Great well thought post!
Recent games we have seen tactical adjustment to Luka. That actually worked and we have not find the answer to that yet. What teams were doing was to double Luka early on our court and force the ball away from him. In addition we have seen Luka wear down at the end of games. These are the counters that can and should be used and they kill both problems with the same adjustments:
Bring in Wright in the starting lineup. Let Wright dribble the ball upfield from our half court until the final third. Then immediately bring the ball to Luka so he can dominate from there. Here doubling Luka is very difficult as when he passes to an open player it brings this player immediately in the shooting range. This is on other hand not true when doubling Luka already on our own half court, because when he passes the ball to an open player this player is not in the shooting range, this involves one or even more passes and at that time the defense is set and our offense is completely out of balance! The trick here is to allow Delon to dribble it up the court and take that away from the defenses. Once Delon approaches the final third, Luka takes over from here. Not only does it take away that defenses take the ball away from Luka, but it also makes a much more fresh Luka. He spends half of his energy dribbling it up the court with all the pressure on him. Absolutely no need to do that. He is dominating in the final third and thats where all the focus should be. Of course from turnovers and in fast break Luka should have the green light to dribble it up the court, but not when the defenses are well set.
We look for a rim runner that Powell is, but that also can play defense. Several names were suggested that could be traded for. I say no to all of that. Why? Because we have that player on our squad. He is called Maxi. Kleber is the one that should play center. He can rim run, he plays excellent defense, and on top of that when left alone he makes the 3. We have seen several instances now that Powell is left alone outside as he is not making the shots. Kleber on other hand has no weaknesses in his game. No weaknesses mean that its impossible for the other team with tactics to easy exploit you. That is easy with Powell due to his bad shooting and bad defense. He gets credit for screens and rim running, but he is not a complete player, and that costs a lot, especially in playoffs. So with Kleber as that starter we need, i really think we need more a center that can play defense as a backup. Hence I would not make any major trades but find a good defensive center for the backups to anchor the defense next to Powell.
With Kleber and Wright, that I would say are our second and third best defenders, not only do we get better offense, but we improve the defense even more. I am in no doubt that the 5 best players on this team are Wright, Doncic, DFS, Kleber, KP. They should start. Those are the most overall complete players on this squad with least amount of weaknesses to exploit.
Doncic should play more off ball. Without loss of touches. You dont want to give less touches for a player that is dominating and with efficiency that is not seen before. You do not decrease the amount of touches. What you do is you maximise the amount of good touches and where they occur (final third) and minimise the really not necessary ones such as those on our own half court. Bring him the ball in the post where he can decide how he can take it from there.
Bring way more designed catch and shoot plays, especially mid range game for THJ and Curry. They are both nailing them down consistently. Why this is not used more is beyond me. This and Lukas post game. Also bring in JJ more and let design plays where he can penetrate and finish the floater. We have seen increase at this last game and it was great to see. Such a weapon.
In general, we run too many hero plays. Not by design but just JJB, Luka, THJ, Curry pulling up shots when they are well defended. This is not too effective. Make a screen for THJ, Curry, let them catch and shoot when they are open. Easy points. Let the defense focus on other parts then Luka, this way Luka will dominate even more with less attention.
Finally. How about some freaking off ball screens to Luka for once? Imagine Wright running the ball up the field, then KP or Maxi setting an off the ball screen on the side to Luka. Luka receiving the ball somewhere inside the arc or just outside the arc, where he is already not well defended from the moment he receives the ball??? He would not be doubled with this (if so KP is open for the dunk) and Luka would have more space receiving the ball, than he has now fighting through tight coverage and all attention. This would also force Lukas game more in penetration rather than 3 point step backs, and it is really in this manner that he is most effective. At the moment he is tired from all the dribbling up the court and sometimes just settles for that step back, as it requires much less energy. I say remove that completely. Let Luka dominate the pain and penetrate more often than not, and design the plays for that. Wright is absolutely a key to that as he will allow Luka to be that kind of player he is the best at.
