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CLEAR EYES
FULL HEARTS
GOLD SWAGGER
-VS-
Game Time Start: 8:30 PM ET
Where: The Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Officials: M. McCutchen, T. Brothers, J. Phillips, Z. Zarba
Television:
Radio: WFNI 1070 AM / WAXY 790 AM, WRTO 98.3 FM / ESPN Radio
Media Notes: Indiana Notes, Miami Notes
NBA Feeds: NBA Audio League Pass (available free to NBA All-Access members)
REMINDER: Per PD policy, please do not share a link to, describe how to search for, request a link to, or request a PM about streaming video of a NBA game that is not coming directly through the NBA. Not even in a "wink-wink, nudge-nudge, know-what-I-mean" round-about sort of way. Thank you
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 PACERS Danny Granger - left knee surgery (out) HEAT Chris Anderson - caged (out) |
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What Adjustments Should the Pacers Make Before Game 6? Following a Game 5 loss where we witnessed LeBron James enter complete dominance mode, the Indiana Pacers are staring at elimination as they head home for a Game 6. Now, the Pacers will need two consecutive victories against the defending champions for a chance at a title against the San Antonio Spurs. Great players sometimes have a way of “getting theirs” regardless of what opponents can draw up to stop them. Despite the solid defensive efforts of Paul George on the perimeter and Roy Hibbert providing help at the rim, the entire Heat attack started and ended with LeBron for much of the game. This was evident through his 30 points and 6 assists, and trickled down to increased production from Udonis Haslem. In the third quarter, when LeBron scored or assisted on 25 of the Heat’s points, he was essentially unstoppable. Still, to best position his team for a Game 6 victory, Frank Vogel will have to make a few tactical adjustments. While the Pacers may not be able to stop James, there are ways that the Pacers can force Miami out of its comfort zone and limit LeBron’s dominance. We asked some of the contributors to this site to offer their takes on what adjustments Indiana can make. Here are those responses. Put Miami Bigs in Foul Trouble A large part of Miami’s offensive effectiveness in this series has been a result of its big men providing enough spacing for LeBron and Dwyane Wade to operate. With Chris Bosh and Udonis Haslem being able to operate further away from the rim, the floor opens up for Miami’s ball handlers to create in space. David West and Roy Hibbert were forced into committing with help defense in the paint caused by LeBron’s penetration in Game 5, which allowed Haslem to make a living in the mid-range game. With Bosh and Haslem both in the lineup, help defense comes at a price. However, the Heat are not particularly deep when it comes to big men. After Haslem and Bosh, the remaining options are Chris Andersen, Joel Anthony, and a completely washed up Rashard Lewis. While Andersen has been effective, he provides zero spacing and needs to work almost exclusively around the rim. If the Pacers can get Udonis Haslem or Chris Bosh in foul trouble, big issues arise for the Heat. With smaller lineups featuring Shane Battier at power forward and Andersen at center, the spacing that is so crucial to the Heat’s attack is seriously compromised. At the same time, the Pacers create a huge advantage on the offensive end with Battier forced into guarding David West in the post. To do this, Indiana needs to look to attack Bosh and Haslem early, either in the post or through a heavy dosage of pick and roll. West and Hibbert are good enough where this should hardly be an inconvenience. The Heat have proven to be very good at what they do, but they lack the depth they need to do it once you dig into their bench. – Mark Evans No Reinventing the Wheel We’re 99 games into the season, so there will be no reinventing of the wheel to be done here. The key will be the guards, and at the risk of being reductionist, George Hill and Lance Stephenson need to come out aggressively. Hill needs to be a scorer tonight. If Miami is not going trap or blitz the pick and roll, then he needs to turn the corner and attack the lane.He needs to put pressure on Miami’s defense, and he does that by scoring points. Stephenson, like Hill, needs to exploit the pick-and-roll defense, if the opportunity arises. But, more importantly, he has to push the ball. Coach Frank Vogel is constantly pleading for his team to play with pace, and that largely boils down to Lance. It seems that both he and his team need one or two of Stephenson’s full-court bull rushes to get their blood running. Otherwise, both Lance and the team tend towards timidity and indecision in their half-court offense. If the guards are spectators tonight, the Pacers will be spectators after tonight. – Tim Donahue Back Court Aggression By the time you reach Game 6...CONTINUE READING AT 8p9s |
