Kyle Korver is such a good shooter that his mere presence bends defenses. They have to pay constant attention to avoid giving him even an inch of space.
The Nets showed the Wizards how not to defend Kyle Korver
Korver killed the Nets’ defense for every mistake it made in the last two games of the series. The Wizards need to make sure not to follow that path.
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
The Brooklyn Nets were doing a great job of containing him by having players chase him all over the floor and switching when needed to prevent an open three-pointer. In the first four games of the series, Korver shot nine three-pointers a game but connected on only 33 percent of them. He was great when he had room, shooting almost 50 percent when the defender was farther than four feet from him, but really struggled when guarded closely.
But all that hard work Brooklyn did early apparently took its toll. By the last two games of the series, Korver was running free, with seven of his 12 threes per game coming with no one within four feet. The result was 50 percent shooting that got his average in the first round to a respectable 40 percent.
So what happened in those last two games? What can the Washington Wizards, the Hawks next opponent, learn from the Nets' mistakes? Let's take a closer look.
Switch on hand offs
Korver is deadly on handoffs when he gets even a little bit of room, so unless the defender can slither through the screen, a switch is necessary. The Nets were good at doing that early in the series even when a big man had to do the switching.
But in Game 6, the Nets lost their focus and paid for it.
Bojan Bogdanovic and Joe Johnson should have switched that play and didn’t. Even if the result is a mismatch, teams must prevent Korver from getting a good look.
Guard him far from the line
Against most players, defenders can afford to sink a little bit and guard a shooter only when he’s very close to the three-point line. Korver is not most players. Giving him room even when he’s a few feet away from the arc could be deadly.
Alan Anderson is in good position in this play against 99 percent of the league’s perimeter shooters. He’s close to the three-point line. But Korver will, on purpose, stand a few feet further out than most players to create space. As his shot chart shows, the make was not a fluke. He can make threes from that distance.
Even when it doesn’t look like Korver is in range, his defender needs to stay close.
Don’t fall for the misdirection
The Hawks know defenses key in on Korver, so they sometimes run plays designed to get his defender to relax, thinking the play is for someone else. That forces defenses to make a tough decision about leaving Korver to help.
Look at how much is going on here. The Hawks have DeMarre Carroll screen for Korver, which the Nets defend well with Johnson ready to switch. On the other side, Al Horford fakes a back screen.
After that, they go to what looks like a pick and pop for Horford. Bogdanovic has to move away from Korver to help on Horford’s roll, but he stays close enough to recover. What he’s not expecting is for Korver to move from the opposite wing to the top of the key and use a Horford screen.
The Hawks run a lot of plays like that and have the players gesticulating constantly, trying to distract the defense. In this next play, a Carroll cut distracts everyone enough for Korver to spring from a Horford screen all alone.
With Carroll cutting, Brook Lopez has to leave Horford to tag him. Bogdanovic then has to cover Horford for a second. As soon as he does that, Korver sprints to the arc for an open look. It's really hard to resist the temptation, but Korver's man should almost never help.
Can the Wizards contain Korver?
The Nets were doing a good job on Korver because they were very focused and working as a team to limit his impact. As we’ve seen, the second they stopped doing that, he made them pay.
The two primary defenders Washington will use on Korver will be Bradley Beal and Otto Porter. According to Synergy stats at NBA.com, both are very good at defending off the ball, ranking as above-average on spot up situations as well as off screens and hand offs. Beal has the quickness and Porter the length to recover.
Yet guarding Korver is not a job for one man. The rest of the team will have to be sharp and read what the Hawks are trying to do to not fall for misdirection plays. The big men will need to be ready to venture further out in the perimeter than they would like on switches. Between the youth of the primary defenders and the lack of a big man that is used to guarding perimeter players, breakdowns seem inevitable. The best bet for Washington to contain Korver and Atlanta’s three-point shooting is to play Paul Pierce at power forward a lot and switch constantly.
How successful the Wizards are limiting Korver will have a huge impact in the series. The Hawks are very vulnerable when the outside shots aren’t falling because their offense stagnates. When Korver hits threes, however, they get the emotional boost other teams only get from highlight dunks.
Defending arguably the best shooter in the league is a tall task, but the Nets showed that it was doable, at least for a few games. If the Wizards can do it for seven, they have a shot at pulling off the upset.
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