Basketball IQ at Work

Saturday night, I had the pleasure of watching the Brooklyn Nets decimate the (admittedly short-handed) Chicago Bulls in the first game of their playoff series.  Afterwards, on SBNation, a very astute analyst broke down three or four plays that show Deron Williams's basketball IQ at work, leaving the vaunted Bull defense in tatters.  Working very much like an NFL QB reading the defense, DWill totally ignores the man guarding him and focuses instead on the help defender away from him, keying off that defender's position and lapses in attention to decide how best to score.




The author explains: "Williams is watching Boozer because he knows Boozer is Hinrich's primary help. It's Boozer, and not Hinrich, that would play the biggest role in thwarting a drive to the basket."

I've copied another one of the analyses in full below but there are several more at the link above and they're all worth reading if you are into hoops.

"Once again, note the timing of Williams' move. He throws in a number of high dribbles and even crosses up Belinelli once, but he never has any intention of acting on those moves. All he's doing is offering a distraction until he sees how Boozer and Mohammad react to Evans' cut. Once he notices Boozer pick him up, Williams makes his move.

"As Williams makes his move, Brook Lopez comes charging down the lane. Again: this is timed on purpose. Williams' decision to shoot or pass will be determined by how Mohammad reacts to his right-handed drive. And sure enough:"

Very impressive (both DWill's bbiq & the author's analysis of it).