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Mike Prada: LeBron James 2.0 - Dominated in all facets in Game 5 LeBron James said he "went back to his Cleveland days" to lead Miami to a Game 5 win over Indiana, but a look at second-half film shows just how much he's evolved since then. After vanquishing the Indiana Pacers nearly all by himself in a 90-79 Game 5 victory, LeBron James declared that he "went back to his Cleveland days" to get the Miami Heat the win. He was speaking generally, of course. In Cleveland, James was forced to carry a subpar supporting cast all by himself. In this series, thanks to Dwyane Wade's nagging injuries and Chris Bosh's ineffective play against the massive Roy Hibbert, James has often been forced to carry a subpar supporting cast all by himself. But I'm going to take issue with James' statement in this respect. He didn't really go back to his Cleveland days to get this Game 5 win. He actually moved forward, carrying Miami while being deployed in a completely different way than he was several years ago. The LeBron James that dazzled in Cleveland was not the LeBron James we saw on Thursday night. LeBron 1.0 was succeeding at the top of the key, flashing the kind of playmaking skills and dribble-drive capability that few had ever seen in the league. But that LeBron James still managed to leave us a little unsatisfied. Why was someone that big and strong operating so far from the basket? Why couldn't he affect the game closer to the hoop? In this series, though, we've seen the full growth of LeBron James 2.0, a process that began last season. In Game 3, James parked himself on the low block and dominated Indiana from the post. In Game 5, though, he shifted to the pinch post, the area at the top of the key between the elbow and the three-point line. From there, he acted as the hub of the offense, both with his scoring and in other ways. By moving James to the pinch post, Miami was able to capitalize on his versatility. On a basic level, this got James easier shot attempts because he was a few steps closer to the rim. Here, he takes advantage of George Hill picking him up on a switch and gets to his left for a layup before Roy Hibbert can react. Here, James runs a pick and roll with Udonis Haslem from the elbow, and Paul George, scared that James will beat Indiana's help defense to the rim, goes under the screen, ceding an open 17-foot jumper. Here, James curls off a down screen by Chris Bosh, gets his shoulders by George and takes one step for the lefty layup. Finally, here's James starting in the high post, running a pick and roll with Dwyane Wade to force a switch and shooting over the shorter Lance Stephenson on a wing isolation. But putting James in the high post allowed him to affect the game in many more ways than scoring. Sure, it made it easier to get to the rim, but the real genius of James' second half was in his screening. James couldn't count on his teammates to step up on their own, and having him try to drive and dish to them wasn't working either, so he opened up chances by doing what most consider to be dirty work. Here's a compilation of James' screens in the second half. James got credit in the box score for some of these, but not for others. For example, he got no stats on this play at 7:28 of the fourth quarter despite initiating the play from the pinch post.  ... screening for Norris Cole to drive.  ... rolling quickly to the rim to receive a pass before George recovers.  ... drawing Hibbert.  ... and kicking out to Wade in a way that allows him to drive baseline past Lance Stephenson and to the rim.  Wade was the only player that received any sort of credit in the box score for that sequence, but without James' versatility while operating in the pinch post, the play never would have developed. You see a similar story...CONTINUE READING AT SB NATION |
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Dylan Murphy: Why Can LeBron Shoot Three-Pointers All Of A Sudden? In 2010-2011, LeBron James connected on 33.0% of his three-point attempts. In 2011 -2012, that number jumped to 36.2%. This past regular season, it surged to 40.6%. In his recent piece on Grantland, Kirk Goldsberry attributed LeBron’s improvement (both in three-point field goal percentage and field goal percentage overall) to increased shot location efficiency – a greater emphasis on corner three-pointers and a re-distribution of mid-range shots to the three-point line and the areas closest to the hoop, in particular. And, naturally, we’ve seen this correlate with his career highs in shooting percentages both inside and beyond the arc. It’s easy to see why two-point shooting LeBron James’ efficiency has skyrocketed, especially in light of Goldsberry’s revelations – he’s taking easier shots closer to the hoop and mostly eliminating mid-range jumpers. But with three-point shooting LeBron, who has improved by seven percentage points over the last two seasons, there has to be something more there. A three-pointer is inefficient if it’s heavily contested or off- balance; driving at Roy Hibbert – despite being mere inches from the rim – is mostly a bad idea. It’s all a matter of shot location in context, which is to say how the shot was taken and defensed. Applying these two concepts to all of LeBron James’ three-pointers over the last three seasons helps to reveal the missing piece to explain his three-point shooting improvement: it’s always been a matter of balance. As a primary ball handler, LeBron’s three-point attempts occur in various play types: spot ups, isolations, pick-and-rolls, dribble handoffs, transition, off the dribble, and so on – which is to say that his shots vary in difficulty, and therefore technique. But it’s the great shooters who are able to minimize these departures and generally stick to basic shooting principles – land with parallel feet, stay on relative balance. It’s with this latter part, the balance, that LeBron James has typically struggled, and divided himself into two completely different three-point shooters: the balanced LeBron and the off-balance LeBron. LeBron James No. 1: On-Balance LeBron James is perfectly capable of shooting on-balance. Take a look at these freeze frames of James shooting a three against Memphis back in 2010: his feet are parallel, his hips remain squared up and he’s mostly perpendicular to the floor. Everything looks right.  