The Great LeBron Slip-Screen Threat

The solution for Frank Vogel, it turned out, was to simply concede the middle portion of the court and have Hibbert sit in the paint, just below the free-throw line, and basically ‘catch’ anyone that attacked the rim. This, in addition to Dwyane Wade having his worst game of the playoff in Game 3, stymied Miami for a couple of games, but eventually the (lebron james jersey) strategy of rolling out the red carpet for ballhandlers to waltz into the paint, using the simplest of basketball actions, was too much for Indiana to overcome.

With only Roy Hibbert left to defend Miami’s primary pick-setters, how would Indiana make up for dwyane wade jersey his lack of speed and keep ballhandlers out of the lane?When the Miami HEAT played the Indiana Pacers last postseason, one of the key considerations in projecting that series – once Chris Bosh went down in Game 1 with an abdominal injury – was how the Pacers would defend Miami’s high pick-and-roll when Shane Battier and LeBron James slotted up a position to power forward.

Wednesday night, however, Brooklyn took this to an entirely new level. Not only was Lopez ‘catching’ the ballhandler when he was the primary big defender, he was doing this as the help defender as well. And while it may not have been the main reason behind Miami’s 36-14 third quarter, but it probably didn’t help.

While Andray Blatche and Reggie Evans will hedge out on ballhandlers as is typical of many professional dwyane wade swingman jersey defenses, Lopez squares up, fills as much space as possible and waits. It hasn’t translated into a Top 10 defense for Brooklyn, but there are always going to be matchups that don’t offer a perfect solution.The Brooklyn Nets are in a similar position with Brook Lopez, and they made a similar decision.