Road to the Championship: Bogut Switches onto Tony Allen
By Owen Dillon
The oldest proverb in the basketball bible goes as follows: “A team is only as good as its top defensive assistant”.
Just kidding. All jokes aside, however, the value of assistant coaches and the adjustments that they make are high, and often under-appreciated.
When the Warriors were down 2-1 against the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference Semifinals, Steve Kerr and his staff knew they had to make a change. The Grizzlies were not only the first team to really slow down the Warriors on the offensive end, but they were also able to break down the Dubs’ defensive system, as Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph commanded so much attention in the frontcourt that Memphis’ guards were able to more or less do what they wanted on offense.
Something had to change. So what did?
Lead defensive assistant Ron Adams recognized that Mr. “First Team All-Defense,” or Tony Allen, the biggest annoyance in the NBA (Matthew Dellavedova is actively trying to steal Allen’s crown in that category), was extremely valuable on defense, but a liability on offense for Memphis.
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Adams, along with Kerr, then made the decision to “guard” Allen with Andrew Bogut (and when Bogut wasn’t on the floor, Draymond Green). What made this choice so smart was the fact that Bogut literally ignored Tony Allen. Allen was allowed by the Warriors to do whatever he wanted on offense, and Allen got lost. Allen spent more time getting in the way of the rest of the Memphis offense than actually contributing to the offense.
Bogut “guarded” Allen on 22 possessions in Game 4, and Allen was 3-of-18 on field goal attempts, 1-of-6 from three-point range, and had six turnovers. It was the first time in recent memory that an NBA player was so bad on offense that he literally did not need to be guarded.
It was the first time in recent memory that an NBA player was so bad on offense that he literally did not need to be guarded.
How did this simple defensive switch affect the series so heavily? Well, with Bogut not guarding anyone, he was now able to drift anywhere he wanted to, and this often involved double teaming Gasol or Randolph in the post.
Coming off a pick-and-roll, Bogut could simply wait for the big man — whether it be Gasol or Randolph — to roll into the paint and, Bogut, not being tethered to any other players or spaces on the floor, could cut off the roller, effectively eliminating any chance for a pick and roll to develop.
That often left the Grizzlies stuck in the halfcourt, not being able to run any of their sets. More than often, the Grizzlies would open up their offensive possessions by giving an entry pass into the low post, and then play off of their superb big men. By switching Bogut onto Allen, the Warriors could stop the Grizzlies’ sets before they even started. Bogut roamed the paint with no reservations, and denied every entry pass that the Grizzlies tried to make.
The Warriors destroyed Memphis 101-84 in Game 4, and although the series was tied 2-2, the Warriors effectively had control of the series from that point on.
Next: Road to the Title: Curry Drops 40, Breaks Another Record