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How Boston Celtics can avoid repeating near Game 1 DISASTER vs. Indiana Pacers | Hoops Tonight



How Boston Celtics can avoid repeating near Game 1 DISASTER vs. Indiana Pacers | Hoops Tonight

all right welcome to Hoops tonight here at the volume happy Wednesday everybody hope all of you guys are having a great week so far we got our first film session for the Conference Finals we’re going to be covering Eastern Conference Finals game one Boston vers Indiana primarily focusing on different defensive adjustments that Boston can make to do a better job of guarding the Pacers in game two as we talked about last night it’s kind of like the per perfect like the uh like the best case scenario for the Boston Celtics right like they get one in the win column but they play poorly enough to lose and a lot of really interesting stuff in film that they can take to game to in terms of trying to have a better effort on the defensive end of the floor as I said last night I expect Boston to win game two into win more comfortably in large part because I think they’re going to notice a lot of the things that I’m going to talk about today without any further Ado before we get started subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel so you don’t miss any more of our videos follow me on Twitter atore jlt so you guys don’t miss show announcements don’t forget about our podcast feed wherever you get your podcast under hoops right and then keep dropping mailbag questions in those YouTube comments so we can keep hitting them throughout the rest of the postseason all right let’s talk some basketball so what I’m going to do we’re going to focus on two different areas of defensive adjustments for the Boston Celtics starting with the bot switches that they were struggling with at various points throughout the game just kind of go over some specific fundamental things that they can do better and then we’re going to turn towards ball screen defense I’m going to show you guys a bunch of examples of where it went wrong for Boston and then we’re going to go look at get three different things that Boston can do to do a better job of guarding in pick and roll as they head into game two all right let’s get into it so I want to start with The Botch switches so what I’m going to do is I’m going to show you guys some examples this was during the these next two clips were both uh these next three Clips were all during that 90 run that Indiana had this this 90 run in the late third quarter lasted just two minutes and turned a 13-point game into a four-point game effectively turning a game that Boston was quickly kind of turning into a blowout into a game that Indiana had an opportunity to win so I want to kind of go over where that went wrong this first one um uh was a situation where Jaylen Brown in particular was way too concerned with staying glued up on Obi toppen when this kind of screening action had been getting switched throughout the rest of the game so I want you guys to kind of see the confusion that takes place with the ball and player movement so again pin down right when we get this pin down we’re going to get a switch Pritchard is guarding TJ McConnell Hower is guarding Ben Shepard here’s our switch right here comes another another dribble handoff Obi toppen is not enough of a threat for Jaylen Brown to be glued up on him but there’s clearly some kind of miscommunication between Hower where he thinks Jaylen Brown is switching but he doesn’t so as a result Hower has no urgency to meet TJ back on the opposite side of the screen and Jaylen Brown is making no attempt to cut TJ McConnell off so T.J McConnell is able to quickly just turn the corner by the time Hower recognizes it he’s out of position and TJ’s able to get all the way to the basket a lot of like two and three man actions like that that generated some confusion for Boston’s defense again if you watch it in full speed you could see it’s just a lot going on in a short period of time that causes the confusion it’s like quick pass up down screen switch dribble handoff are we switching wait no we’re not oh wait T.J McConnell’s already downhill going towards the rim this next one is a wild example I talked last night about how it just kind of seemed like Indiana was just going as fast as humanly possible with their ball and player movement to make things as confusing as possible in this sequence here from the 22nd mark on the the on the shot clock to the 14sec mark on the shot clock so in a sixc span you’re going to see Indiana set four different screens and in the process cause confusion that leads to a layup let’s watch this first screen here set by cakam on Drew holiday they don’t switch that one then they rescreen back on the opposite side they don’t switch that one we get a dribble pitch to n Smith this ends in a Switch n Smith comes down dribble pitch to se yakum and Drew holiday and and Al Horford have confusion over whether or not that’s a screen or a switch and as a result seak is able to turn the corner again if you watch this in full speed watch how fast all four of these screens take place in the uh uh in the um live speed watch this we get come on now you can do this there we go screen screen dribble pitch screen dribble