How the Pacers flipped the switch against switches - w/ Caitlin & Samson

My work at Basketball, She Wrote is typically paywalled. This video podcast with Samson Folk, breaking down how the Pacers attacking Milwaukee's increased volume of switches to take Game 2, is available as a free trial for everyone. If you're new here and want to support independent writing about actual basketball, please consider subscribing and/or sharing it around. Alright, onto the spoken and written words about the Pacers

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

In what was a 123-115 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, the Pacers led from wire-to-wire, jumping ahead by as many as 16 points, before ultimately walking a fine line during crunch time that saw them take a huge step forward as Andrew Nembhard clinched the game with a giant step back. With 2:33 to play in the fourth quarter, the Bucks pulled to within two, at 115-113, on a reload three from Damian Lillard. After being held scoreless for nearly three minutes, with fadeaway jumpers and standstill threes coming up empty with Giannis Antetokounmpo as the nearest contester, the Pacers found that attacking him in space didn't work until, well, it very much did.

When Nembhard started to operate against the switch from Antetokounmpo at the top of the key, the defense for the Bucks responded by shrinking toward the lane. Rather than leaving Nembhard to isolate on his own, Myles Turner made sure he wasn't alone, setting a top-pin to create a passing avenue to Pascal Siakam for an open three. Less than a minute later, the same script nearly played out again. As Nembhard was face-to-face with Antetokounmpo, Turner approached to set an off-ball screen for Siakam once more. Only, this time, Nembhard took matters into his own hands, banging in a huge, step-back triple to put the Pacers up nine with less than 1:30 to play.

In a way, those two possessions weren't just the biggest of the game, in terms of sealing the deal on taking advantage of homecourt advantage, they also were arguably the most representative of the game, as far as finding a blend between attacking Milwaukee's plethora of switches both directly and indirectly.

On the night, the Bucks switched on 52.81 percent of the ball-screens they defended -- marking their highest switch frequency in any game this season. The Pacers, meanwhile, scored 1.158 points per chance against that coverage -- up from 1.008 against all opponents during the regular season. Put simply, Indiana flipped the switch against switches.

As such, Samson Folk is here to discuss all of the various counterpunches that were deployed by the Pacers to get the upper-hand on Milwaukee's attempt to turn the game into hand-to-hand combat. Plus, a look at some other unique defensive strategies, including an update on the A.J. Green shallow cuts, how Tyrese Haliburton made an impact on both ends of the floor (yes, both ends of the floor!), and the ongoing game within the game against zone. Enjoy!

Here are the relevant timestamps:

0:00 - Introductions

4:58 - Attacking switches from Giannis mano a mano (sorta)

8:03 - Myles Turner's unsung contributions

12:00 - Attacking switches from Giannis & others through team concepts (i.e. flaring the switch, playing through the weak-side corner, rejecting screens with optimized spacing, etc.)

22:02 - In summary, this wasn't just about beating Lopez off the dribble

24:30 - Off-ball actions that work/don't work in the playoffs

26:21 - Milwaukee mixing zone with man mid-possession + new counters that the Pacers implemented against zone

29:25 - Brief debate on what the best movie is that features booby traps

33:04 - Dame's return allowing Giannis to be more aggressive on the glass

35:06 - Tyrese playing the part of cheater on defense + what improvements he's made on that end of the floor this season

41:22 - The Pacers switched the guards against the shallow cut!!

44:11 - Troubles with Giannis-Green inverted PnR

47:22 - Bobby Portis making every shot in sight & changing the geometry of the floor

49:48 - Potential changes if Dame starts turning the corner

53:15 - Read Samson's gamers!!

55:03 - Banter about texting, sincerity, glibness, and other nonsense

57:20 - Thank you & Goodbye