Each day, we are going to preview the night’s NBA Playoffs action by looking at the adjustments that can be made by the losing team and showing what they can do to win.
Memphis Grizzlies’ Game 6 Adjustments: Keep It Simple Late, Don’t Switch Ball Screens
After really taking the series to the San Antonio Spurs, the Memphis Grizzlies were looking to finish it at the AT&T Center in Game 5. However, thanks to a few big-time shots from the Spurs, the Grizzlies were unable to advance to the second round. If the Grizzlies make a few adjustments on both ends of the court, they should be able to close out the series on Friday back in Memphis.
Offense: Keep It Simple Late
After tying the game at 103 with 1:49 left in overtime, the Memphis Grizzlies were unable to score the rest of the game. Part of the reason they were unable to score was their poor execution on the offensive end:
Here, the Grizzlies want to set a screen, force the Spurs into a switch, and then post up Shane Battier on Tony Parker. The Grizzlies are able to get done what they want to get done, however the Spurs defend it well and the result is Tony Allen being forced to take a three-point shot. My problem with this play is the Grizzlies are really going away from their strength here. They had their success posting up Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, in my opinion, if you need a two, you need to go to Randolph or Gasol. No reason to try and get fancy here.
On this play, the Grizzlies are trying to get the ball to Randolph. To do so, the Grizzlies try to run a cross screen for him, allowing him to move without the ball and establish position. However, Antonio McDyess is able to beat Randolph to the spot and keep him from getting the ball. So, instead of a Randolph post-up opportunity, the Grizzlies get the ball into Gasol with the shot clock running down. Gasol is forced to put up a fadeaway jumper as the clock expires and he fails to hit the rim.
All series, the Grizzlies were able able to dominate the Spurs with simple post-ups for their big men. When it got time to get a bucket to close out the series, the Grizzlies went away from the simple post ups and tried to get a little fancy, failing to score.
Defense: Don’t Switch Ball Screens
So far this series, when Parker is successful the Spurs are successful. This is especially true when Parker is getting into the lane and finishing. In Game 5, a game that the Spurs won, Parker shot 50 percent on twos, hitting 9-18 shots. Parker’s success was due in large part to the fact that the Grizzlies ended up switching a few screens, allowing Parker to work one-on-one against a big:
On both of these plays, Randolph gets a little too aggressive on his hedges and turns the situation into a switch. This allows Parker to isolate Randolph and come away with points each possession. Parker is too quick for either of the Grizzlies' bigs, so there is no way they can have success with switching. Mike Conley needs to fight over screens and not allow his bigs to switch.
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