pitch screen it just all happens so fast and it breeds confusion and so for there it’s really this simple lots of communication and being in an athletic stance ready to gather a player that’s coming at you full speed cuz this second piece of this is let’s say that Drew holiday is switching here I talked about this last night one of the hardest things about switching is when this Defender switches on to this guy typically siakam’s moving full speed he’s already got a running start going this way whereas jol has his momentum going this way so there are opportunities to quickly turn the corner against switches even when they do switch properly just because this guy is moving his entire momentum is going the opposite direction of the direction needs he needs to go to cut off yakum but as you can see here just all of that rapid ball and player movement and the simple fact that Horford’s trying not to switch so there’s one guy in the mix who’s trying not to switch and a group of guys that’s switching everything else and it’s all happening so fast that it leads to confusion and on this play Drew holiday should probably know that uh or Al Horford is expecting it to be a switch when Al Horford has not been switching that screen right when we come back to the beginning of this possession watch here Horford is on sakam doesn’t switch doesn’t switch so Drew holiday’s impression here is that Horford’s not switching any screen that involves seak and that probably is the game plan and generally speaking throughout the game that’s what Boston was doing switching one through four running drop with Al Horford or Luke Cornett or whoever was at the five and so that is the confusion here it’s all happening so fast and then Horford randomly after not switching the to decides to switch this one Drew holiday is like what the hell dude I thought you weren’t switching and by the time they recognize what happened SE yakum already gets downhill so again as you can see it’s just a lot of ball and player movement breeding chaos breeding confusion in the Boston switching scheme and again from Boston’s perspective just better communication being in an athletic stance ready to move quickly when those changes of Direction take place during the switch this is an example of a passive switch in transition what a passive switch is it’s very it’s it’s where you switch without aggressive ball pressure right so I want you to watch it live first and I’ll show you what I’m talking about so Drew H Jaylen Brown effectively is switching is is handing off Obi toppin onto pton Pritchard which is going to put Jaylen Brown onto Ain n Smith Drew holiday is on TJ McConnell but we get this dribble pitch here and what I mean by passive switch is Drew holiday switching onto Aon n Smith but without ball pressure he’s switching dropping back in this particular case but again even if you wanted to be aggressive and contest the shot the problem is watch Drew holiday’s momentum in this entire d uh this entire transition possession backpedaling backpedaling backpedaling backpedaling he’s moving backwards whereas n Smith is coming at him and trying to take a three right here by the time he actually gets the chance to stop his momentum and start moving forward Aon Smith is already rising up into the jumper again switching can solve a lot of problems by getting in front of screening actions but it creates different problems like problems on the offensive glass it causes problems with your uh uh with giving up dribble penetration when guys don’t have their their uh uh defensive positioning properly we just talked about the confusion that can arise when you have two and three men screening actions that happen quickly so again it opens up a different set of of execution issues and Boston just didn’t have a good night with their switching defense that’s something they’ll have to improve here are a couple uh um here are two additional ones that I’ll show you guys really quick here’s another uh a passive switch with Obi toppen so as you guys can see here we’re going to go to se yakum SE yakum is being guarded by Drew holiday Jason Tatum’s guarding Obi toppen we get a dribble pitch but again on the dribble pitch Tatum is now worried about SE yakum right and now Drew holiday’s responsibility is Obi toppen but because Drew holiday is so far back Obi toppen knows Tatum’s not going to close out on me my man is now over here and so he just kind of sits right in that backside and Pops a three-point shot and again you can see Drew holiday notice it it’s just a hesitation and that’s the thing like these switches and if you go back to the beginning of the game that opening stretch when Boston wenton up 120 a big part of it was they were aggressive switches they were on this play uh uh seak would throw this dribble pitch and in the opening few possessions of the game Drew holiday would just be up here already he’d becoming aggressive up on the catch to apply ball pressure and so that’s the thing it’s about sustained effort and sustained physicality sustained aggressiveness in those switches to prevent these easy opportunities or they can kind of capitalize on that this is what I’m talking about with that little that little Gap in the switch between where Drew holiday actually gets up on the ball Drew