Memphis has nearly abandoned their 4-Out/5-Out Freelance P&R (think Ja Morant/Steven Adams two-man P&R with the other three players spacing and no secondary/weak-side action) at this point in the season.
Freelance P&R accounted for 22% of all possessions (by my hand tracking) from Game 1 to Game 40 (January 15th) against the Golden State Warriors. Even with Morant missing most of the season, the Grizzlies were running Freelance P&R at a relatively high rate (last year the Grizzlies were using Freelance P&R at a 25.90% clip) and they were not running it efficiently. Below is a look at all Grizzlies who have run at least 100 P&R possessions as a ball handler and their scoring efficiency compared to the NBA.
Through the most recent five (5) games (Games 41–45) up to January 26, against the Orlando Magic*, Freelance P&R accounted for 7% of halfcourt offence. This change is illustrated in the below graphs.
(*Data does not include Indiana Pacers game Sunday, January 28, 2024)
What has Memphis replaced these possessions with? Most of these non-P&R possessions are turning into either Iso/Post-Up possessions (mostly for Jaren Jackson Jr.) or 5-Out Freelance Offence.
Back to the above graph, left pisture, over the previous five (5) games, Freelance Offence accounts for 45% of all halfcourt possessions while Sets total 48%. Memphis is still running P&R — Horns Out Chase, Double Drag Shallow, and Ram are all types of P&R in the sense there is a screen + ball handler — but they are running them with more purpose/intent.
Here is a look at the offence I am focusing on in this article from the previous five (5) games.
With some tweaks (more weak-side and decoy action, fewer b2b drives into the defence) this most-closely replicates my ideal NBA offence. This filters down to nearly all my ideal team building philosophies including trades and the draft (which I will touch on at different times I think).
Two things I notice that are not present in this Freelance Offence are a) ball screens and b) stagnation. Both of these I have written about previously when I was thinking through spacing in basketball.
- P&R can create space, in the sense of the offence using counters to specific defensive coverages, but bringing two defending players together does not create spacing in the sense of maximizing the floor.
Two things I continue to track are how long it takes Memphis to get into their actions and how long it takes to execute them.
- From the below graph we can see the average set, including sets that were denied and secondary/next action was initiated, usually takes between 6–8 seconds to execute.
- In the second graph we see the frequency of possessions based on the shot clock and when an action/set starts (not when the ball is inbounded). In general offence is initiated with between 19–14 seconds remaining on the shot clock. In general, based on this season (and my hypothesis in general), the earlier the offence is initiated the more efficient the possession.
The 5–10 seconds it takes to initiate a possession (24 seconds shot clock) plus the 6–8 seconds to execute a possession often means it can take between 11–18 seconds to set up one shot in the offence (some actions contain multiple scoring chances of course). This would generally leave between 13–6 seconds left on the shot clock if the initial set was unsuccessful.
The freelance possessions, I mentioned earlier, are more often initiated earlier in the shot clock and create multiple scoring options with the theory of getting several looks at an optimal shot based on team’s shot profile.
What does the Memphis Grizzlies shot profile look like this year? Maybe not entirely optimal for the roster (okay, definitely not) but the Grizzlies place an emphasis on 3PA and eliminating Mid-Range FGA*.
(*Watching the Orlando Magic/Phoenix Suns game earlier it becomes annoying when broadcasters mention teams/players — KD in this situation — not caring about analytics because they take Mid-Range shots. Analytics do not say “eliminate the Mid-Range” but they do discourage poor Mid-Range shooters from taking these shots. KD, historically, is not a poor Mid-Range shooter. One good example, getting a little lost in this, is GG Jackson’s development in the G League by decreasing his Mid-Range attempts and moving more of these shots to the rim. Anyways…)
Optimally, Memphis would move some of these shots to the Rim/Restricted-Area but we can see in the above video these possessions create several opportunities at the Rim and from Above-the-Break (where Memphis is focusing on creating shots). The drive-and-kick offence in these plays creates the three-point opportunities Memphis is seeking and creates early opportunities when Memphis is looking to push pace.
Executing the ideal shot profile, and the philosophy of creating these shots, is one part of the offence. What are the principles behind this offence (because all offences need principles)?
Principles
Initiating and Maintaining Space (5-Out/4-Out-1-In Dunker)
First principle is the overall shape of the offence and running offence within it. Memphis overwhelmingly leans towards 5-Out spacing. At any point in the possession there should be five (5) players outside the paint (ideally outside the three-point line) with the exception of spacing using the 4-Out-1-In Dunker Spot principles*— the only real situation where Memphis runs offence outside 5-Out.
(*I am purposely excluding Jaren Jackson Jr. 4-Out-1-In Punch/Post-Up spacing from this writing)
Going back to a clip from the original video (below clip) we can see how Memphis creates a spacing advantage in transition/semi-transition off a made basket.
After the initial outlet pass to Aldama, a) Konchar cuts through the defence, receives a pass, and sends the ball to Vince Williams Jr. in the weak corner. b) Vince drives to the basket, where Konchar is occupying the Dunker Spot, and passes back above-the-break to Aldama before relocating to top of the key. c) Aldama drives to the basket and occupies the Dunker Spot, while Konchar relocates to occupy the weak corner, throwing the pass back to the top of the key > d) ball rotates into a Kennard 3PM.
Through this whole sequence Memphis maintains spacing through cuts, drives, and passes. Maintaining this space, from the initial pass, keeps the advantage (against a tilted defence) and is replicable with a limited roster.
I have previously written about the Dunker Spot but the benefit of using it is (from the below tweet example) Konchar’s man has to decide between defending Konchar and defending the drive.
