2020-21 NBA X's & O's Preview
A quick look at my favorite teams and coaches to study for this NBA season.
With the NBA returning on December 22nd it is time to look at teams, coaches, and X’s & O’s to study for the 2020-21 season. This year is going to be weird at times and frankly, I think this will be a time when organizations and teams with the best “culture” will ultimately succeed. Culture gets thrown around as a coaching buzzword quite often, but essentially the teams and franchises that will be able to exceed expectations during this season will become obvious as the season wears on.
Clearly, my first breakdown next week for the season will be a focus on the Brooklyn Nets – in particular, their offense from first-year head coach Steve Nash who is my favorite NBA player of all time. I will also be checking in on some of the other new head coaches and Indiana vs Chicago is a good matchup early on this season as well.
NBA Top 10 coaches
In general, I dislike doing top 5/10 lists for anything but it is an easy way to rank my personal choices for top NBA coaches going into this season. Every NBA coach is smarter and more experienced than I am, and we are only analyzing all of the things that happen ON the court, not off the court in the film room, coach’s meetings, and all of the extensive prep that goes into what an NBA staff does. With that in mind, let’s go over my top 10 NBA coaches right now
1 – Erik Spoelstra
2 – Gregg Popovich
3 – Steve Kerr
4 – Nick Nurse
5 – Brad Stevens
6 – Rick Carlisle
7 – Terry Stotts
8 – Doc Rivers
9 – Billy Donovan
10 – Mike Budenholzer
When looking at this list, the only thing that matters to me is the top 10 is full of incredible coaches who have had incredible success. The most difficult part about this list is that the number one thing that NBA coaches are going to struggle with is – talent. If you don’t have the players, it does not matter how great of a coach you are – the team will still struggle to win basketball games. I try and combine the talent level with coaching adjustments, overachieving, and overall success based on the regular season but most of all the playoffs. Only one team wins the championship each year so ranking these coaches off rings would seem to take away from the incredible years teams have. The Raptors were awesome last year when everyone thought they would be way worse without Kawhi and the bubble showed that the Heat are an incredibly well-coached and tough-minded team.
Overall Offense – X’s & O’s rank:
1 – Heat
2 – Warriors
3 – Celtics
4 – Nuggets
5 – Mavericks
If you are looking for teams to learn from and study – the Miami Heat and the Warriors are my clear top 2 teams to study when it comes to an NBA offense. Free-flowing and running tons of actions based on reading the defense the Heat have an incredibly tough offense to stop and one of my teams to watch this year. The Celtics and Nuggets are two other teams who have a 5-Out look and run great offensive actions, in particular, I love the Nuggets 2-Man game actions.
This list would not be complete without the greatest offense in NBA history returning again this year with Luka leading the way. Porgzingis being out probably drops them a little lower for right now on my watch list, but anytime Luka has the ball on offense my notepad is ready.
Overall Defense – X’s & O’s
1 – Toronto Raptors
2 – Los Angeles Lakers
3 – Boston Celtics
4 – Philadelphia 76ers
5 – Utah Jazz
Defensively teams tend to stick to a few main schemes so it means watching teams on defense we will not see a lot of variance from team to team. The Lakers would be my number one team but with a shortened preseason and coming off an NBA Finals championship run I expect them to start slower overall. The Celtics finished last year 4th in offense and defensive efficiency and their defense is consistently elite. I am very excited to see what Doc Rivers does with the 76ers on the defensive end and I believe they have the pieces to build a top 5 defense, similar to what the Jazz do around Rudy Gobert.
End of Games – X’s & O’s
1 – Boston Celtics
2 - Utah Jazz
3 – Brooklyn Nets
4 – Miami Heat
5 – Toronto Raptors
Brad Stevens is the best end of game or crunch time X’s & O’s coach in the NBA and is a must-watch anytime the Celtics are down late or need a score at the end of games. I am interested in the rest of the teams on this list, but every coach is pretty solid at the end of games and I am curious to see if Nash allows D’Antoni to control the end of the game and special situations or if just ends up giving the ball to KD/Kyrie and let them get a bucket – which might be just as good as an option as a great end of the game set if we are being honest.