holiday is delayed there because he is focused on sakam focused on sakam oh topens my man now and he already has the ball at the top of the key we got one more this was the uh what what I thought was the best example of the chaotic ball and player movement for Indiana so let’s get up the floor here this is this is absolutely crazy watch how much ball and player Movement we get in this sequence we’re at 20 seconds on the shot clock let me see when it actually starts here think it gets swung up okay so by the time we get to the first action there’s 15 on the shot clock watch how much ball and player Movement we get over this this time per period right so Hower is guarding TJ McConnell Drew holiday is guarding Pascal cakam Al Horford is guarding Obi toppen now when SE yakum goes to set to the screen Drew holiday is thinking switch right so he starts to get up into this Gap to switch but then Pascal sakam slips out of the screen so when he slips out of the screen Drew holiday goes oh I gotta stay on Pascal cakam so he recovers back right so now Drew holiday’s back on Pascal SE yakum topin sets a really good screen on Hower and so a result Horford has to switch onto McConnell right so here’s our new matchups as as we got through that that switching sequence now Drew holiday is on Pascal cakam Al Horford is on TJ McConnell and Hower is on Obi toppen pton Pritchard is on Ben Shepard but TJ McConnell notices that P pton Pritchard has relaxed and is not in a good defensive stance he is facing completely away from his man he’s standing upright he’s not in position to move quickly so TJ McConnell throws a swing pass to Ben Shepard all of a sudden pton pritchard’s like oh there’s a guy attacking a close out right so he closes out hard but because he’s out of position he’s he doesn’t get a good close out and so Ben Shepard is able to easily drive past him now it’s another chaotic kind of switching situation Drew holiday is guarding Pascal cakam Howser’s guarding topin but Drew holiday sees SE yakum flash up here to the high post and Howser’s like I have to take Ben Shepard now because pton Pritchard is compromised so Hower steps on to Ben Shepard and now we have a new decision here because a Drew holiday sees if Howser’s going to step up on Shepard who’s G to guard toppen like I can’t guard cakam because toppen is standing right wide open under the basket watch that decision in slow motion here really quick as Drew holidays on SE yakum we get the swing pass watch Drew as soon as as Hower goes into help he goes I need to follow SE yakum oh wait no need to stay on top in right but then Ben Shepard ends up finding this opening for seak and throws it now both Drew holiday and pton Pritchard have to make a decision right pritchard’s like oh this guy’s wide open so he closes out at se yakum Drew holiday goes oh Pascal seak is wide open so he closes out to se yakum so they both go to se yakum and as a result Obi toppen is wide open underneath the basket and they get a wide open layup all of that took place look at that eight seconds on the shot clock that entire sequence took place in like six or seven seconds and they get a wide open layup so now I’m going to run the whole thing in full speed again so you guys can kind of see what I’m talking about watch how quickly all of this happens we get the double screen the slip from SE yakum we come off the screen pitch back Drive the close out flash drop off to top in that rapid ball in player movement takes advantage of the chaos and how difficult it is to communicate in switches in those in those uh uh situations but here’s the thing this is where I talk about the effort and communication part of it this part this part right here where uh this part right here where Drew holiday pton Pritchard are trying to figure out how to guard toin and cakam that part is really difficult it’s just really difficult in the instantaneous circumstances like split-second decisions to get that right where this possession goes wrong is pton Pritchard pton Pritchard just has to do a better job when TJ McConnell gets into the lane there he needs to if he wants to help if he wants to sink into the lane and help he needs to be sitting at this hash mark right here in a low athletic stance where he can see Ben Shepard and see T.J McConnell at the same time if he does that then he can throw a good close out if he throws a good close out he can flatten out this drive more towards the baseline or more towards the top of the key and if he does then you don’t have to have this aggressive help from Sam Hower coming off of this block here this play falls apart because pton Pritchard relaxes for a second so again in that chaos it’s about being really dialed in really focused communicating everything in an athletic stance prepared for Rapid ball and player movement that is just that’s not a schematic thing that’s just an effort and execution thing so I think that’s going to be a big thing that they’re going to be hammering home on tape over the course of the rest of today and tomorrow morning as they prep for game two we’re this close to crowning a new NBA champ and with the action heating up on the court it’s even hotter at draftking Sportsbook an official sports betting partner of the NBA there’s only so many games left draft King