CSKA Switching

Photo: Euroleague.net

I won’t pretend to explain a defensive game plan because not having enough information about it, but I can show you some details of CSKA’s defense during the third play off game against Red Star. If you want to get a deeper understanding, my advice is to analyze those three games to find out how it works.

There’s an old saying in basketball “the best man to man defense looks like a zone and the best zone defense looks like a man to man”. That could be the idea behind the defense we saw in the mentioned game. We can argue about the way we call it (switching man to man, flexible zone, mutant defense) but there’s no need to go crazy about it. 

In my opinion, CSKA has the personnel to try this kind of switching defense. Their physicality and size allow them to go for it not giving up a lot of advantages to their rivals. But there’s another idea we should keep in mind. The defense’s “first stone” is not the switching, but the 1 on 1 and team communication. Bigs need to make efforts to guard smalls and smalls need to be really aggressive, as they will find themselves in a quick mismatch situation quite often. Then, the focus to switch or rotate when needed is also a must.

Also, the scouting work matters, Red Star use very often “horns” situations, as well as quick side screens. This switching defense may create problems and definitely slow down the rhythm of the offense. 

Some of the rules they appear to be following:

They place a “big” on top of their defense (Kurbanov, Nichols)

They switch high ball screens avoiding an advantage for the “roll man”, and try to keep a small guarding the ball after the first switch. 

Continuous attention to the ball’s position and players’ movements

Be aware of cuts, to follow and/or rotate, trying to stay in the same lines. "Smalls" defending outside spaces, "bigs" close to the basket.

Sag off from your man when the ball goes inside

If the mismatch finally happens: FIGHT IT. No easy penetration, no uncontested shots, no easy passes inside (defender in front) Off ball activity.

Let’s take a look: 

Final Four 2015: Cool Goudelock Down

Photo: Euroleague.net

A lot has been said about Real Madrid's offense in the semifinal against Fenerbahce. Not so much about some defensive details during that game. It is clear that their offense was flowing big time, the ball movement was great, they shared it the right way, the quality of the passing absolutely delicious… But they did some good things on the other half of the court too.

Let's take a look at how they cut Andrew Goudelock's rhythm during the first two quarters of the game. But first one more example about something we've been talking about lately, numbers. You can check Goudelock's points and immediately think that he was dominant (34 minutes, 26 points, 9/11 2PT, 2/6 3PT) But, if you want to dig a little bit more, you will find out how at the end of the second quarter, he had 6 points (2/3 2PT, 0/4 3PT) while his team was trailing by 20 (55-35) and the game was really far from where Fenerbahce would have wanted at that moment…

From the outside, and not knowing first hand what was Real's game plan, it looks like they paid good attention on Goudelock, probably the best 1x1 player in the competition. Let's take a look at some clips:

In the first video, we can see Fenerbahce playing one of their most frequently used sets. They set a down screen and then they play a hand off pass. Not only the player guarding Goudelock is committed to the task in hand, but also the other players are really aggressive. Real gave up some other options while trying to decrease Goudelock's production, which is normal when you focus in one player.

I was talking about cooperation to stop Goudelock before. In the next video we see that team work again. Two clips in which we can see up to three of Real's players (and in the first clip, a fourth giving a hand too) guarding Goudelock in the same play. Yes, he scores in the second one, but every effort counts and they keep making his life a little bit harder with their defense.

More examples, hand off and ball screen situations. We see how the screener's defender is aggressive to stop Goudelock. Aggressive hedging, and again, it is clear that they rather prefer other players to have the scoring opportunities. Help side defenders work against those other options, trying to avoid the easy shot, forcing some drives, rotating…

The last clip might seem naïve, but it is not. A "no helping" policy is advisable when facing some players. It appears Real Madrid decided to use that strategy with Goudelock. There were some actions where helping would have been a right move in a normal situation, but the defender decided not to. Take a look at the next clip.

So let me ask for your opinion: Was Goudelock's defense a success?

P.S.: You can check all of Goudelock's first half actions, here.