05-19-2026, 01:23 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-19-2026, 01:35 PM by dirkfansince1998.)
(05-19-2026, 12:52 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: Not to mention that 100% of what's involved in an NBA offensive/defensive chess match these days is to create mismatches in 100 different ways. When we see one team repeatedly stuck with the wrong guy matched up, my first instinct is always that one coach is getting dragged by the other, not necessarily that they've settled on a weird matchup by choice. It's more likely that they're trying to neutralize something else, and simply aren't able to think as many steps ahead as necessary to prevent the resulting matchup that favors the opponent.
I think Caruso on Wemby was Daigneault's decision and it kinda worked. Not like the Spurs had a great game on offense. We focus on the possessions where Wemby was able to catch the ball deep in the paint but more often than not OKC's ball denial worked and the possession ended with a late shot clock drive into a clogged paint or a turnover.
But you are spot on with the neutralize something else part. One big chess match. Both teams have to make choices like this. Wemby isn't getting an open lane as the roll men. Isn't getting any short roll touches. Has a more favorable matchup if he actually gets the ball.
Spurs almost look like the Mavs in 2024. Sweeney's scheme. Deliberate decision to give up corner 3s from Dort and Caruso. Funneling the offense into a mobile rim protector (Lively, Wemby).