Sportsbook has you covered with same game parlays live betting odds boosts and so much more don’t miss out or you’ll have to wait until next NBA season to place your bets it’s super easy for first- timers to get started try betting on something simple like picking a team 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of the floor Derek white is chasing over the top right so our bracket our bracket coverage here is cornette in in the drop Derek white chasing over the top cornette has no roller behind responsibilities what that means is he is in charge of stopping Tyrese halberton on the drive and stopping Miles Turner on the roll this is the importance of having a ball screen Defender a big strong athlete that can in a drop coverage you have to have a certain amount of size in athleticism to contend with two bodies coming downhill towards you at the same time and the main issue that the Celtics were having is Turner is just so much bigger and more athletic than cornette that when he would catch there was just nothing that cornet could do with him at The Rim so again he kind of stunts up to force halberton to give up the basketball but by the time he recovers to Turner like he’s already dead to rights here cornet’s underneath the basket inside the restricted area Turner is able to easily just go up through him and get into the basket same exact thing here fast forward a little bit this time it’s Andrew nard they’re going to run what’s called a stack pick and roll now as we know stack pick and roll all it is is as neard comes off the screen halberton is going to try to back screen cornette to generate an opening for Miles Turner but he doesn’t actually set a good pick so as a result Turner kind of rolls clean and there’s a little bit of congestion here with Derek white and Tyrus Halton halberton is going to relocate here to the top of the key same exact coverage for cornette though he is in no roller behind coverage he has to stop nard coming this way and Turner coming this way shows a little bit on nard by the time he recovers to Turner again once again dead to wres two feet inside the restricted area as Miles Turner is coming at him with a bunch of momentum and he easily finishes over the top last one exact same thing and this some of this is just Miles Turner is really damn good because Miles Turner can catch and finish with like dunks anywhere inside the foul line it’s just he’s just an outrageous athlete exact same type of coverage here Derek white chases over the top Turner slips cornette is up high because halberton is a skill guard that can cause problems there but watch how Turner can catch two feet literally at the elbow and just rise up and dunk and cornette is just completely physically overmatched with Turner coming downhill at him so again the main issue they’re having in that specific matchup is they can’t do anything with Turner coming downhill at cornette now let’s talk about Al Horford now Al Horford was specifically struggling with Tyrese Alberton and foot speed so again Miles Turner is going to set a screen here on the right side same exact type of coverage this time though Dereck white ducks underneath the pick and we get a very we got get a very useful old man trick from Miles Turner you’re allowed to roll to the basket right and if Derek White’s goingon to go underneath the pick he can roll and now he’s just in his way it’s effectively a legal moving screen because all he’s doing is picking and rolling to the basket Derrick White tried to to spin off the pick into miles Turner’s space as a result Turner basically gets to throw block that’s just like a just like a Savvy kind of Veteran trick for a screen and roll big but once again the main issue here is in these ball screens tyres halberton coming over the top is going to tax Al Horford’s ability to guard out on the perimeter so halberton just easily steps into a pullup three here you’re going to see another example here on the next clip so this one is not an actual on ball screen but it’s the exact same coverage so this is it’s an off-ball high drop coverage so think imagine if Tyrese Alberton had the ball here he doesn’t but imagine if he did he would dribble off this way Derek white would Chase Al Horford would be in a drop right it’s the exact same concept it’s just ran through a flare screen in a pass rather than through an actual on theball dribbling ball screen right so nard throws the pass it’s the exact same coverage right Derrick White’s chasing so now just imagine if Tyrus Alberton was dribbling to this point that’s really all it is but Horford once again is in this predicament where he has to guard by the way this is after Boston had already made the switch BOS this was actually the first possession of the game where they moved Tatum onto Miles Turner they move Tatum onto Miles Turner so that they don’t run the action through Turner they run it through SE yakum instead right but now Horford is in charge of both of them right but here’s the problem it’s Horford on an island in space trying to guard this super fast guard that can hit pull up jumpers and tyres Alberton just easily Rises into a 15-footer the main issues that Horford was was having was dealing with both halberton in his speed on the perimeter as well as the rle man let’s