Bucks @ Lakers

As we prepare to play our last Eastern Conference opponent of the regular season, it is important to recognize the fact that we have not seen this team since early December. A significant portion of every NBA game plan is devoted to personnel. What each player?s strengths and weaknesses are will help determine how we want to defend. When we see a team frequently in a short amount of time the familiarity of both individual tendencies as well as the team?s offensive schemes usually leads to a better defensive effort. An example of this is the fact that our most recent victory over the Sacramento Kings was the third time we played them in a month and it was our best defensive effort of the three games. This game against the Bucks presents a different set of challenges at the other end of the spectrum. In this instance it is extremely important that the players give their full mental and physical attention at the game day shootaround.

A typical shootaround starts with the team meeting in the theater at the practice facility. The coach responsible for the scouting report will give a brief introduction to the team. In this instance he will point out the fact that behind T.J. Ford the Bucks will really look to push the ball and set a lot of pick and rolls in transition ? many with the pickers back to the baseline (sometimes referred to as step-up pick and rolls). He will talk about the different ways they like to get shots for Michael Redd (running him off baseline screens, dropping it into him in the post etc). And he will mention how effective the Milwaukee big men are especially in the area of offensive rebounding. The team will then watch a video edit that emphasizes both the individual tendencies as well as the play sets that Milwaukee likes to run.

Following the video the team will go on the floor and walk through some of the key plays that we will see that night. This is an important step in the process because the players will actually see and feel the defensive rotations we want in order to take away the main options of their key offensive sets. It is also a time when the coaches can quiz guys on the people they will be guarding. For example, as we are walking through their step up pick and roll the guard will swing the ball to a player on the perimeter on the weakside. The coach can then ask how we would want to close out on this person. If it is Bobby Simmons (who has improved his 3 point shooting to 41%) we would want to go all the way to him so he does not get an open look at the 3. This would change reaction would change if it is a player not as proficient at shooting from distance.

Finally, in the meeting before the game we will show another short video highlighting their main play sets. A coach will also go over our defensive coverages using diagrams on the board and questioning players to ensure their understanding. All these steps are important every game but when we are facing an unfamiliar opponent being focused during this preparation is critical.