Other People: Arnovitz on Kaman and the Spurs D
Via Clipperblog:
The book being drafted by most of the league on Chris Kaman instructs teams to swarm the Clippers’ big man with double-teams when he catches the ball at 15 feet. But Spurs coach Gregg Popovich’s reading list is self-authored and it reads something like this: “We’re the San Antonio Spurs. We deploy a stay at home strategy. If a guy like that has a big night and his team loses by double-digits, then so be it.†The Spurs will cheat ever so slightly, and if Kaman spins middle, they’ll certainly collapse, but by and large this has been their strategy against most post scorers for as long as we can remember, and it rarely fails.
Before last night’s game a reporter asked Gregg Popovich what kind of preparation the team does for each particular opponent.
“It’s not like you’re inventing the wheel everytime for a new team,” said Popovich. “If you know what you do and your solid in your defenses and your offenses, getting better at those is more important than changing things for every team that you play.”
Kevin has further articulated exactly the point Coach Pop was hoping to make. Yes, the Spurs do spend some time at practice discussing what makes their next opponent distinct. But there is no need to outsmart yourself on a nightly basis- decisions about how to defend the pick-and-roll or whether to double the low post iso are made long before Chris Kaman puts up 15 in the first half. It seems obvious to say, “there is no need to stray from your defensive system just because one opposing player is having a nice game.” But it’s surprising how few coaches have the poise to follow through with that statement.