fast forward a little bit here this one he ends up giving up layup we’re going to fast forward I think he pulls this out get back okay so here’s our ball screen fast forward a little bit okay so here’s our ball screen we have Turner setting the screen on Tatum Tatum is on on halberton Horford once again is in this like kind of no roller behind coverage with Turner and halberton so halberton is now getting downhill and Horford’s responsibility is to guard Halton downhill and Turner but what happens is is he gets caught in no man’s land because he has to be in two places at once and he ends up making a poor decision to kind of lean back towards Turner and halberton just goes all the way to the basket and gets an easy left-handed layup so again with Horford specifically the issue was handling him in space right with NE uh with uh cornette in particular the deal the problem was Turner’s athleticism coming downhill towards him at The Rim but both guys were really struggling in ball screens for different reasons so as we know at the end of the game The Adjustment was let’s move Al Horford onto Pascal sakam that way Pascal sakam is not shooting the ball nearly as well from three as Miles Turner is Al Horford is a famously good on an island big forward scorer Defender because he can anticipate slide slide his feet beat guys to spots he’s done it to Joel embiid over the years like he just he he just has a gift for this type of AR type of big scoring forward right but the problem was is SE yakum started to get going with his mid-range jumper so you guys will see it’s the exact same issue seaka ball screen because they’re just going to Target Horford no matter what the pop Horford’s there but this is a straight ISO and this is good defense by the way but zakum just hits the shot right exact same thing on the next possession they get a ball screen this time it’s with nard fight over the top Horford contains the ball recovers se yakum but siakam’s comfortable moving there at the the uh the high post right so one of the things I talked about in the series preview like I said is like I would start by moving Al Horford over to se yakum but one of the things I specifically talked about in the series preview was if SE yakum gets going what do you do right and this is where I want to uh go over some uh some key adjustments that they can use going into the uh going into game two I’ll start I’m going to skip ahead let’s do yeah the KN Smith bit first so the easy counter here you could easily just put Al Horford on Aaron n Smith what that means is now I have Jaylen Brown on SE yakum so any SE yakum ball screen I can switch I have uh um Jason Tatum on Miles Turner so any Turner ball screen I can switch I have drew holiday on Andrew nard any Andrew NE nard ball screen I can switch I can switch all of these ball screens and at least Le make SE yakum or Turner or nard or Hal Burton score against an elite defensive player that is the that to me is these are all matchups that I’m comfortable living with and again as far as n Smith on Horford goes if n Smith catches open on the three-point line he’s shooting barely over 30% from three in this postseason if he’s slashing off of the wing off of the catch Al Al Horford’s one one of his best defensive traits is guessing where a guy is going to drive and picking a good angle and beating him to that spot if it’s crashing the offensive glass Al Horford is a guy that can beat n Smith to 50-50 balls with his size Advantage so like this is an example of a of a situation where I think Horford can be hidden in a place that gives you the least uh compromised version of your defense right let’s say n Smith sets the screen by the way I only I only picked this clip because this was the only clip in the static non transition Cross Match anything like that this was the only possession of the game where they just straight up decided to put Horford on neith and on this play by the way halberton scores but he hits like a damn 50 like like 35 footer like that’s just that’s a logo three-pointer you you can’t really do much about that shot so I’m not really calling out this possession in terms of a uh of the actual execution I’m just pointing out like when you put Horford on N Smith I think this is your best bet now let’s talk really quickly about what would happen if n Smith sets the screen you run a drop coverage you run exactly the same drop coverage you’ve been running except for you as Horford don’t even need to overreact to nce Smith he’s going to pop to the three-point line right all you do is you contain Hal Burton so you can be aggressive up at the level because a lot of these possessions where Horford struggled with Halle Burton had a lot to do with the fact that he’s concerned about the rle man so he’s not really committing to Halle Burton because he’s worried about the rle man getting open right in this situation I’d put him on N Smith I would not worry about the rle man I would focus on Coring Halton once he pitches it back to n Smith so let’s say let’s just say for for the sake of argument that we have a ball screen that halberton has right here and N Smith comes and sets the screen right here and halberton comes off into this area and Horford corals him and halberton pitches the ball back and N Smith catches