Good breakdown of how Heat use Team Offense schemes to Scramble Denver's Defense

[bdonovan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wx6yr1Jrnw

Two points I thought I'd bring out:

* Kevin Love's size caused problems for Denver. Denver just roughly 80 pts/100 possessions with KLove playing; 160 pts/100 possessions with him on the bench. The stat is a little too juicy and I don't think he alone had that effect, but it did change the aggression the Nuggets had, when they thought they could attack the paint at will over the Heat's small forwards.

* Heat use 2 screeners at one time. It causes chaos because there are 3 offensive players clustered and Denver can't figure out who is screening, who is cutting, and who is getting ready for a 3. What makes this work is the Heat respond in real-time to what Denver is doing and seem to have limitless options in what they can do. The video has several examples.

[Heat_chips]

The Heat were +18 with Love and the starting lineup on the floor

Denvers coach in the presser yesterday seemed frazzled, befuddled and confused with what the Heat are doing. He also mentioned how the Heats hybrid shapeshifting zone defense stymied his offense in the 4th quarter

The Heat have dominated both 4th quarters in denver with all their confusing switches on both offense and defense

A member of the Nuggets said the Heat coaching staff is the best they've seen all season

Link: https://heatnation.com/rumors/report...d-this-season/

[Heat_chips]

[Heat_chips]

Steve Kerr praises the Heats tactics

Rasheed Wallace said it best the other day when he said: "What makes the Heat great is they take away the things you do best and then they control the game under their terms."

[tontoz]

So a team with a 124 ORTG for the game got "shut down"?



Only on ISH

[Heat_chips]

So a team with a 124 ORTG for the game got "shut down"?

Heat were leading the 4th quarter 36-16 and had a double digit lead with 3 mins left until denver shot a few desperation three's in the final 1:30 to make the game appear a lot closer than it actually was. The Heat dominated the 4th quarters of both games, on their home floor, with minimaL REST, while the nuggets had all the rest in the world with the freshest of legs

Secondly, the Heat held the nuggets to 106 points per game over the two games on their home floor.

To put that in proper perspective, the 30th ranked offense this season averaged 109.5 points per game.

So essentially the Heat turned the nuggets vaunted explosive offense into the worst offense in the league. That was even with heavily outscoring the Heat during that 8 minutes with Cody Zeller in the game

ORTG means nothing.

[tontoz]

Heat were leading the 4th quarter 36-16 and had a double digit lead with 3 mins left until denver shot a few desperation three's in the final 1:30 to make the game appear a lot closer than it actually was. The Heat dominated the 4th quarters of both games, on their home floor, with minimaL REST, while the nuggets had all the rest in the world with the freshest of legs

Secondly, the Heat held the nuggets to 106 points per game over the two games on their home floor.

To put that in proper perspective, the 30th ranked offense this season averaged 109.5 points per game.

So essentially the Heat turned the nuggets vaunted explosive offense into the worst offense in the league. That was even with heavily outscoring the Heat during that 8 minutes with Cody Zeller in the game

ORTG means nothing.

So when Denver makes a 3 it is desperation but if the Heat make a 3 it's just expected. Heat made 5 3s in the 4th, Denver 3.

ORTG literally means points per 100 possessions and 124 is elite.

Denver was up 8 after 3 quarters. Why did Spo wait until the 4th quarter to spring his zone? Why didn't he use it the whole game? Because he has sense and you don't.

[Heat_chips]

ORTG literally means points per 100 possessions and 124 is elite.

Denver was up 8 after 3 quarters. Why did Spo wait until the 4th quarter to spring his zone? Why didn't he use it the whole game? Because he has sense and you don't.

ORTG means nothing because you're including the 40-14 denver run in the 2nd quarter when Cody zeller was in and the bench, on transition points. An anomaly that The Heat can easily adjust to . In the halfcourt denver looked lost most of the game, both the 1st and 4th quarters and much of the 3rd.

If you've watched the Heat in the playoffs you'd notice they turn everything up a notch in the 4th quarters, both offensively and defensively. Of course they play more zone defense with their hybrid shapeshifting zone in the 4th, because you can't play it all game as it takes alot of energy. However it takes a lot of energy to play against it as well, so the Heat employ it more later in games as opposing teams are more worn down at that point, while the Heat are better conditioned.