With no defender even remotely challenging, LeBron nails the shot. In fact, when LeBron James shoots it on-balance and uncontested, he’s more than a good three-point shooter; he’s a great three-point shooter. Over the last two seasons, he’s shot a scorching 59.5% (25-42) in these situations. Yet that begs another question: what about when James is under defensive siege? 71.3% of his looks from distance since 2010 have been contested. And that shouldn’t come as a surprise for a player of his caliber, who is unlikely to find himself wide open all that often. Still, LeBron has proven himself capable of not deviating (technique-wise) in spite of pressure. We’ll use this shot against Houston from earlier this season as an example:  Notice that all the same markers as his wide open look from above are present here. The feet, the lack of angular body distortion, the follow through. All of this with Chandler Parsons closing out with a hand up. So what about this LeBron? Though he’s not quite as lethal (contested shots are naturally more difficult), he’s still shooting a more than healthy 45.5% from deep over the past three seasons. In summary, here’s how insanely talented on-balance LeBron James is as a three-point shooter.  Notice the spike in his on-balance/contested percentage this past season, as well as the ’10-’11 to ’11-’12 jump in on-balance/uncontested shots – more on that later. LeBron James No. 2: Off-Balance Off-balance LeBron James isn’t just one type of shooter. Analyzing his shots reveals multiple subsets containing similar elements, the most pervasive of which is an excessive backpedal. (Note: statistics were not compiled for each off-balance variation, but for off-balance shots on the whole.) 1. Backpedaling LeBron It’s common for shooters to float backwards after landing on a jump shot. A shooter’s feet most often land in front of his takeoff spot, causing a slight backwards body lean. In the two examples of on-balance LeBron above, you might have noticed that he wasn’t completely perpendicular to the floor when he landed; his feet were slightly edged forward, his back somewhat tilting. This is completely natural on any jump shot, and lends itself to a slight backpedal to regain complete balance. An extended backpedal, however, is a clear indication of a serious balance problem. Here’s LeBron missing a shot against Orlando earlier this season in which he backs away rather quickly. Be sure to keep your eyes on LeBron instead of the ball after he releases the shot. The backpedal is not a root problem in itself; it’s symptomatic of a deeper flaw throwing LeBron’s entire balance out of whack. If we freeze his form on landing, the defective technique reveals iteslf. Notice the sharp angle of his body lean:  He’s a few inches from falling over backwards completely. Also notice the slight bend at the knee; his lower body has moved forward completely, while his upper body has remained stationary. If you have room to spare, try jumping forward with your feet while keeping your upper body in place. On landing, you’ll probably backpedal. That’s what LeBron is doing here. His upper and lower body are disjointed and do not move in tandem with each other. It should come as no shock, then, that he misses the shot. (A fix might be not jumping so far forward.) It’s fair to surmise that LeBron backs away more often under pressure – crowding a shooter’s space makes him want to back away. And the numbers support this hypothesis, too: since 2010, approximately 76% of his contested looks have been off- balance, as opposed to 24% on-balance. But this shot isn’t just any run-of-the-mill fadeaway. In a prototypical fadeaway, the feet land behind the takeoff spot to create space. Here, LeBron’s feet are usually moving forward in spite of crowding. It’s his upper/lower body disconnect that’s generating the balance problem. This is partially evidenced by the consistent existence of backpedaling even in his uncontested looks. It’s a core problem of his shooting technique on the whole. Just take a look at how far he skates away from the three-point line despite a healthy amount of room between himself and the defender. 2. One-Foot LeBron This one is pretty simple: sometimes LeBron lands on one foot.  And now in real time: As for the why, it’s tough to say. While at times he reverts to the one-foot landing on fadeaways or heavily contested looks, other times he’s all by himself. But it would seem that it’s further proof of the systemic lack of balance in LeBron’s jump during his jump shot. Also: it happens more often than you think. More than 1/4 of his attempts (26.0%) since 2010 have been one-footed. 