Ime and the Drop Coverage

[jpotter33]

Surely we don't still do this in game five, right? Can anyone give me a logical explanation of why we continue to do this level of drop coverage on their shooters when they continue to hammer us on it?

I understand you want to limit the penetration and kick game, but when Curry is averaging something like 33+ plus a game with 43 tonight with a substantial amount of his points off that coverage, why in the world would you continue to employ this strategy? I'm seriously befuddled and flustered by this decision by an otherwise elite defensive coach.

[celticinorlando]

If it doesn’t change curry will go for another 35 plus in game 5. It’s maddening to watch.

[LilRip]

Surely we don't still do this in game five, right? Can anyone give me a logical explanation of why we continue to do this level of drop coverage on their shooters when they continue to hammer us on it?

I understand you want to limit the penetration and kick game, but when Curry is averaging something like 33+ plus a game with 43 tonight with a substantial amount of his points off that coverage, why in the world would you continue to employ this strategy? I'm seriously befuddled and flustered by this decision by an otherwise elite defensive coach.

I assume he does it to save bigs energy and more importantly, to prevent layups. The threes are flashy but GSW is most dangerous when the ball is popping. Curry gets downhill, defense collapses, kick out, and now they’re creating opportunities for everyone. All of a sudden, everyone becomes a better shooter because of ball flow.

Drop coverages “forces” Curry to shoot immediately. He might get his but u keep the other players like Klay off-rhythm

[ozgod]

Surely we don't still do this in game five, right? Can anyone give me a logical explanation of why we continue to do this level of drop coverage on their shooters when they continue to hammer us on it?

I understand you want to limit the penetration and kick game, but when Curry is averaging something like 33+ plus a game with 43 tonight with a substantial amount of his points off that coverage, why in the world would you continue to employ this strategy? I'm seriously befuddled and flustered by this decision by an otherwise elite defensive coach.

I assume he does it to save bigs energy and more importantly, to prevent layups. The threes are flashy but GSW is most dangerous when the ball is popping. Curry gets downhill, defense collapses, kick out, and now they’re creating opportunities for everyone. All of a sudden, everyone becomes a better shooter because of ball flow.

Drop coverages “forces” Curry to shoot immediately. He might get his but u keep the other players like Klay off-rhythm

That's what I thought too. It's a pick-your-poison type situation where you either make Curry beat you or you make the whole team beat you. They could have the drop man defending higher but then it invites a switch and Curry has found it easy to beat bigs to the rim when they are guarding him on the perimeter. It happened with Timelord a few times. No doubt Steph is a tough cover and his defender really has to force his way over those screens because he can shoot with inches of space.

With this type of coverage they seem to be trying to force Curry to have to score 40+ each night and they will live with those results rather than having GS have 4-5 players in double figures and having 30 assists. It's probably also the reason why they haven't really run with the 2 bigs lineup as much and so we got hammered on the boards tonight. Having 2 bigs gives you that insurance that if Curry beats the first switch there's still someone there as a safety. But then the flip side is it's easier for Curry to hunt mismatches, especially with Timelord since he is the primary rim protector.

Pick your poison, right now it's sucking for us being Steph is making us pay for those open inches he has   

[slamtheking]

it's a very questionable strategy.  what would be a better strategy against Curry is to go at him on offense and force him to expend a lot of energy on defense to tire out his legs and/or picks up fouls to make him less effective.

[furball]

It doesn't matter.  The Celtics lose when they don't score.  Curry has nothing to do with it.  The Warriors have scored 108, 107, 100, and 107 in the 4 games.  their offense is being held in check.  The 2 games the Celtics won they scored 120 and 118 the losses were 88 and 97.  It would be 3-1 if the Celtics didn't go the last 5 minutes only scoring 3 points.  the defense has been fine.  There is no need to change anything.  they need to score!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also, it always said when teams play the Warriors that it's not the threes that kill you it's the wide open lay ups they get when you are selling out to stop the threes.  the Celtics have stopped the warriors from getting lay up after lay up after getting the C's scrambling in rotation.  The defense is working great. it's the offense that is costing them games. 

[gouki88]

Didn't Rob confirm after game 3 that it is not a directive from Ime?

[Big333223]

The problem is, Curry has mastered the post-release flail so if you get anywhere near him he's going to get himself a whistle. I think the bigs are afraid of getting too close and trying to split the difference.

[Jvalin]

My guess is Timelord is playing injured and we are trying to hide/protect him in a drop scheme. Protecting the rim requires less movement than switching ball screens on the perimeter.

[GetLucky]

A few reasons for the drop coverage here. The video below describes a few of them well + shows that the team did switch up their coverages the last 5 minutes and got burned for them when 1). Horford switched and got blown by by Steph 2) the C's trapped and Green did his thing as a 4-on-3 distributor. That said, I think we will vary our coverages a bit more the next 3 games but still start out in drop.

