The diamond of continuous improvement…
By Jim Katsionis on 22 October 2017
Olympiacos’ Weave offense that only temporarily covers, but does not solve problems, and the difficulties in building Xavi Pascual’s offense in Panathinaikos. In this year’s Euroleague race, continuous improvement is better that delayed perfection. Hoopfellas scratches off the colour of winning and looks under the surface of the two “eternals”…
Good afternoon everyone. Two home wins for our teams in the second round of the Euroleague, just before the great first week of double games. Pros and cons, notes, second thoughts and questions. Let’s see them together and kick off our discussion in the beginning of the week, which is expected to offer important updates in terms of assessment of teams and persons…
Weave Offense only temporarily covers, it does not solve the problem…
The game versus Unicaja gave us the opportunity, very early in the season, to see clearly and practically some of the weaknesses of this year’s Olympiakos, which – it’s hard for us to see why – were not covered in this year’s Offseason, as we underlined from the beginning. The playbook and the ideas of coach Plaza (that put pressure on the Greek team on both sides of the floor) was a good opportunity for transparency…
It is obvious that Olympiacos is lacking in great playmaking. This is important in coach Sphairopoulos’ offensive philosophy. No one is expecting a fundamental type of offense with movement and lots of off the ball actions, because the coach simply works differently, investing in two-on-two situations, in which Spanoulis-Printezis are very strong, and the other players can function easier, due to the simplicity of the principles that distinguish them (in-out game with spot outside execution, and give & go situations, a typical production context for Mantzaris-Papanikolaou) and automatically in specific sets that produce more dribbling and less movement on the weak side.
Against Unicaja, without their main playmaker and with several injuries, in a game where the Reds scored 80 points (with good numbers), some inherent weaknesses appeared on offense. For better or worse, Olympiacos is judged strictly, as they are a top-club at this level of competition. Giannis Sphairopoulos activated as an introductory context in the PnR or Post up attack, the so-called Weave Offense with enough Dribble Hand Offs (the ballhandler dribbles in the direction of his teammate who will take the ball out of his hands, immediately screening the opponent’s defender that gets the ball, after the hand off) looking to create movement. This is a reasonable thought, if we consider that he was expecting Unicaja to pressure Olympiacos’ guards while his lineup consisted of three-forwards and Roberts as the point guard. In this case, however, this approach is only temporarily covering the lack of great playmaking, by breaking through the pressure and reducing the lack of movement, rather than a base on which the team can build in the long run. When Unicaja adjusted themselves and showed us their defensive ideas, it seemed that Olympiacos lacked the advanced playmaking on the perimeter that unlocks aggressive defenses. The guard that is constantly in attack mode (beyond Spanouls, the second unit will need one) is missing, the player that will breach the defense and go deep with the ball, testing its cohesion and close out behaviour. As we have said, Roberts is a great player, he plays proper basketball, and in this particular outing I liked the way he built communication lines with the weak side of the Reds offense in the beginning, but he is not a playmaker (when Plaza used ICE defense against him with Milisavljevic, he deactivated the Side picks of the home team) and is part of the overall backcourt of this year, which does not have the player to pass the ball inwards. That’s why, as we said after the match, as far as playmaking goes, the coach has relied on the forwards that can go toward the rim, creating an imbalance that will lead to execution after an extra pass (although Papanikolaou does not have the ballhandling to break through a closed defense in a small space).
It’s a fact that with Spanoulis on the floor things will change in opponents’ defenses. However, the Reds will become much more aggressive in finishing in the paint (every big man will have the chance to score more, first of all Milutinov), putting the pressure on defenses. But what will happen when the Reds captain is not on the floor against an elite defense? Olympiacos has many great shooters, but the real question is how much will this style of offense (lots of dribbling/1 on 1) will absorb them? Just look at the nature of the shots Strelnieks took. 90% of them weren’t even a choice (and part of his shot selection) at Brose Baskets…
Peripheral defense was good, there was a problem in the back line and against coach Plaza’s Diamond Press
The Reds behaviour in peripheral defense this year has raised questions before the season was underway, but in the Unicaja game, Giannis Sfairopoulos’ team was quite good for this time of the year. He properly approached its behaviour against Nemanja Nedovic (dynamic Hedge by Printezis in side picks, preventing him from dribbling down the middle lane, step back by Milutinov with proper spacing from the ball in middle picks) making it difficult for him to go to his good spots, he refused curling in coach Plaza’s Staggered for McCallum, leading to outside execution with sprinting in order to take free shots, and he didn’t allow his opponents to move the ball and feel comfortable with it in the perimeter, having good energy reserves. This was the behaviour that allowed Olympiacos to dominate the start of the match and helped them get in the game on offense. We’re holding on to that…
The problem started when Musli-Augustine got on the court and Unicaja became more patient in the process of the entry pass, and became stronger on offensive rebounding, one of their main weapons throughout the years. I don’t have much to say on this. We have talked about the risk the formerly dominant Reds defense may have on this part, and the power of the image on Friday night says it all. At Piraeus they don’t have a big man with Birch’s assets. There were plays where the opponents’ guard would meet the Orlando Magic’s big man around the free throw line, and he would back up towards the perimeter (Birch’s package deterred the opponent and led him to push the ball outside, as there was a monster around the rim) this year (with McLean) are turning into a full frontal attack with the result being ambiguous for the Reds defense. It’s a matter of “package” and assets that also affects defensive rebounds. What Olympiacos can improve at the moment is their behaviour on off the ball defense, in order to gradually reduce the points they concede in such situations.