Recent games we have seen tactical adjustment to Luka. That actually worked and we have not find the answer to that yet. What teams were doing was to double Luka early on our court and force the ball away from him. In addition we have seen Luka wear down at the end of games. These are the counters that can and should be used and they kill both problems with the same adjustments:
Bring in Wright in the starting lineup. Let Wright dribble the ball upfield from our half court until the final third. Then immediately bring the ball to Luka so he can dominate from there. Here doubling Luka is very difficult as when he passes to an open player it brings this player immediately in the shooting range. This is on other hand not true when doubling Luka already on our own half court, because when he passes the ball to an open player this player is not in the shooting range, this involves one or even more passes and at that time the defense is set and our offense is completely out of balance! The trick here is to allow Delon to dribble it up the court and take that away from the defenses. Once Delon approaches the final third, Luka takes over from here. Not only does it take away that defenses take the ball away from Luka, but it also makes a much more fresh Luka. He spends half of his energy dribbling it up the court with all the pressure on him. Absolutely no need to do that. He is dominating in the final third and thats where all the focus should be. Of course from turnovers and in fast break Luka should have the green light to dribble it up the court, but not when the defenses are well set.
We look for a rim runner that Powell is, but that also can play defense. Several names were suggested that could be traded for. I say no to all of that. Why? Because we have that player on our squad. He is called Maxi. Kleber is the one that should play center. He can rim run, he plays excellent defense, and on top of that when left alone he makes the 3. We have seen several instances now that Powell is left alone outside as he is not making the shots. Kleber on other hand has no weaknesses in his game. No weaknesses mean that its impossible for the other team with tactics to easy exploit you. That is easy with Powell due to his bad shooting and bad defense. He gets credit for screens and rim running, but he is not a complete player, and that costs a lot, especially in playoffs. So with Kleber as that starter we need, i really think we need more a center that can play defense as a backup. Hence I would not make any major trades but find a good defensive center for the backups to anchor the defense next to Powell.
With Kleber and Wright, that I would say are our second and third best defenders, not only do we get better offense, but we improve the defense even more. I am in no doubt that the 5 best players on this team are Wright, Doncic, DFS, Kleber, KP. They should start. Those are the most overall complete players on this squad with least amount of weaknesses to exploit.
Doncic should play more off ball. Without loss of touches. You dont want to give less touches for a player that is dominating and with efficiency that is not seen before. You do not decrease the amount of touches. What you do is you maximise the amount of good touches and where they occur (final third) and minimise the really not necessary ones such as those on our own half court. Bring him the ball in the post where he can decide how he can take it from there.
Bring way more designed catch and shoot plays, especially mid range game for THJ and Curry. They are both nailing them down consistently. Why this is not used more is beyond me. This and Lukas post game. Also bring in JJ more and let design plays where he can penetrate and finish the floater. We have seen increase at this last game and it was great to see. Such a weapon.
In general, we run too many hero plays. Not by design but just JJB, Luka, THJ, Curry pulling up shots when they are well defended. This is not too effective. Make a screen for THJ, Curry, let them catch and shoot when they are open. Easy points. Let the defense focus on other parts then Luka, this way Luka will dominate even more with less attention.
Finally. How about some freaking off ball screens to Luka for once? Imagine Wright running the ball up the field, then KP or Maxi setting an off the ball screen on the side to Luka. Luka receiving the ball somewhere inside the arc or just outside the arc, where he is already not well defended from the moment he receives the ball??? He would not be doubled with this (if so KP is open for the dunk) and Luka would have more space receiving the ball, than he has now fighting through tight coverage and all attention. This would also force Lukas game more in penetration rather than 3 point step backs, and it is really in this manner that he is most effective. At the moment he is tired from all the dribbling up the court and sometimes just settles for that step back, as it requires much less energy. I say remove that completely. Let Luka dominate the pain and penetrate more often than not, and design the plays for that. Wright is absolutely a key to that as he will allow Luka to be that kind of player he is the best at.