Evaluating conservative defense of Brooklyn Nets

Pick-and-roll defense

When an opposing ball-handler receives a pick, the Brooklyn Nets player guarding the screener (typically Jarrett Allen or DeAndre Jordan) tends to stay back in the paint, rather than jumping out to corral the ball-handler coming off the pick.

Cons

First, let’s start with the potential cons to this approach. There’s a lot of pressure on the player defending the ball-handler to fight through the screen. If/when the ball-handler gets free, they have the option to take an often open off-the-dribble 3-pointer.

If they choose to go inside the arc, they can either take a typically open mid-shot or get a running start and attack Allen or Jordan at the basket.

The other potential con is that that the screener is often able to pick-and-pop for an open shot, since their defender is camped back in the paint.

Pros

There are some potential pros, as well, however. This approach tends to bait ball-handlers into difficult off the dribble 3-pointers and inefficient mid-range shots. It also allows the other three defenders to stay on their assignments, since they don’t have to help out much defensively.

In a sense, this strategy aims to turn the pick-and-roll into a two-on-two game, avoiding situations where the defense is scrambling to cover players.

It all comes down to the situation. If the Nets are facing a lethal off-the-dribble 3-point shooter and/or a lethal pick-and-pop shooter, the team is capable of using a different approach. But for the most part, head coach Kenny Atkinson seems willing to bet that most teams and players won’t make them pay for this strategy.

It might not look pretty when a ball-handler hits a wide open jumper or an opposing big man nails an open 3-pointer with no defender in sight. But in the long run, it’s possible the positives outweigh the negatives.