{"id":60968,"date":"2024-01-07T17:46:41","date_gmt":"2024-01-07T22:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=60968"},"modified":"2024-01-07T17:46:41","modified_gmt":"2024-01-07T22:46:41","slug":"nets-unveil-defensive-scheme-that-could-derail-the-okc-thunder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/01\/07\/nets-unveil-defensive-scheme-that-could-derail-the-okc-thunder\/","title":{"rendered":"Nets Unveil Defensive Scheme That Could Derail the OKC Thunder"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Oklahoma City Thunder\u2019s offense has been predicated on drives, paint touches, and three-point shots. It is a relentless offense that often wears out defenses to their breaking point.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the Thunder\u2019s tough loss against the Brooklyn Nets on January 5, the victors may have unveiled a scheme that could be the kryptonite to what OKC is weaving through in its <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/01\/05\/time-to-raise-expectations-for-the-okc-thunder\/\" target=\"_self\">offense<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And it all went down to the simple concept of switching.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Nets Unveil Defensive Scheme That Could Derail the OKC Thunder<\/h2>\n<h3><b>The Nets Switched Everything<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Nets went to this defensive scheme as early as the first quarter. There were some hitches here and there, but the switches crept into the Thunder\u2019s offensive executions, swinging the game to Brooklyn early on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just look at this play from the opening period. Notice how the Nets \u201cswitch\u201d on the initial pindowns on both sides and the guard-to-guard screening action from the top.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"switches to nail help\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oEF3MFDmZkU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Defenders on both sides were ready to dig as soon as <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gilgesh01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-01-07_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a><\/strong> &#8211; the leading driver in the league with about 22.8 per game &#8211; chose a direction to drive. He elected to his left, pitting himself to the active hands of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/smithde03.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-01-07_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dennis Smith Jr.<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The \u201cdig\u201d at the \u201cnail\u201d was the cherry on top of that defensive cake.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Providing the Nail Help<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Nets went on to a 19-1 run in the first quarter while forcing the Thunder to eight turnovers early. Having a very switchable lineup with <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/claxtni01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-01-07_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nic Claxton<\/a><\/strong> at center and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/finnedo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-01-07_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dorian Finney-Smith<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bridgmi01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-01-07_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mikal Bridges<\/a><\/strong> on the wings allowed Brooklyn to be as successful as any other team this season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brooklyn is by no means an elite defense &#8211; ranked 24th in defensive rating in the NBA &#8211; but providing help or a second defender at the \u201cnail\u201d was crucial to the Nets\u2019 goal of stifling the drives by the Thunder.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And it wasn\u2019t just Gilgeous-Alexander who struggled. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/willija06.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-01-07_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Williams<\/a><\/strong> suffered the same fate on his drives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Jalen Williams\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lb6YRux1DGs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander are interchangeable &#8211; but truly, everyone in the starting lineup can play the role of each other effectively &#8211; so the same play bore the same result.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the following possession, the Thunder opted to clear out the strong side for Williams. The Nets then deployed a second defender for him to meet at the nail. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holmgch01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-01-07_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chet Holmgren<\/a><\/strong> then ran towards the ball, but before he even created an advantage, Smith Jr. stripped him the ball with the same \u201cnail dig\u201d for a transition layup.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"nail dig again\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ldS7B1GF70E?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>The Last Word<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This little defensive nugget of a relatively blowout loss could spell the difference for any team looking to score a win against the booming Thunder. It is something one team will inevitably discover in the span of an 82-game season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oklahoma City should let this be a reference point as they position themselves as one of the contenders this season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Oklahoma City Thunder\u2019s offense has been predicated on drives, paint touches, and three-point shots. It is a relentless offense that often wears out defenses to their breaking point.\u00a0 In the Thunder\u2019s tough loss against the Brooklyn Nets on January 5, the victors may have unveiled a scheme that could be the kryptonite to what [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4970,"featured_media":61043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,6,2,62,22],"tags":[793,2272,4609,1484,4581,1489],"class_list":["post-60968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nets","category-featured","category-nba","category-thunder","tag-dennis-smith-jr","tag-dorian-finney-smith","tag-jalen-williams","tag-mikal-bridges","tag-nic-claxton","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander"],"modified_by":"Kayla Fonte","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4970"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}