Last season, I designed a half-court offense and defensive pick-and-roll tracker to log both sides of the ball. The findings proved incredibly valuable and shaped much of the content I produced throughout the year. This season, I want to build on that and introduce new tracking additions alongside most of everything that worked before. Interestingly, I ended up removing more than I added, proof that we all overthink things and end up more prepared than we actually need to be at times. I've learned so much from my first go-around and can't wait to do it again.
Advantage or Trigger Man
To me, offense relies on creating triggers, great offenses pairs strong connective ball-movement, and driving with smart positioning, but it all starts with a trigger. Ball-movement usually results from triggering the defense, making everything afterwards relatively easier.
Take the infamous championship play that will draw attention for years to come, thanks to its ball and player-movement. Rightfully so, Mikal Bridges cuts to counter Julian Champagnie's rotation on Karl-Anthony Towns's pop, Landry Shamet and OG Anunoby snap drives to touch paint and spray, and Bridges executing another drive to find the corner. This play, however, begins by attacking Victor Wembanyama in coverage and weeding him out from the corner with a stretch big, opening up the floor.
Wembanyama gives a soft show before retreating back with Dylan Harper playing under coverage, allowing Jalen Brunson to attack the paint and draw other defenders. If I were to track a trigger man and action on this possession, I’d label Brunson, and I’d note the play-type as P&R Ball Handler.
In this play, Towns serves as the trigger man, given the post play and his delivery of the pass. We’d file this under the hub play-type, since the set exists to get Towns the ball in a passing position/action around him. Often the assist man can double as the trigger man, since breaking down or dissecting the defense, the way Towns does here through his passing, creates that role. Why I decided to track this, comes down to quantifying “hockey assists” or usage better than simply logging the player who attempts a score or potential assist, which I’ll still do. For example, say Brunson pump-fakes the three, drives it, and kicks it out to Bridges for three. Brunson earns the potential assist, Bridges gets logged for the scoring attempt, and Towns gets nothing for the initial play, despite serving as the trigger man. We’ll now be able to quantify who gets the chance to/creates the breakdown.
Transition
At first, I wanted to keep the tracking almost half-court exclusive, opting not to track anything in transition, but branching out just a bit more could benefit us. For me, this entails tagging transition chances spurred by defensive playmaking, defensive rebounding on twos versus threes, and made baskets. I look at this more as a study than anything instead of producing actionable insights.
Clearly, this play features a defensive playmaking transition rep, with OG Anunoby stealing the ball from Victor Wembanyama. Much like writing a theory on what I expected with organized offense, that can apply to types of transition. I expect to see high points per possession (PPP) off defensive playmaking reps, versus rebounding and made shots. Now, what about the difference between an opponent missing a layup, a two-point shot, or a three-point shot? This calls for going through the process, but I'll assume missed layups account for a higher PPP, due to the lack of defensive players back at the time of the initial offensive possession.
I'll definitely log blocks as their own category within defensive playmaking, but I mostly want to show the chaos the defense faces when a shot at the rim misses. Take this drive at the rim: the player cannot recover from behind the baseline after the shot, while two other Sixers crash the boards, leaving the Knicks with a 4-on-3 advantage down the other end.
I'll track a lot of the same variables in transition that are tracked in the half-court, scoring, potential assists, shot quality, shot-making, etc., to get a clearer picture of New York's offense this upcoming season. Paid subscribers will find this data included alongside the half-court tracking.
Help Defender(s)
I wanted to implement tracking help defenders in the pick-and-roll last season, but held off until a new season. The tracker currently gives us a read on point-of-attack play, logging teammate POA usage against each other. Putting a number to help defense should prove both revealing, and establish player roles, especially given New York’s reliance on it.
Pick-and-roll action begins with Stephon Castle handling, Wembanyama screening, Josh Hart guarding the ball at the point of attack, and Towns defending the screener in coverage. What matters most in logging the help, is the side Wembanyama/roller rolls toward, the weak side. The Knicks have two help defenders on that side of the floor in both Anunoby and Bridges. Worth noting, Hart should shade that direction, preventing Castle from driving right while Wembanyama rolls left. Allowing that would see Brunson as the primary help man, a far less desirable outcome for New York.
I’ll log both Anunoby and Bridges as help defenders on this play, but one will always serve as the low man, Bridges in this case. Notice how far he comes over compared to Anunoby, who may have ventured out too far, though that’s somewhat expected given Wembanyama’s strong roll gravity, along with the Knicks wanting to hit him early. This reflects typical pick-and-roll defense from New York in the series, going under on Castle at point of attack and playing level or a high drop with Towns, disrespecting Castle’s pull-up shot while protecting the lane.
New Offensive Tracker and Substack Info
Access to the offensive tracker, that has been viewed by both NBA coaches and scouts, comes with a paid subscription. Already a paid subscriber? Send a DM for a reminder and I’ll get the new tracker over to you. Otherwise, I’ll try to reach out directly to those I know are already subscribed.
Most content on this Substack will tend to lock a day or two after release, especially on large data driven articles. A significant amount of work goes into the data collection, and with this as a part-time endeavor alongside a part-time job, another writing role, and graduate school, making the most of my work and time is starting to matter more.