With an Entry context of Double Drag Screens on the top, Malaga would give the ball to the Post, mainly with High-Low (also a characteristic of coach Plaza’s offense, and one of the reasons for Augustine joining the team, just remember how efficient Khimki would execute these actions with him in the Kurtinaitis era) with the Greek team finding it difficult to control dives after a screen or cuts in 5-out or 4-out-1-in format. Ok, you may not be as efficient in defending above the rim, but you must make it difficult to get the ball in the post for execution, preventing lobs and entry passes in good spots deep in the paint…
It should also be noted that Olympiacos struggled against Plaza’s Diamond Press, which changed the momentum and essentially allowed a defensive lineup to be present for heavy minutes, thus leaving Nedovic-Musli on the bench. This is where Plaza bet and, the way things went prove him right, although from one point on his team needed to score (maybe a better condition would be to get on the free throw line). Olympiacos did not manage to get the ball in the middle lane consistently (the one time they managed to do so with Printezis, Milutinov dunked emphatically), which is how you beat the Press defense, and make this type of defense open up like a rose (remember our analysis on the quarterfinal Greece lost to Russia). Go up a couple of paragraphs, where we are talking about the lack of advanced playmaking in Olympiacos’ backcourt…
The Hoya’s chance…
Without doubt, one of the positive things of that night was Hollis Thompson’s performance. As we had said before the game versus Panathiaikos, the injuries sustained by Olympiacos’ backcourt are a problem for coach Sfairopoulos, but at the same time are a great opportunity for Hollis Thompson, who is “avoiding” traffic in Olympiacos’ rotation the beginning of the season, as the absences in the backcourt force Olympiacos to spread their SF in different positions on the floor. Thompson did not shoot the ball well in the first matches, but it’s important that he remained aggressive (as he is a good shooter) and as his confidence and the certainty of his importance in the Reds roster grows, he will play better. It’s important for this player to keep his positive thinking when all the pieces of the puzzle are in place and the Reds will have many choices. The great games that follow in this year’s first double match week are important tests for the team, and for him personally…
Back to “our subject”: Was there a substantial improvement in the new offensive style of Panathinaikos
The new offensive context Xavi Pascual is trying to bring to OAKA is a major issue for the Clover’s general performance this season, to the degree that we are almost forced to evaluate the evolutionary process towards that goal on a weekly basis. After all, it is the basis of the philosophy of this team, and this is where Panathinaikos relied when building their roster this Offseason.
So, did we have a substantial improvement/step forward towards that direction in the match against Brose Baskets, where Panathinaikos scored 93 points with 56% three pointers? Definitely no. None. Zero, nothing. Is it that bad…? For the moment, no. In terms of structuring and functioning, creating such a cooperation offense with motion principles (just think that in terms of philosophy, the great-great-great-grandfather of these offenses was Dean Smith’s “passing game”) is a complex process that requires time and patience. Panathinaikos will be building specific cooperations, and parts of it (from the positions on the floor, “adjustments”, up to timing, spacing and decision-making) that will gradually complete the entire puzzle one-by-one. So, it’s important in the first part of the season to take one step at a time, even if in some cases the bigger picture is not the desirable.
