Before the month of December began, Jacque Vaughn made a change to the Nets' starting five with the addition of Cam Thomas, a scorer, in place of Dorian Finney-Smith, a defensive specialist. Opposite him this night, Steve Kerr also recently changed his rotation by putting Andrew Wiggins on the bench in favor of rookie Brandin Podziemski.
From the outside, this type of decision may seem trivial or a simple reaction to a player's poor performance. However, for NBA coaches and staff, such a change so early in the season often means experimentation. After about 20 games played, NBA franchises have a ton of data on their players and their rotations, and it's the perfect time to try something new.
More attack, less defense
Before the game against Golden State, Jacque Vaughn allowed us to go behind the scenes of these types of decisions made by NBA coaches by revealing the roles of Cam Thomas and Dorian Finney-Smith.
“When I decided to start Cam Thomas, I told you I wanted to collect data and that’s what we’re doing. Last time I looked, it seems like this group played 63 minutes together. The starting five with Do (Dorian Finney-Smith) played over 100 minutes together,” summarizes the coach. “I made this change because I wanted to know if the offensive qualities of the new major five could mask its defensive shortcomings. »
And Jacque Vaughn reminds us, like most coaches, that the most important thing is to finish matches, rather than start them. “As I told Dorian, that doesn’t mean that it will be the five who will finish the matches or start the rest of the season. I wanted to see Cam Thomas play against opposing starters on both ends of the floor and find solutions to help this group. This is what we did at the end of the match against Phoenix by making attack-defense changes, with Dorian and Royce O'Neale for Cam Thomas and Cam Johnson. »
The numbers speak and become indisputable
Since the tenure of Cam Thomas, upon his return from injury, and before their defeat against Golden State, the Nets had won four of their six games played. Through the end of November, they had the 7th best offense in the league and the 22nd defense. During the first two weeks of December, they are 18th in attack and 9th in defense, with a better differential (+6 points per 100 possessions, compared to +2).
“That's the kind of scenario we try to set up to collect data and understand if certain players can play together, and if they can't, then I make a change. But the goal of all this is to have the data and pass it on to the players to explain the decisions we make. It's difficult for a player to challenge these kinds of decisions when you have the numbers to show that it's for the good of the team. »
NBA franchises often use the first months of the regular season as a laboratory to understand what their best rotation is, what their strengths and weaknesses are before the transfer deadline in early February. This allows them to make decisions accordingly for the final sprint before the playoffs.
You must therefore keep an eye on the Nets rotation and that of your favorite team to understand what the coaches are trying to test.
Comments collected in San Francisco.