After Time Outs – X’s & O’s
1 – Brooklyn Nets
2 – Milwaukee Bucks
3 – Denver Nuggets
4 – Boston Celtics
5 – Utah Jazz
This is assuming that Nash either puts D’Antoni in charge of the After Time Out scenarios or at least uses his playbook. D’Anotni has ranked in the top 5 of ATO coaches since he essentially took over the suns in 04-05 and with the exception of one bad NY team – he is the ultimate After Time Out wizards. I dove deep into his After Time Out specials over the summer and the way he kills teams with creative actions is truly a masterpiece to watch. Budenholzer in Milwaukee is one of the most creative coaches as well even going back to his time in Atlanta, I study his After Time Outs every year. Mike Malone and Quin Snyder have been climbing my X’s & O’s watch list, especially Malone after last year – but they both run great stuff After Time Outs. Of course, an After Time Out list without Brad Stevens would feel wrong.
New Coaches To Watch – X’s & O’s
1 – Stephen Silas (Houston Rockets)
2 – Stan Van Gundy (New Orleans Pelicans)
3 – Mark Daigneault (Oklahoma City Thunder)
4 – Steve Nash (Brooklyn Nets)
5 – Nate Bjorkgren (Indiana Pacers)
Of all the new coaches perhaps the most intriguing is the Rocket’s new head coach Stephen Silas. He is in a weird situation with Harden and everything, but besides that, the Rockets were a stagnant offense surrounding Harden’s historic Isolation scoring. James Harden is a one-man efficient offense and possibly the greatest individual offensive player ever – but success in the playoffs will elude the Rockets if they don’t tweak things to punish the defense if they are going to trap Harden every time without repercussion. In that same boat, Steve Nash would be higher but let’s face it when you have KD & Kyrie, sometimes you just give them the ball and let them figure it out. Stan Van Gundy has always had great defensive teams, so it will be interesting to see if he can build a better defensive unit in New Orleans – although the loss of Jrue Holiday hurts. Mark Daigneault ran some incredibly effective 5-Out actions and sets in his time in the G-League and I expect more of that with Horford as the 5 man who can space the floor – really looking forward to checking out his offense with Oklahoma City. Last we have Bjorkgren with the Indiana Pacers, and from the preseason film, I am very excited to watch the Pacers on both sides of the floor.
NBA Tier Rankings – Start of the Season
Rebuilds (I just use NOPE in my notes)
These teams are essentially in rebuild mode or are going to find wins harder to come by.
NY Knicks
Detroit Pistons
Chicago Bulls
Sacramento Kings
Cleveland Cavaliers
Not Really Sure (Will win some games but really not a threat to most teams)
These teams seem like they have a chance to be ok on paper but ultimately won’t impact much this season.
Minnesota Timberwolves
San Antonio Spurs
Oklahoma City Thunder
Orlando Magic
Washington Wizards
Atlanta Hawks
Charlotte Hornets
Good But Not Contending (Good & fun teams that are not title contenders)
These teams are going to be good, but not contending for the title.
New Orleans Pelicans
Indiana Pacers
Memphis Grizzlies
Portland Trailblazers
Utah Jazz
Dallas Mavericks
Close To Contention (One move or improvement away from contention)
If any of these teams make a move or significant improvement they could jump into contention.
Phoenix Suns
Houston Rockets
Toronto Raptors
Denver Nuggets
Golden State Warriors
Miami Heat
Championship Contenders (Title contenders)
The best of the best, these teams are competing for the championship.
Philadelphia 76ers
Los Angeles Clippers
Boston Celtics
Brooklyn Nets
Milwaukee Bucks
Los Angeles Lakers
Those are my NBA Tier ranking for the before the season who the heck knows rankings. Overall here are the 1-30 NBA teams rankings:
1 – Lakers
2 – Bucks
3 – Nets
4 – Celtics
5 – Clippers
6 – 76ers
7 – Heat
8 – Warriors
9 – Nuggets
10 – Raptors
11- Rockets
12 – Suns1
13 – Mavs
14 – Jazz
15 – Trailblazers
16 – Grizzlies
17 – Pacers
18 – Pelicans
19 – Hornets
20 – Hawks
21 – Wizards
22 – Magic
23 – Thunder
24 – Spurs
25 – Timberwolves
26 – Cavs
27 – Kings
28 – Bulls
29 – Pistons
30 – Knicks
To be honest, these rankings will fluctuate and are for fun and something for me to keep an eye on as I improve my film watching and analysis. As the season progresses I am going to make it a priority to cover all of these teams in some capacity – if you see a game or team you want to see a break down on just let me know and I will incorporate it into each week’s film room!
Looking forward to a great NBA season!
Coach Pyper