The dreaded Sardine defense - or (shhhhh) the Conga Line defense

by Rook6980 on Feb 7, 2009 10:51 PM EST in Team Analysis

I know I've shown a play like this before, but I wanted to illustrate this play for two reasons: Number one, it demonstrates and solidifies my theory that the Wizards standard defense is to pack the lane. They consistently sag into the lane. It happens over and over again - so it must be a learned (Coached) skill. And number two, it shows that sometimes Nick Young gets unfairly criticized for his defense.

At the end of this play, the ESPN announcer said, and I quote:

"Nick Young didn't even bother to step out on him, and Smith knocks down the J."

Young is on JR Smith. Smith drives,

Young cuts him off in the lane. 5 Wizards are in the paint. Smith passes out to Kleiza (43) at the 3-point line. McGuire, who was IN THE PAINT, scrambles out to defend.

Kleiza drives past McGuire into the paint. Nick Young steps in to stop him. If you look closely, you can see Kleiza passing the ball, and at the same time, he drops what looks like a sticky substance on the floor..... ? Very Suspicious. 5 Wizards are in or very near the paint.

This next one is an interesting, and revealing snapshot of the Wizards defense.

Kleiza passes out to Billups at the 3-point line. Songaila, who was IN THE PAINT, scrambles to defend. Meantime, JR Smith fades back out to the 3-point line on the other wing. Young is sticking with Kleiza in the lane. Crittenton and McGuire are guarding NOBODY down in the lane apparently glued to the floor. Remember that substance? 5 Wizards are packed in the lane. This is apparently the STANDARD Wizards defense whenever ANYONE penetrates the paint. I'm going to start calling this the "Sardine" defense.
A pass from Billups to JR Smith. Young, who is now apparently guarding 3 guys, tries to close out, while McGuire and Crittenton are still stuck in glue by the baseline. (Or maybe Assistant Coach Randy Ayres has come up with a new, Super Secret Conga Line defense )....

Young is too far away, as he comes from the middle of the lane , out to the 3-point line. (Note: From picture #4 to #6 is a total of 2 seconds; so Young went from the middle of the lane, to the defend the 3-point line in 2 seconds)........... Smith pump fakes - ..... Young, is moving too fast and is unable to stop. He sails by. Meanwhile, McGuire and Crittenton, are STILL trying to get their sneakers unstuck from that glue. Crit's got one foot loose.

Smith takes one dribble left, and is open for a long 2-point shot. Pech has his roller skates on, and is getting ready to "drop the elbow" (sorry, that reference to Roller Derby probably went by most people)... McGuire has not moved 2 feet in the entire sequence.

Maybe he was looking at some stats, or another game monitor or something, but this is when the ESPN guy said Nick Young "didn't even bother to step out".....

In my observation, Nick played pretty solid defense on that play. At least , it's my opinion that he hustled. He certainly wasn't just standing around allowing Smith to take an uncontested shot, as the National announcers reported. He closed out on the 3-point shooter - on the side of his shooting hand, rather than straight on; LIKE YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO. If you look at the sequence again, you can see that Nick Young is the only defender that actually moved more than a foot or two during most of the play.

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Comments

Great Illustration

And what makes it even worse is that if Smith doesn’t want to shoot, there are 2 other shooters wide open on the right side . I have been attempting to watch the team ‘D’ since you first pointed out that the scheme seemed to be aimed at allowing 3 point shots and agree completely. Our individual defenders may not be very good, but the scheme is not helping in the least. I wish there was more emphasis on individual man on man D and in stopping the initial dribble penetration so we don’t have to do so much sagging and rotating.

by hotplate on Feb 8, 2009 9:43 AM EST reply actions

That fifth picture is priceless

Would things really be that bad if we structured our defense around man-to-man coverage? I can’t think of any good defensive team that primarily plays zone. I mean, this would of course necessitate not playing Songaila at center and instead leaving it to players over 6’10 to patrol the paint and help out on the weak side, so there could be some kind of fan backlash, but I’d be willing to take that risk. We also wouldn’t be getting killed on three pointers every night, which might be nice. At this point, the only players on the team who can’t at the very least stay in front of their man are Mike James, Jamison, and Juan Dixon.

by pantslessyoda1 on Feb 8, 2009 9:45 AM EST reply actions

Great post

The defensive scheme really is awful.