Panathinaikos did make a substantial step towards that direction with Brose. The Greens are still in the first stages, and they are trying to include new players by determining their behaviour on the strong side, and then, after they are absorbed, reaching certain standards in this part, connect it with actions on the weak side, where timing and details in everything they are finding difficult off the ball are the key that leads to a complete multi-faceted offense. Do you remember what we said when evaluating the Greens before the season tipped off …? Within this offense (provided that they reach the desirable level) players like Lojeski or Denmon will look like Scythian archers that will shoot down opponents with their deadly. In a different context, “we will be looking for new players in November…”
The one who drinks gets drunk and the one who gambles looses…
Of course, it’s very important for a team like Panathinaikos to win. In the Euroleague (due to the competitive context) this must be done with the least possible risk. So, on Thursday night, the Greens relied on Nick Calathes (23 points, 9/12 FG-6 assists), who was in great shape from the beginning of the game, hurting the Bavarian approach to gamble in his outside shooting. The Greek international’s good night boosted the home team to invest more on two-on-two situations with the ball in Calathes’ hands, and move the ball less in their offense On the other hand, it’s a good thing Panathinaikos is quicker in half court. Certain actions (especially actions that involve K.C. Rivers) that have been moved directly from last year’s playbook, are executed much faster, in particular the ones where players that are in their second season with coach Pascual are included. In total, the Greens scored 93 points (with 13 missed free throws), but they only had 14 assists against a team that has a great problem on defense, in particular with everything that has to do with rim protection.
The new “weapons” we talked about last week…
In the pros of the night was the active participation of Lecavicius and Vougioukas, as well as Auguste in the team’s game. The “depth” of the Greens roster was more obvious with the two big men playing 24 of the 40 minutes of the “5” position, and the Lithuanian guard getting an applause, scoring 10 points with 4/5 FG and 3 assists in only 15 minutes and being “aggressive”, just like Panathinaikos’ game requires, as it is of major important for the opponent’s defense to “feel” him. It’s very interesting that in Lecavicius’ minutes on the floor, Xavi Pascual chose a 5-out format on offense, looking to increase the available spaces under the Germans’ basket as much as possible (both Auguste’s buckets point to that).
The Lithuanian will be in charge in the minutes where Calathes is not on the floor (they also played together for a few minutes) and he must acclimatize himself as fast as possible with what his coach wants from him and feel comfortable inside his skin in the role of the guard that sets the tempo and runs the Green playbook from the driver’s seat. His experience with Zalgiris has helped him, but he still needs to work. His game must become simpler (overdribbling that negates a staggered offense for Rivers must lead to an automatic…penalty from now on). Also, for the first time we should note that every team in the Euroleague is targeting Ian Vougoukas’ slow feet (who was good offensively) and Zach Auguste’s weakness in low post defense, when attacking against Panathinaikos. There is a problem here…
Singleton the barometer
The second half and Chris Singleton’s double-double, after a poor first half, is very optimistic in regard to the Greens’ total performance both on offense and defense. After all, in the type of offense that Panathinaikos is trying to play, the player of the “4” position (more specifically his efficiency in outside shooting for maintaining spacing) is very important. At the same time, at nights like this, where their offense does not have the required flow (especially against stronger defenses) and Denmon-Lojeski are finding it difficult to connect with the basket, the presence of Rivers and two Shooting-forwards at “4” (Singleton-Gabriel) is a safety net. Singleton is one of the best players Xavi Pascual has at his disposal in 1 on 1. As we said last week, the poor stint of the American F/C, who has been playing at the top of his game for a long time now, would come at some point. He just has to leave it behind. Since Panathinaikos didn’t choose to freshen up their main “5” and keep Gist (who was quite good against Brose) in their roster as the main “5”, it’s a prerequisite for the team’s good performance that Chris Singleton would be as good as he was last year both on offense and defense.
P.S.: A great game at Milan. The home team showed a “spark” and some of the new faces (Theodore, M’Baye) showed their competitive spirit. The question is whether they will be able to keep this spark in their eyes when bad results come knocking on their door. These are night in which strong characters are built. They say that the greatest conquest of man is not his mind, which can betray him and easily deviate, but pure will, disciplined strength that shows the one and only road; it’s called “character”…
P.S.1: I can’t wait for the first week of the double games. I am going crazy here…
P.S.2: The Jazz crushed the famous Thunder and kept Westbrook at 6 points and Donovan’s team at 87 total points. Let’s go again. I love Quin Snyder. I believe that he is a defensive genius, he is among the coaches that can determine trends and leave their mark on the development of basketball. Studying the Jazz’s playbook (as well as various potential “adjustments” from time to time) is one of my favourite things to do, and I do it with a disposal equal to the one before studying a scientific handbook with innovative proposals. Snyder and Stevens are the new stars of the American coaching school, and a dive into their philosophy tank will help you to really understand the direction basketball is heading globally.
Translated by: George-Orestis Zoumpos