here right you’ve got a guy in the corner this guy can kind of be stunting in this direction to kind of make him a little bit hesitant but if Horford’s over here having cral halberton all he has to do is close out to like here if he closes out to like here to contain the drive you’re going to give up a catch and shoot three to n Smith who hasn’t been hitting him or if n Smith drives the close out Horford can kind of meet him in this area and Corral him and so again that that to me is the best matchup example of a way that you can give Horford a better opportunity to hold up in ball screens just put him on N Smith and by the way n Smith was on the floor during those cornette possessions as well that’s a job that cornette can do a better job of Tatum was on the floor in a lot of those clips Tatum can be on Miles Turner and you just put cornette on Aon Smith and do exactly what I just said have him basically catch halberton or TJ McConnell coming off of those screens and then to close out into the short corn like the short elbow area to contain any sort of closeout attack from Aon neith let’s go to two other options that they could use to defend better this first one is just a simple example of better help and recover defense so if you are going to leave your centers on Miles Turner you need to you need to offer them more support off the ball what that means is just this simple setup here right so this is Classic this is basically like classic four out one in ball screen offense right so I’ve got a guy in the corner a guy in the corner a guy in the right wing guy in the left wing ball screen gets set right when the ball screen gets set Derek White Once Again is in Chase position cornette is getting ready to catch halberton as Turner is rolling into this space look at Jaylen Brown Jaylen Brown tags the roller this baits halberton into throwing this skip pass to Arin Smith because again halberton is always going to make the right read right so if you watch halberton as he comes off of the screen watch halton’s eyes comes off the ball screen he immediately looks off to the right right as he’s looking he’s reading Jaylen Brown Jaylen Brown comes down halberton has now decided Jaylen Brown is he’s making the pass right now Jaylen Brown is committed to Miles Turner that’s what it looks like that’s the job that Jaylen Brown did with his body language making it look like he’s keyed in on Miles Turner we get the skip pass immediately as the pass is in the air this has to cover like a solid 30 feet of ground so while that pass is covering 30 feet Jaylen Brown can close out he’s a good athlete that can get there in time n Smith Rises right into a shot and Jaylen Brown blocks him cleanly and then manages as the ball bounces to save it off of n Smith out of bounds so like a really nice defensive play but if you watch it in full speed this is just offering better off ball support in the ball screen watch Jaylen Brown at full speed here comes our ball screen Chase over the top tag recover block the shot so again if you are going to leave your centers on uh especially cornette because I think they trust Horford a little bit more in some of these perimeter player assignments than they trust cornette specifically with cornette if you’re going to leave him on Miles Turner you just have to do a better job helping in recovering on the weak side one last example of an adjustment that they could go [Music] to this is what’s called a pre-switch we get an offensive rebound Tap Out For Miles Turner ball goes to halberton spread out same exact four out one in screen right so we got shooter in the left corner well TJ McConnell in the left corner Obi toppen in the right corner Aaron n Smith on the right wing Turner is g to go set the screen now watch Al Horford to my knowledge this was the only time they did this in this game they go they send Turner up to set the screen look at Al Horford pointing Al Horford is pointing like hey Drew holiday you run up and defend the screen as well this is the all of this has to do with their super versatile defense Personnel Drew holiday can guard players bigger than him and smaller than him or I should say guards and forwards Jason Tatum guards forwards and centers Jaylen Brown guards forwards probably centers as well right all of this versatility allow makes this possible right so as Turner’s going up now Drew holiday’s running up into the screen because Drew holidays running up into the screen they can switch because they can switch now Drew holiday’s on the ball Derek white is on the roll man now he recovers to the R man and by the way that wasn’t even a very well executed switch but that is the intent of that possession if Drew holiday is quicker if Drew holiday actually listens like like if Drew if Drew holiday is aware of what Al Horford’s act asking about about two seconds sooner he’s up here with Turner and they don’t give up this easy slip so I’m more talking schematically about what this could look like this was not very well executed that said Derrick White let’s fast forward here for a second Derrick White ends up making the defensive play of of the playoff so far switches on to Turner Turner Horford has to step up because of the slip Obi toppen is a great vertical spacing threat we get our lob pass look