Changes key in NBA to success in playoffs
Vogel: Adjustments not made just as important
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 94-89 win, which evened their Eastern Conference semifinals series at 1-1.
“I wanted to get off to a good start and we had our defense in front of us in the first half,” Brown said Wednesday after practice in preparation for Game 3 on Thursday. “I thought our guys did a great job defensively and offensively.
“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. 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, will he make with the Rockets down 2-0?
“I think adjustments and all those things are sometimes overrated,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters after a Game 1 loss to Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
But Budenholzer still 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.
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.
After the loss, the Celtics acknowledged they’ll have to combat Milwaukee’s aggressive defensive switching.
“I already have a clue how I want to play in Game 3,” Celtics guard Kyrie Irving told reporters.
Players have to buy into changes
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 reenforced 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
‘Favorite time of year to coach’
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.”
A coach whose team isn’t in the playoffs 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 and wait until it’s necessary to make changes. He 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.” Brown didn’t have his offense in front of his bench in the second half on the road against the Nets in the first round and did it only occasionally during the regular season.
But he found it worthwhile to do it in Toronto.
“I love it. This is my favorite time of the year to coach,” Brown said. “To revisit 12 years of playoff life I had with Pop (Spurs coach Gregg Popovich) and to now be able to call upon those experiences and share them with my team to game plan, to coordinate a coaching staff and lead and bring it together, this time of the year is as exciting as it gets in the job that I’ve got.”
Brown made other changes. He had Ben Simmons guard Kawhi Leonard more. Put Tobias Harris on Marc Gasol and Embiid on Pascal Siakam. It disrupted Toronto’s offense just enough.
Former Minnesota and Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau said sometimes the change from game to game is simply paying attention to detail and more energy.
“It’s so important in the playoffs to have the ability to think on your feet and to see what’s going on in the game and react in the moment,” Thibodeau said.
“It’s the ultimate in competition. That’s why you emphasize how important concentration is during the season. Because a mental mistake in the playoffs can be the difference between going home and moving on to the next round.”