Here what initially started as a 5-Out P&R possession turns into a spacing sequence using a John Konchar Dunker Cut and turns it into a 3PM from Aldama. If Konchar had stayed in the corner his defender could have played both the drive and the corner.
.5 Basketball
A talking point Jenkins has hit on recently* is .5 basketball, a style of basketball where (simplified version) within a half-second the player has made a decision to either shoot, pass, or drive the basketball. The theory being, holding onto the basketball for a second+ will stagnate/kill offensive momentum.
(*Briefly touched on but it is not something he mentions often — we have seen/heard him mention it in the past and we have seen Darko speak about it in his current job so the philosophy has been there through the Jenkins-era)
>>> Going back to the previous video (of the Kennard 3PM) we have Aldama (Pass) Konchar (Pass), Vince (Drive), Aldama again (Drive), Jaren (Pass), and Kennard (Shot) all making their decision within a half -second.
This is most obvious in Gear Two/semi-transition situations where the defence is already tilted and making a decision within a half-second keeps the advantage (rotating/tilted defence). Once this advantage is lost (i.e. holding onto the ball for more than half a second in theory) the possession basically needs to restart from square one because you gave the defence enough time to recover/rotate. Quick decisions are necessary to execute this style of offence.
>>> Konchar passes to an open Vince who drives, before the defence can closeout, and passes to an open Aldama, who drives back into the defence before they can close out, and the ball rotates to an open Kennard. Had the offence stagnated out of the flow state the possession needs to restart (i.e. if Vince or Aldama did not drive at any point — or turn these drives into passes/shots — we are looking at a possession where the defence has recovered and the advantage is lost).
Positionless Basketball
Another point Jenkins has hit on recently* is the “positionless” basketball philosophy of the offence. Some blatant examples of this are using Tillman (historically a below average three-point shooter) to space the offence from the corners, offence initiated through Jaren, and inverted screening.
(*These points are equivalent of a Greatest Hits album)
A lot of these plays, below, are examples of Set Offence but the theory behind the spacing/positionless-ness (?) is applicable to the concepts I mentioned earlier.
- Under (Inverted P&R) — one example of setting up JJJ to initiate offence by using a “small” to screen for him (“big”) and relocate. The purpose here is to free up the big and to promote switching on defence — send the opposing small onto your team’s big.
- Guard-to-Guard (or Wing-to-Wing I don’t care) Screens* — using two guards or two wings to screen for each other. In the below clip we see how this can cause confusion for the defence when the Wolves miscommunicate the switch. In the second example it is used to initiate secondary/next action using your best playmakers “smalls” in theory.
(*On the other end of this is the Big-to-Big Screens — think Aldama screening for Jaren — used for similar purposes)
- Trailing Guard — using “smalls” in place of “bigs” to initiate offence while trailing. Here we have Kennard and Gilyard running a Get action (essentially another version of P&R) when Gilyard is the last player up the floor. Usually you’d have the center trailing and creating offence out of Delay (or they could obviously run a Get action between between a big/small).
Positionless basketball circles back to spacing and particularly back to the Dunker Spot clip earlier with John Konchar as opposed to a more natural “big”. Memphis has been using guards/wings in the Dunker Spot in addition to their bigs all season.
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How sustainable is this within the Grizzlies offence? I had previously written how Gear Two offence (semi-transition) accounts for half of all Memphis Grizzlies possessions. In addition to this, Gear Three offence accounts for roughly 15% of all possessions. Totalling these together means Memphis has an opportunity to go against a tilted defence on 65% of all offence possessions.
With a number of injuries Memphis has the opportunity to run this offence with a limited roster (or roster with limited strengths). The Grizzlies don’t need Ja Morant, or Desmond Bane, or Marcus Smart to initiate offence for others when they can put anyone in this situation. Memphis is introducing a few young players to their rotation including, most importantly for the future, Vince Williams Jr. and GG Jackson. Neither of these players project as number one options but playing within this offence allows them to gain reps in a free-flow offence with simple principles.
The last question, and maybe most important, is can Ja Morant function in this offence? Bane and Jaren are both optimal fits in this offence with the ability to space the floor, move in space, and attack closeouts. Ja might be a slightly more difficult fit as the Grizzlies have focused on using him in a heliocentric P&R offence. The positives are Ja plays extremely fast in transition, is a good cutter, theoretically can be a good off-ball player (separate from being a cutter), and at least has some shooting capability.
A theory the Grizzlies have not really explored is what happens when a defender closes out short — this is where Ja can further be used. I mentioned Jaren Post-Ups earlier but they do not fit into this description of spacing. Using Ja, when defenders close out short, in a playmaking role in 4-Out-1-In offence is something that could work in addition to the positives I already mentioned. We have seen this less frequently this year but at times the Grizzlies/Jenkins have used guards/wings in the Playmaker Spot. Smart has been used in similar spots (below tweet) this year but overall this would be something that would need to be explored. This can still use Ja’s skillset he demonstrates in P&R — creating offence/passing windows through his scoring gravity — just without the possibly unnecessary on-ball screen that comes with a P&R.
Adams might be an even more difficult fit and finding a center who can function in the offence could be a long-term project (more JJJ at 5 please). Spacing is the main goal of any offence but players can contribute without being plus shooters (Adams playmaking/rebounding). The requirement to freely move within this offence probably does not play to Adams’ optimal skill set like it might with a Jaren-type center.
I am not trying to remove sets/actions, ATO (in particular I think SLOB and BLOB are still required and should be further explored), or P&R but I am asking for more consideration towards spacing/pacing. This is the type of offence I would lean towards, and most certainly if I don’t have a Jokic/Embiid/Curry/Doncic/Prime-Lebron type (top-5 or whatever) player, so it is exciting to see an increase in the frequency it is used within my favourite team.