Richard Jefferson and the corner three
Lost in the scoring fireworks last night that was Deron Williams versus Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, with Williams nearly outdoing both, was a quietly solid night (14 points, five rebounds) and big moment from Richard Jefferson.
With the San Antonio Spurs lead cut down to six in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, and momentum squarely in favor of the Utah Jazz, the Spurs ran a play that produced a dagger from the most familiar of places for Spurs fans: the corner three-pointer.
As always, Sebastian Pruiti of NBA playbook was quick to breakdown the pick-and-roll that led to Jefferson’s timely shot (at this point, he could probably just create a section earmarked solely for Gregg Popovich) and note the Spurs increased emphasis on the three-pointer.
This play is a perfect example of the Spurs’ new offensive strategy. In years past, the Ginobili-Duncan pick and roll was designed to try and free up Ginobili coming off of the screen or Duncan on the roll. This year, they are looking for the three off of plays like this. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if coach Popovich ran this play with the hopes of getting an open three pointer in the corner.
As Pruiti mentions, the Spurs now run the Manu Ginobili/Tim Duncan pick and roll to set up a corner three-pointer just as often as they do to get Ginobili or Duncan going to the rim. Of course, these days it’s more out of necessity than design. But by finding a home behind that baseline three-point line, Richard Jefferson has found a home in San Antonio.
Against the Phoenix Suns in the playoffs last season, the Suns exploited a new reality in the Spurs’ pick and roll offense. While still an interior presence that can balance the floor, Duncan is no longer among the most agile dive men in pick and roll situations.
Taking a page from Dallas in the previous series, the Suns set a defender on either side of the pick, hard hedging Ginobili and discouraging all dribble penetration. The obvious counter in such situations is for Duncan to slip the screen and Manu to hit him with a pass in the middle of the floor, with the last line of defense usually coming from either corner.
Unfortunately, Duncan is no longer able to sidestep said help defenders — it’s not so much the wheels that are gone as it is the brakes — so that the only counter is to charge into the defender and hope for the best from the referees or make a pass to the open shooter on either corner.
Last year, the two options were George Hill and Richard Jefferson, with Hill unable to convert in Phoenix and Jefferson so shaken he stopped spotting up from the three-point line altogether.
This season, even as Richard Jefferson’s quick start has regressed to last year’s statistical output, the three-point stroke and his confidence in it has remained the same. But as we’ve mentioned on these pages before, it’s more about the process than the output when it comes to judging RJ, and here are those results (via NBA Playbook):
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