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by Matt K. on Feb 8, 2009 9:47 AM EST reply actions

Nice analysis

thank you for breaking this down. your analysis really helped me to understand what is wrong with this D.
Do you know if the Wiz played D like this under Jordan?

by mogoman on Feb 8, 2009 9:55 AM EST reply actions

You can distract by talking about schemes and sardines

But no matter how you cook it, Young still displayed improper closing-out technique.

When you close out on a shooter, you should:

1) Have you legs, knees and feet ready to play a drive.

2) Have you arms high, making the shooter think you are ready to contest and play his jumper attempt…..

3) But you are prepared to play the drive, and….

4) Most importantly, you stay in front of the man.

5) Half assing it by throwing up some “Ole!” arms as you run past the shooter is never the right way to handle the situation.

6) Doing so implies that you are not really trying to properly play the man with the ball.

7) In fact, that’s the type of B.S. you’ll see on the playground where the “defender” running past the shooter puts himself in prime position to cherry pick.

8) Nick Young did the wrong thing on that play. Period.

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by Kyle Weidie on Feb 8, 2009 12:30 PM EST reply actions

I guess we'll just have to disagree

I agree with all your points about closing out on a shooter; WHEN you’re within a reasonable distance to the shooter.

If you at that 5th picture again… JR Smith has the ball, and is ready to shoot a 3-point shot… I don’t know of ANY player in the league that could make up that 12 feet of distance, going directly at the player, without crashing into Smith (for 3 Free Throws, or a possible 4-point play). Young has two options there. Close out hard, on the shooting hand side. Or close out “under control”, and allow the 3-point shot; but deny the drive. He chose to close out hard.

But we’ve had this argument before…. and I’m not going to convince you… so we disagree; but we disagree in a sweet, cordial and palsy walsy kinda way….

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by Rook6980 on Feb 8, 2009 1:06 PM EST up reply actions

Palsy walsy

I’m gong to have to find a way to incorporate that into my everyday conversation.

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by Jake Whitacre on Feb 8, 2009 1:07 PM EST up reply actions

Deal on agreeing to disagree......and in defense of Nick Young

I was commending the guy on his defense when it came to closing out on shooters and contesting shots earlier this season.

However, maybe this one play (IMO) is an anomaly….but really, we know that as a team, it is not.

So, it may seem like Young is getting picked on for this one single play (GodWuzAWiz alludes to this below), but the Wizards effort level as a squad is dwindling as the year goes along.

I guess that’s it.

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by Kyle Weidie on Feb 8, 2009 1:24 PM EST up reply actions

Some very good points

I agree that Nick Young does not know how to close out … add that to the list of basic fundamentals that this team is missing. (No one but Songaila has ever boxed anyone out … and he’s so short it doesn’t matter). But, I think we (me included) need to stop riding NY as if he’s not trying on defense. I think he is trying, he just doesn’t know how to do what he’s being asked to do, and that’s primarily coaching … going all the way back to his high school coaches. NBA coaches don’t expect to have to teach this stuff, they expect you to know it, so I don’t think a lot of them teach it very well.

I think our defensive scheme troubles were masked by Haywood’s play down low last year. When you have an experienced Big down low, then you don’t have to sag as much. McGee will get there, but right now he finds himself out of position too often to fill that role and Songaila, while I like him as a player, is just too short.

We need to work on McGee’s positioning, teach him not to fall for every pump fake (something that takes most big guys 2 or 3 years to get right, Blatche just figured it out this year), and he’ll be fine, but probably not this year. Truth, you are right, Young can’t close out … but even if he closes out perfectly on Smith … there are two wide open jump shooters, and you can’t blame him for that.

by GodWuzAWiz on Feb 8, 2009 12:49 PM EST reply actions