Recap/Film Review: Jrue/Lou/Andre Defense

by Jordan Sams on Mar 6, 2010 2:49 AM PST Comment 3 comments

It's late, but I need to do this before I sleep until 3 in the afternoon. Here's my generic spiel:

I forced myself to re-watch every defensive possession from last night's game, focusing on Lou, Jrue and Andre's individual defense. As always, I only tracked their opponent's assists if they got into the paint, and threw fast break baskets out because of the mass-confusion going on as to who's guarding who. I also tracked whether the shots of their opponents were contested or uncontested. My definition of a 'contested shot' is completely subjective, but I used the same criteria for all three guys. Here are the numbers:

Jrue Holiday

Opponents shot a combined 6-11 (55%) against Jrue.
Of the 11 shots, 1 was contested (9%).
Ray Allen was 3-7 against Jrue (1 contested).
Paul Pierce got to the line twice against Jrue.
Nate Robinson was 0-1 against Jrue (0 contested).
Rajon Rondo was 1-1 against Jrue (0 contested) and got to the line twice.

Lou Williams

Opponents shot a combined 8-11 (73%) against Lou.
Of the 11 shots, 2 were contested (18%).
Rajon Rondo was 5-7 against Lou (0 contested) and got to the line 4 times.
Paul Pierce was 0-1 against Lou (1 contested).
Glen Davis was 1-1 against Lou (1 contested).
Nate Robinson was 1-1 against Lou (0 contested).
Ray Allen was 1-1 against Lou (0 contested).

Andre Iguodala

Opponents shot a combined 3-8 (38%) against Andre.
Of the 8 shots, 1 was contested (13%).
Paul Pierce was 1-5 against Andre (1 contested).
Kendrick Perkins was 1-1 against Andre (0 contested).
Ray Allen was 1-1 against Andre (0 contested).
Nate Robinson was 0-1 against Andre (0 contested).

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A combined 4 contested shots from these three is disgusting defense.
Rajon Rondo made everyone who attempted to guard him his B tonight.
That said, it's not like Rondo was blowing by people left and right. He was receiving tremendous screens from his teammates.
From now on I'm going to have to include whether or not the opponent took a jumpshot or layup and whether or not they got open from a screen or not. I feel like it matters.
I still haven't watched every offensive possession, but from what I saw Lou Williams is continuing to ball. And even though it looked like he got torched on defense (which he did at times), I thought he played pretty well considering the screens he was fighting through all night. He's still an average to below average defender, but there's definitely been improvement, and his effort has increased tremendously. By the way, he's averaging 18-5-5 and shooting 54-42-81 in the percentages since the ASG. Throw in less than 1.5 turnovers and improved defense, and I find it hard-pressed to not be impressed with his play. Go Lou.
I might get around to watching the rest of the offensive possessions tomorrow, but I mean, come on, who really wants to watch that again?
Next game is in Toronto on Sunday, which also happens to be my 21st birthday (and John's 38th I believe). I get a much-needed break from recap'n games until Wednesday, so enjoy DJ Mikey B recap'n on the ones and twos until then.