Can coaches change?
The NBA playoffs test their ability to make adjustments from game to game, but how much is too much?
PHILADELPHIA – Adjustments in an NBA playoff series can make a coach look like a genius. Or make him look desperate.
76ers coach Brett Brown was the genius in Game 2 of his series against the Raptors.
Brown made strategic adjustments, including one that went largely unnoticed. Contrary to what most coaches do, Brown decided to have his offense in front of the Sixers’ bench in the second half — the road coach gets to choose — and it paid off. He was able to direct his offense in the second half, especially late in the fourth quarter, without using timeouts.
He called a play that led to Joel Embiid’s game-securing layup with 24 seconds left, boosting Philadelphia to a 9489 win.
“You want to be able, especially with a new team, a young team, to communicate some execution things and really, had the offense been going away from me, I very well could’ve and might’ve called a timeout when I didn’t,” Brown said. “We were lucky to have been able to be in that position.”
Adjustments are a crucial part of playoff basketball. The media love the topic. Coaches downplay their importance. It’s a talker on the off days between games, especially for the team that just lost. In the Houston-Golden State series, there is pressure on Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni to find offensive and defensive success against the Warriors. What changes, if any, would he make with the Rockets down 2-0?
Austin Rivers and P.J. Tucker, two increasingly influential cogs in the Rockets’ machine, spelled out their team’s blueprint after narrowing their series deficit against the Golden State Warriors to 2-1 with a 126121 win.
The Rockets’ mission: turn their enthralling Western Conference semi-final series into basketball warfare.
Rivers pulled no punches on the court in an overtime victory and was equally forthright when he spoke afterward. He wants his colleagues to match each and every one of what they see as the Warriors’ questionable physical tricks, and to do it with even more assertiveness and venom.
“Just (be) physical because that’s what they do,” Rivers said, when asked about the value of an ultra-intense approach. “(The Warriors) push off, they pull, if you are not looking they will push you literally right in front of the ref, and then get an open three.
“They are a very aggressive team. I thought we were aggressive (in Game 3) . ... You’ve got to be aggressive in the playoffs.”
Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer made a change to his starting lineup in Game 2, going with Nikola Mirotic instead of Sterling Brown. The Bucks won, and Mirotic contributed nine points, nine rebounds, three steals, two assists and one block.
He started Mirotic again in Games 3 and 4, both Milwaukee wins that gave the Bucks a 3-1 series lead at press time.
Yet Celtics coach Brad Stevens said “way too big of a deal” is made about adjustments. “You’re not going to change the whole way you play in one day,” he told reporters.
Some adjustments are subtle, such as the way a team handles defensive coverages or if the road coach decides to have his offense or defense in front of him in the second half. Other changes are obvious, such as a tweak to the starting lineup, altering rotations and giving more minutes to a reserve.
Frank Vogel, who coached Orlando and Indiana, said adjustments are a vital part of playoff basketball and the adjustments you don’t make are just as important as the ones you make.
Vogel re-enforced what Stevens said. A team isn’t going to change its identity and play a different style. But changes within a team’s system is sometimes necessary. A coach doesn’t want to make moves that look desperate.
“I wanted to make our players believe what we were doing would help us win the game,” Vogel said. “I had to sell that and make sure players bought into the changes. A lot of times it makes sense to change, but if your guys aren’t bought into it, it’s not going to work.
“There were times in Indiana I thought a zone would work and we worked on it on practice. But our players didn’t buy into it.”
One NBA coach whose team isn’t in the play-offs talked to USA TODAY about playoff adjustments. He requested anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly with his team eliminated.
He said teams will stick to the basics in Game 1 of a series and wait until it’s necessary to make changes. He also warned against overreacting. A team might play well and lose, and adjustments aren’t required. But a team might play poorly and win, causing the coach to consider tactical changes. Was the game plan solid, but execution not good or effort poor?
“You’ve got to be really careful,” the coach said. “Every matchup is being scrutinized by the media and coaches. Our society overreacts to each win and loss.”