at where this is Obi toin is loading up to dunk Derek white is still on the ground the pass is already in the air watch Derek white that is an unbelievable defensive play from Derek white you know what’s funny too every time I have a see a basketball game that is like decided by a single possession like this this game was decided by a Jaylen Brown pullup three in the left corner right that sent it to overtime right anytime I see a basketball game that’s decided by a single possession I always end up thinking back to plays like this this is a play you’re dead to rights right here passes up that’s a dunk that’s that’s a dunk 99% of the time and Derek white erases it with one of the best defensive plays of the playoffs so far just an unbelievable defensive play but going back to what I was talking about earlier the actual adjust here is if you communicate this better if you communicate this better on this backline here and you’re more prepared for it hey preswitch preswitch Horford’s look at how long it was before Drew holiday actually realized what Horford was asking if you execute that properly and send Drew holiday up into the ball screen you can actually switch it and Derek white will be more aware of the switch coming because like one of the issues here is Derrick White’s chasing over the top why is Derrick White chasing over the top he’s chasing over the top because he doesn’t realize that Horford and Drew holiday have have uh communicated this pre-switch right so Derek white is defending like it’s a traditional pick and roll coverage he’s chasing over the top whereas Drew holiday is getting ready to switch so as a result now we have two on the ball which is what opens up this slip for Turner Derek white just happens to make a miraculous play to blow it up but again when executed properly Dereck white would know the switch is coming and instead of fighting over what he would do like we talk about leverage right The Leverage of fighting over the top of the screen is this foot needs to get boom right there over the top of Miles Turner’s uh high side foot in the screen right the exact opposite would happen if if he knew that a switch was coming he would have gone underneath and been on the inside of Miles Turner and then Drew holiday would have come aggressively out to face Hal bur the slip would not have been open and then the new situation would have been static you know roughly eight seconds on the shot clock Derek white guarding Miles Turner Miles Turner is not a guy that’s going to punish people in the post effectively enough consistently enough and Drew holiday the original matchup on Tyrese Halton who was there before the offensive rebound led to the Cross matches and then you have Horford on Obi toppen which is a match up that you’re willing to live with so that when executed properly that will even shut off this slip action here for Miles Turner so again in kind of summary when it comes to the uh to the meat and potatoes of the game they just have to do a much better job in their switching I would I would be more aggressive when you switch instead of passive when you switch because they gave up a lot of three-point Shots by just being on their heels after the switch and then also in any sort of that chaotic ball and player movement that we talked about couple of things one better communication on the screen being in an athletic stance so you’re prepared to move quickly when the new offensive player is coming screaming at you full speed and then three like we saw in that pton Pritchard play and there was another play uh that I didn’t even put in here that was during the 90 run that was a dunk for Pascal seaka where where Jaylen Brown had a bad close out but your off ball players have to be in position to close out and contain the basketball one good close out will shut off a driveing kick possession one is all it takes and there just weren’t enough good Closeouts in the game moving over to the ball screen side of things again cornett’s really struggling with Turner coming downhill at him and Horford’s really struggling with halberton in space you can offer support with him there especially for cornette because I think Missoula is going to keep cornette on Turner when cornett’s on the floor you either need to move him onto Aaron n Smith like I talked about or offer better help in recover from the weak side like we saw in the Jaylen Brown block possession or pre- switch send a guard up with Turner when they go into the screen same thing goes when Horford’s on the floor better weak side uh help and recover the pre- switching to keep Horford out of the screens and once again I think n Smith is the guy that tuck those guys away on when they’re uh when you’re trying to find a way to hide them and you have your forwards on the floor when seak and Turner are out there Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum can guard seak and Turner and protect your Center so again big things better job with your switching and then just helping support your bigs in ball screens that should go a long way towards helping the Celtics patch things up in game two I expect the Celtics to win comfortably in game two we will be going live after the final buzzer of that game on YouTube tomorrow night I will see you guys then [Music]

