

[RonnieBrewer (Red Dunk)]

The Pick-and-Roll Is the N.B.A.'s Old Reliable

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/sports/basketball/20pick.html

By JONATHAN ABRAMS
Published: November 19, 2009


With the basketball in his hands, Orlando’s Jameer Nelson performs the
two-man two-step that the Magic and the entire N.B.A. have sought to perfect.

His eyes dart, his mind absorbs, his feet react as his teammate Dwight Howard
sets a pick and rolls to the basket, initiating a chain reaction designed to
produce defensive mayhem.

No other play in the N.B.A. creates such havoc, no other play is used as
often.

The basic pick-and-roll is the bread and butter of the N.B.A., with two
teammates working in conjunction on offense, with one player dribbling the
ball and the other standing still and trying to block the path of the ball
handler’s defender. As all hoopsters know, once the pick, or screen, is
carried out, the ball handler can pursue several options: pass the ball to
his teammate who set the pick and is now rolling toward the basket or another
space on the floor; take a shot himself; drive to the basket; or pass the
ball to another teammate who may be open.

“When it comes down to it, that's what we're going to be in when the game's
on the line,” Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy said of basketball's most reliable
play. “I say it all the time: I don't care how good you are, you can't take
away everything.”

The pick-and-roll is the play of choice for some of the league's best players,
like New Orleans's Chris Paul, Phoenix's Steve Nash, Miami's Dwyane Wade and
Cleveland's LeBron James. The league's dependence on the play is steadily
increasing, according to a five-year analysis by Synergy Sports Technology,
which logs every N.B.A. game, providing analytics to nearly every team.
Use of the pick-and-roll rose to 18.6 percent of the league's total plays
last season from 15.6 percent in 2004-5, when Synergy began tracking it.

The N.B.A. has largely turned away from relying on power players in favor of
up-tempo offense. The pick-and-roll allows that, while creating offensive
opportunities early in the 24-second shot clock. N.B.A. rule changes have
encouraged pick-and-rolls, cracking down on defensive hand checks that could
slow players like Nelson.

The Synergy analysis created a statistical portrait of the play’s use in the
N.B.A. and revealed the following:

¶The Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Lakers used the play the least in the
N.B.A. last season. Only 11 percent of their offensive plays originated with
the pick-and-roll.

¶With Wade as the main conduit, the Miami Heat used the pick-and-roll the
most in last year's regular season. The play originated in 26 percent of its
total offense. The Heat was followed by the San Antonio Spurs (25 percent)
and the Nets (24 percent). The Knicks (surprisingly given Mike D'Antoni's
fondness for disrupting defenses) placed 24th over all at 16 percent.

Nelson, who is currently sidelined for at least a month with a knee injury,
was the most effective pick-and-roll player last season, according to
Synergy. He averaged 1.15 points in offense generated for either himself or a
teammate each time he ran the pick-and-roll during an injury-shortened
regular season. James was second at 1.1. Paul posted a 1.08. Nash had a 1.06.

“It’s sort of like a fast break where you get a numbers advantage,” said
Garrick Barr, who is the chief executive of Synergy and who previously spent
11 years as the Suns' video coordinator. “Pick-and-rolls create a halfcourt
advantage.”

As teams rely more on the pick-and-roll, the traditional post-up game has
diminished. The number of offensive plays derived from post-ups dropped in
the same five years from 13.4 percent to 10.7 percent last season, according
to the report.

Perhaps the most enlightening revelation in all this is that the Jazz uses
the pick-and-roll so sparingly. Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer are viewed
as extensions of John Stockton and Karl Malone, the retired Utah stars who
became the pick-and-roll’s most notable tandem in the N.B.A. Jerry Sloan
coached both pairs of players, but Utah's offense now revolves around cuts
and reads.

“Everybody just associates pick-and-rolls with us because of John and Karl,”
 Williams said. “They ran it out a lot, but similar to us. We run it toward
the end of the game when we need baskets, but we try to execute our offense
first.”

Sloan said: “You've got to learn how to play other ways than just strictly
pick-and-roll. Most of the time, other guys are just standing in the
pick-and-roll. We try to run other stuff where they're not standing and stay
active in other parts of the game.”

Meanwhile, the Lakers use Coach Phil Jackson's triangle offense to spread
the floor. He has two traditional power players in Pau Gasol and Andrew
Bynum, and most of Kobe Bryant's offense is generated through isolation
plays. The pick-and-roll is not much of a factor.

But over all, the Synergy numbers confirm what many in the N.B.A. have
witnessed. Offenses now spread defenses thin with mobile big men, quick point
guards and long-distance shooters. The pick-and-roll is the orchestrator of
all that.

It is also the formula that the Magic used as it made its way to the N.B.A.
finals last season. The pick-and-roll allows Howard, the game's most athletic
center, to gain position in the post on the move.

“That way, he can step in and get the ball deep in the post and step in and
score,” Nelson said. “And we can use it for our shooters to create shots
for others and myself.”

N.B.A. teams use various methods to combat the pick-and-roll, although none
are highly effective.

The defender guarding the ball handler can squeeze past the player setting
the pick to stay with the ball handler (known as going over the pick). He
can also try to avoid the pick by running behind the pick and then resume
guarding the ball handler once he moves past the screen (known as going under
the pick).

The two defenders can also switch whom they are guarding, with the taller
defender momentarily defending the smaller ball handler and trying to hinder
his vision before hurrying back to the player who set the pick. Or the
defender guarding the ball handler can try to direct him away from the pick
before it can take place.

The strategy varies team to team, night to night. The Synergy analysis showed
that defenses were most effective when the on-ball defender went under the
pick, temporarily abandoning the ball handler and then picking him up again. 
For example, when the defender went under the pick against James, he averaged
0.93 points. When James was played over the pick, he averaged 1.02 points.

Yet a majority of teams played over the pick. They defended that way, Barr
said, to show defensive aggressiveness instead of passiveness, even if it
hurt them in the long run.

With effective teams, the defensive strategies are limited. There are just
too many options with the pick-and-roll, too many height and quickness
mismatches for the offense to take advantage of. The defensive thought
process turns simple, if futile. Sometimes, it just hopes that the team
running the pick-and-roll misses whatever shot it chooses to take.

“If it's Tim Duncan rolling to the basket, you want to take Tim Duncan away
with your help,” Philadelphia 76ers Coach Eddie Jordan said. “Now, if you
have Tony Parker and Tim Duncan, you have to stop the ball, which is Tony
Parker, and you've got to give help, so you're leaving somebody open.
Probably, Manu Ginobili for a 3. You have to pick your poison.”



表格:
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/11/19/sports/20pickg.html 

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推 species:這球季應該會多一點isolation
推 Actus:重點摘要：1.pick & roll仍是NBA好用的老梗
→ Actus:            這五年來平均佔了18% (五年前的那年只有15%)
→ Actus:          2.但 老牌p&r球隊爵士 卻是去年用p&r最少的隊伍
→ Actus:            阿爵用"cuts and reads" (屬於motion) 比較多
→ Actus:            教皇表示這叫因勢制宜 你還真以為他老頑固喔?
→ Actus:          3.跟阿爵無關的 沒看
推 BlGP:因為球員素質那樣打闢跟肉只是被打臉  ╮(╯__╰)╭
推 amox:表格中有使用比率最高的球隊和球員，也有平均收益(得分)
推 Kiri1enko:阿爵用最少 所以boo少了他也還好的意思嗎
噓 GregMiller:不爽不要用
→ kaikai1112:還記得某大腕 前不久的文章一直在檔拆魂嗎?????????