1) Ime said in a press conference a few weeks ago "Unless you're Kevin Durant, I'll let you try to beat my team by yourself." It worked for Giannis and Jimmy, who both put up big numbers but had sub-par efficiency and ran out of gas as the series ran on. We also have shut down role players like Bam, Herro, Lopez, and Jrue quite effectively with this strategy. Frankly, I believe it's what has allowed us to win the 2 games we have. Curry simply ran out of gas in both Game 1 and Game 3, scoring much less in the second half.
2) It neutralizes Green. When we double or blitz Curry, the Warriors are the best team in the league at getting rid of the ball quickly to a roller (Curry as the passer) and the roller running essentially a fast break from the three point line in (Green as a distributor and driver in a 4-on-3 situation). This initial advantage early in the shot clock is what drives the infamous Golden State ball movement and gets an entire team hot. By not doing this, we get their non-Curry players out of rhythm. It's not a coincidence Green, Thompson, and Poole have largely not looked like themselves this series.
3) It's our best shot at protecting the rim and rebounding. The C's have run a weird drop-type scheme all year where they pre-switch and drop as much as possible both on and off ball to keep Rob near the paint. It's the observation that a lot of analysts made in February where Rob is an elite help defender in the dunker's spot. Curry is just that generational player that can punish even a small drop by shooting 5 feet behind the arc.
4) With Green in the game, consistently playing drop is a hugely effective strategy because the Warriors no longer use him as a screener and just put him in the corner. This plays into points (2) and (3). This has allowed guys like Rob and Marcus to "guard" him while simply playing free safety and mucking up the paint and covering for any missed rotations along the arc. Again, I've been very pleased at the shot quality the Celtics have allowed. Other than Curry going God mode, there have been very few shots this series that I've been mad about when they were released.
5) That said, Curry is an all time great, and the C's need to make him think a little more.

I think it's worth noting the C's have held the Warriors to below their season average in scoring (100, 107, 108, 100). Although the Dubs are scoring quite well pace-adjusted (120something per 100 possessions), the game seems to largely be at the tempo Boston wants (except when they turn the ball over or give up offensive rebounds. The Warriors had more than 30 fast break and outback points in Game 4). Boston has simply not looked good on offense. In Games 1, 2, and 4, they got enough stops throughout the game and in crunch time to win.

Here's the video. They do a breakdown after every game, and they are by far my favorite basketball content online today: https://youtu.be/t6_vawdzRok

[droopdog7]

I know the narrative but we're not really playing drop coverage.  The bigs are TRYING to show but it's really hard to do.

That said, there really isn't an alternative when curry is playing this well.  You wanna switch?  Curry cooks the big like he's not even there.  You want to blitz?  You get a layup line going 4-3 and really get the role players with confidence.  You want to hedge?  I'm not sure we've hedged all year?

Believe it or not, the strategy we're trying to employ is about as good as it gets.  If curry continues to make impossible shot after impossible shot, you tip your hat to him.

[jpotter33]

I know the narrative but we're not really playing drop coverage.  The bigs are TRYING to show but it's really hard to do.

That said, there really isn't an alternative when curry is playing this well.  You wanna switch?  Curry cooks the big like he's not even there.  You want to blitz?  You get a layup line going 4-3 and really get the role players with confidence.  You want to hedge?  I'm not sure we've hedged all year?

Believe it or not, the strategy we're trying to employ is about as good as it gets.  If curry continues to make impossible shot after impossible shot, you tip your hat to him.

Except a lot of them are hardly "impossible" shots. Sure, he's hit a few of those kinds of shots, but most of them are clear, wide open top of the key threes right off the screen.

It's not Giannis-level drop coverage, but it is absolutely drop coverage.

[droopdog7]

I know the narrative but we're not really playing drop coverage.  The bigs are TRYING to show but it's really hard to do.

That said, there really isn't an alternative when curry is playing this well.  You wanna switch?  Curry cooks the big like he's not even there.  You want to blitz?  You get a layup line going 4-3 and really get the role players with confidence.  You want to hedge?  I'm not sure we've hedged all year?

Believe it or not, the strategy we're trying to employ is about as good as it gets.  If curry continues to make impossible shot after impossible shot, you tip your hat to him.

Except a lot of them are hardly "impossible" shots. Sure, he's hit a few of those kinds of shots, but most of them are clear, wide open top of the key threes right off the screen.

It's not Giannis-level drop coverage, but it is absolutely drop coverage.

Almost every single 3 shot has been over a big with a guy trailing him and contesting from the side or from behind.  Obviously some have been more contested than others but these are high degree of difficulty shots.  Very few of them are wide open.

I stand by my statement that we aren’t playing drop coverage.  A lot of these screens are being set near the half court line.  You want the big all the way up there, he’s going to get killed. 

When you play drop coverage, you’re basically backing up daring a guy to shoot it.  That’s not what we’re doing.  We’re getting as close as we can to him without getting blown by and contesting as best as possible.  If the big isn’t right up on him it’s because we all know they can’t kee curry in front.

You have to pick your poison and I am still curious which poison you prefer?

[pearljammer10]

The drop coverage has been absolutely maddening to watch. Especially because Curry is shooting 49% from 3 against it. Even if the bigs take just one more step closer, it would make a huge, huge difference because Curry is mainly taking wide open, uncontested shots. It's really frustrating.

I get the whole let Curry beat us thing and lock down the rest of the team, but there are only a couple players I struggle employing this strategy against. Durant is second and Curry is first.

That said, like others have mentioned our defense isn't the problem despite how maddening this strategy is. We've held the Warriors to 105.5 points a game. That's 5.5 points below their regular season average, and 7.2 points below their postseason average this year. Even if we play average on offense, we should be fine.

[slamtheking]

The drop coverage has been absolutely maddening to watch. Especially because Curry is shooting 49% from 3 against it. Even if the bigs take just one more step closer, it would make a huge, huge difference because Curry is mainly taking wide open, uncontested shots. It's really frustrating.

I get the whole let Curry beat us thing and lock down the rest of the team, but there are only a couple players I struggle employing this strategy against. Durant is second and Curry is first.

That said, like others have mentioned our defense isn't the problem despite how maddening this strategy is. We've held the Warriors to 105.5 points a game. That's 5.5 points below their regular season average, and 7.2 points below their postseason average this year. Even if we play average on offense, we should be fine.

that's been the big IF that's helped GSW win 2 games so far