You could see the NBA influence on our Defense. Charlie Henry ran the D. He was an NBA assistant for years, and then the Bulls G league team’s Head Coach. He tried switching on the perimeter some, but we just didn’t have the guys to do it. I remember the UF game when we switched Galin off on a guard on the top of the key. I don’t think that’s the coverage we were supposed to be in, but switching Galin onto a guard is a recipe for disaster. I know you have to change up your PNR coverages throughout the game, but when Galin or Javian were on the court, I would have Iced or hard hedged every ball screen. Early on in the season, we were soft hedging and pinching from the corner, but we didn’t recover quick enough to play that type of PNR coverage. Later in the season teams realized that we didn’t have a rim protector, and Herb was really the only ball stopper that we had, so teams just beat us off the bounce without a ball screen.
Now that we have Bruner, I would expect more switching of ball screens. We will be way more flexible with our length. We will have multiple guys that can guard multiple positions.
On a different note, I’m a Hawks fan, so I’m excited about Capela, but I want to know what to expect. I’m really excited about him in the PNR with Trae Young, and we desperately needed a rim protector. I also think it was a good move on Houston’s part, Houston, just like Golden State, plays better with a small lineup.