3. Transition-Shooting LeBron Nearly every one of LeBron’s three-pointers in transition follows the same rubric: lean in, use the right foot to corral forward momentum on landing. Here’s an example:  Because he’s not quite stopping on a dime, the weight of his body carries his entire frame forward. To compensate and not overshoot the ball, all of the pressure lands on his protruding right leg. And that would be fine, if his goal were not to run forward anymore. But the goal, presumably, is to make the shot. While the forward leg serves its weight-transferring purpose, it makes his frame as a whole more wobbly. There’s less width to absorb the landing, and he’s more prone to falling off to the left or right side. If you’re a HoopChalk vet, you might remember that Jason Kidd is similarly unsuccessful with this type of shot. So: what do the numbers say about off-balance LeBron James overall? Here’s how it breaks down, any time he one-foots it or backs away or kicks out his leg:  Which is a fancy way of saying that LeBron James shoots the ball poorly when he’s off-balance, but slightly better when his off-balance shots are uncontested as opposed to contested. No shock there. What’s particularly cringe-worthy is that his worst shot – the off-balance/contested three-pointer – is also his most frequent. 54.2% of his three-point attempts since 2010, in fact. The contested portion is understandable: as mentioned earlier, defenses tend not to leave LeBron James open. And even the reliance on off-balance looks is partially defensible, too: sometimes it’s tough to maintain balance under pressure. But it’s certainly possible – remember that he’s 44- 107 (41.1%) on contested/on-balance 3s over the last three seasons. Okay, fine. But why is LeBron getting better? Now that we’ve dissected his shooting form...CONTINUE READING AT HOOPCHALK |
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| Tyler Parker: Tyler Hansborough Reviews Today’s Top Country Music Tyler Hansborough likes country music and asked us if he could review some of the top songs currently being played on country radio. After six voicemails and eleven emails we finally agreed to let him. These are his reviews. [Please note these are extremely condensed as, initially, they were each four pages long. Also, at his behest, we omitted a portion of his I Want Crazy review as there was an off color allegory involving vag!nas, Connect Four, and orange juice that he wrote while he was "way too drunk, trying to get Ashleigh to send him pics of her new Bass Pro tattoo".] Downtown by Lady Antebellum - This song is good to me. I experienced some of these things when I dated a girl from Duke named Ashleigh who sucked. She began to refuse to actually go out with me. She would insist on staying in. When we ordered food from Kugino’s she’d make sure and never allow the both of us to be seen by the delivery guy in the apartment at the same time. It was weird and made me sad. I change my mind. I hate this song. Wagon Wheel by Darius Rucker - This is one that I’ll be playing for awhile. I am a big fan of Old Crow Medicine Show, but I think Hootie does this justice. I’m tired of hearing people hate on Rucker because he’s covering the song, acting like they’re big fans of OCMS. Please. If you can name more than three of their songs off the top of your head, then you can talk. If not, please close your mouth forever and be gone, wanna be. Be gone. The video is also good because people from Duck Dynasty are in it and that is a good, funny show and I think Si is funny. Ashleigh refused to get me a Si tea cup for my birthday from Bass Pro so she sucks. Highway Don’t Care by Tim McGraw featuring Taylor Swift & Keith Urban – We missed you, Tim! Timmy is finally back with this hit new smash. Really a throwback for him. Taylor does well on this as well and Keith shreds the solo. Best guitar picking he’s done since Rainin’ On Sunday, in my opinion. I played this for my new girlfriend, Tanna, who is much better than Ashleigh ever was. I told her that I care if she’s alone and don’t want her to be and stuff. Because of love. That’s why I told her that. Because I love her and stuff. And Ashleigh used to claim she loved me but then would let me be alone. So, clearly, she didn’t love me. I Want Crazy by Hunter Hayes - This reminds me of every Hunter Hayes song ever, but I still kind of dig the chorus. It’s catchy and I found myself tapping my foot. I will say that I think it’s crazy to say he wants crazy because Ashleigh was crazy and speaking from experience you do not want crazy. That’s the last thing you want, really. You want sane. Crazy gets you slashed tires and a shoe polished penis on the back window of your F-150 whenever a girl from NC State asks to take a picture with you after a game then kisses you on the cheek right when it’s snapped and puts it up on Facebook. I also think the shirts he wears are weird and too tight. Henley’s aren’t supposed to hug you like that...CONTINUE READING AT BALLERBALL |
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PACERS Mike Wells @MikeWellsNBA Jared Wade @8pts9secs Tim Donahue @TimDonahue8p9s Tom Lewis @indycornrows Ian Levy @HickoryHigh Miss Bumptious @missbumptious |
HEAT Brian Windhorst @windhorstESPN Tom Haberstroh @tomhaberstroh Ira Winderman @iraheatbeat Ethan J. Skolnick @EthanJSkolnick Surya Fernandez @SuryaHeatNBA Joseph Goodman @JoeGoodmanJr |
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