Hence why we have this:

Heat point differential through 20 playoff games:

1st quarter: -1
2nd quarter: -11
3rd quarter: -12
4th quarter: +90

[tontoz]

ORTG means nothing because you're including the 40-14 denver run in the 2nd quarter when Cody zeller was in and the bench, on transition points. An anomaly that The Heat can easily adjust to . In the halfcourt denver looked lost most of the game, both the 1st and 4th quarters and much of the 3rd.

If you've watched the Heat in the playoffs you'd notice they turn everything up a notch in the 4th quarters, both offensively and defensively. Of course they play more zone defense with their hybrid shapeshifting zone in the 4th, because you can't play it all game as it takes alot of energy. However it takes a lot of energy to play against it as well, so the Heat employ it more later in games as opposing teams are more worn down at that point, while the Heat are better conditioned.

Hence why we have this:

Heat point differential through 20 playoff games:

1st quarter: -1
2nd quarter: -11
3rd quarter: -12
4th quarter: +90

If the Heat are better conditioned then why wouldn't they play it the whole game?



Because Spo knows that he has to change up his defense constantly to throw Denver off balance.

So the only stretches of the game that matter are when the Heat do well? OK

[Heat_chips]

If the Heat are better conditioned then why wouldn't they play it the whole game?

You're simply a fool. As it is humanly impossible to.

There isn't an NBA team in history that has played Miami's zone through an entire 48 mins of a game.

[tontoz]

You're simply a fool. As it is humanly impossible to.

There isn't an NBA team in history that has played Miami's zone through an entire 48 mins of a game.

And why is that? Because giving the same look all game will allow the other team to adjust to it. The Heat threw Denver off temporarily. The idea that they shut Denver down is laughable. Denver's offensive efficiency in game 2 was far above the league leader during the regular season.

[Heat_chips]

Because Spo knows that he has to change up his defense constantly to throw Denver off balance.

What are you talking about ? Of course he changes things constantly, as the Zone itself is a constant change. On one possession the Heat can play four defenses. From 2-3 zone to man-to-man to 1-3-1 zone to 1-2-2 zone , etc etc etc

They can play a zone man hybrid, hence the shapeshifting zone that has been labeled by nba coaches

Within the actual Zone it's constant changes !!

[tontoz]

What are you talking about ? Of course he changes things constantly, as the Zone itself is a constant change. On one possession the Heat can play four defenses. From 2-3 zone to man-to-man to 1-3-1 zone to 1-2-2 zone , etc etc etc

They can play a zone man hybrid, hence the shapeshifting zone that has been labeled by nba coaches

Within the actual Zone it's constant changes !!

So why didn't they play it during the first 3 quarters? Why did they let Denver take an 8 point lead into the 4th quarter if they had the capacity to shut them down at any time?

[Heat_chips]

And if you haven't noticed they are targeting Murray. Sticking Butler on him and trapping him on occasion, as the other guys are not great ballhandlers sans Jokic.

Would you like to see Gordon brining the ball up the floor to setup offense? Or Porter?

The head of the snake to you is Jokic, but it's really Murray to the Heat.

No team in the playoffs have played the Nuggets better than the Heat defensively. The suns and wolves play no defense, and the lakers are bleh on D .. The Heat are just so much better on that side of the ball it's not close.

And that is why Murray will have his worst series of the playoffs facing the Heat

[tontoz]

And if you haven't noticed they are targeting Murray. Sticking Butler on him and trapping him on occasion, as the other guys are not great ballhandlers sans Jokic.

Would you like to see Gordon brining the ball up the floor to setup offense? Or Porter?

The head of the snake to you is Jokic, but it's really Murray to the Heat.

No team in the playoffs have played the Nuggets better than the Heat defensively. The suns and wolves play no defense, and the lakers are bleh on D .. The Heat are just so much better on that side of the ball it's not close.

And that is why Murray will have his worst series of the playoffs facing the Heat

How do you measure the effectiveness of the Heat's defense if you aren't looking at the points scored by Denver?