Jason Timpf reacts to Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and the Boston Celtics’ thrilling 133-128 overtime win over Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam, and the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Jason dives into the film to break down the biggest adjustments the Boston defense must make to avoid an upset in Game 2.

Watch the Game 1 instant reaction here: https://youtube.com/live/DPnqNPajnTM

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26 Comments

  1. Thanks for being even handed. Celtics hate right now in the media is way overdone. There's reasons to be critical for sure, but media as a whole acting like they're a shit team when they're 9-2 in playoffs and Vegas favorite

  2. I remember hali said their switching on the mic. So i guess that was a game plan.
    And why celtics were better the few times they went into zone.

  3. This is probably the ideal game for Joe Mazzulla. He gets a win but also a lot of failure tape he can use. The only thing that would have made it better for him would be Rick Carlisle challenging him to a fight.

  4. Celtics probing, playing with their food. In the process almost lost. They had the lead majority of the game.
    If game two is this close then we have something to talk about. If Boston smokes them? Conversation is over…

  5. Celtics would dominate running this offense but there’s not enough ball movement with the Celtics currently

  6. I don't get it… How do people claim media hate for their teams when they are literally All thats talked about. Whereas the Pacers are rarely mentioned and expected to lose. They was supposed to be swept by the Bucks… they were supposed to be swept by the Knicks… and now swept by the Celtics. Its old now…
    Give my people credit

  7. Great job Jason. You did your homework and you're on point. But I contribute most of Boston's bad defensive execution to lack of ball pressure and laziness.

  8. PACERS RUN BETTER PLAYS CONSISTENTLY. HAVE A BETTER BIG MAN. CELTICS DONT HAVE ENOUGH ATHELETES TO CONSISTENTLY SWITCH AND NOT BE RELAXED. PACERS WILL WIN THE NEXT 4 STRAIGHT GAMES! I GUARENTEE IT! WOLVES WILL WIN 4-0! WOLVES WILL SEE PACERS IN THE FINALS!! @ ME WHEN THE FINALS START!

  9. As a Celtics diehard the last thing I wanted is for them to think this would be easy, I don’t like that mindset. Indy are a great, athletic and young team and will punish you by outscoring you if you slack off. Nearly losing game 1 will cement the proper mindset for the series going forward and I’m all for it 🍀👍

  10. Jason, I've followed your work for about 2 years now and you are the best in the business. You really give some hope in the NBA media which is mostly unwatchable. Obviously, as a LeBron fan you cover the Lakers a lot because it also generates a lot of clicks but you are still incredibly subjective to any topic. Continue the great work, people that actually care about in depth analysis and breakdowns of the sport rather than listening to a bunch of hot takes on ESPN etc really appreciate you! Thank you!

  11. You think the Celtics got blown out at home in G1 with that title but I also get the overreactions with the game being so close and how this should be an easy cruising series for the Celtics, but honestly give the Pacers their credit. They're a high powered fast paced offensive machine with depth.

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