Half Court Hoops - Coach's Cut

2023 NBA Finals

Previous breakdowns on the Nuggets & Heat.

May 31, 2023

Previewing the 2023 NBA Finals was kind of difficult for me to find “new” angles to attack it from and the quick turnaround did not help things. Throughout the playoffs and previous seasons, I have broken down the Heat's defense & zone defense especially as well as the Nuggets’ offense and defense. I have included these breakdowns below and wanted this to be a resource for anyone looking for more information on either of these teams for the 2023 NBA Finals.

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Denver Nuggets Offensive System

In the latest breakdown, I looked at why the Denver Nuggets are so difficult to guard, not only through Nikola Jokic’s incredible basketball genius but how Murray and their spacing unlock their offense. Combining their spacing, and cutting in their motion allows for them to make reads seamlessly when running sets in their playbook and they become almost impossible to stop.

Miami Heat 2-3 Zone Defense

About 3 years ago I broke down the Miami Heat 2-3 zone defense and while some things have changed (I touch on in the Heat ECF preview), for the most part, the philosophy and responsibilities have stayed the same.

More film on the Heat’s 2-3 Zone and how to beat it from film in the past:

2020 Season

Coach's Cut - Miami Heat's 2-3 Zone Defense

September 18, 2020

Coach's Cut - Miami Heat's 2-3 Zone Defense

I have a TON of film I want to look at for this next game. I want to dive into the film and see how teams have scored against the Heat’s zone this year, and see if there is something to expect - I am going to send that out in a few days! In this Coach’s Cut I have included the Heat’s zone vs the Celtics as well as from this year, and some of my favorite…

2020 Season

Coach's Cut - How to beat the Heat's 2-3 zone defense

September 21, 2020

Coach's Cut - How to beat the Heat's 2-3 zone defense

The Miami Heat’s zone defense is the best in the NBA. Not only do they play it the most out of any team at 11% of the time per Synergy’s data. The Heat have played zone defense for 870 possessions this season, which is actually nothing compared to the 14% and 1053 possesions they played it last year! Keep in mind, Synergy classifies offensive rebounds a…

Previous breakdowns on the Heat’s Offense & Defense from before the Eastern Conference Finals:

Miami Heat Defense

May 16

Miami Heat Offense

May 16

This is a coaching mismatch, the Celtics undoubtedly have more depth of talent but the Heat have Spoelstra and Jimmy Butler leading the way. Nothing against Mazzulla, but Erik Spoelstra against virtually anyone outside of Pop or Kerr is going to be an advantage to Spoelstra. He is unafraid of the moment and pulling on strings to see what works and then when they find something that works they continue to tweak and focus on improving ways to continue that success. But the key difference between Erik Spoelstra and other coaches is he has a great sense of when something is going to stop working and going to something else before the other team can take advantage.

Previous breakdowns on the Nuggets’ Offense & Defense from before the Western Conference Finals:

Denver Nuggets Defense

May 14

I cannot wait for this matchup where we get possibly the most unguardable offensive player in Jokic vs the most dominant and versatile big defender in the NBA in Anthony Davis. Not only that, it is the best offense with the Nuggets scoring 1.21 PPP in the NBA playoffs vs the best defense in the Lakers holding teams to 1.07 PPP. Not to mention so many X…

Denver Nuggets Offense

May 14

I also broke down specifically a great adjustment that the Nuggets made against the Suns to keep Jokic out of pick and rolls and the creativity and flexibility of their staff at times:

Jokic & Nuggets Key Adjustment

May 3

Throughout the course of the season, I had questions about the level the Nuggets’ defense could reach when it comes to contending for a championship. Adding good defenders like KCP & Brown were good moves but if Jokic has a flaw it is his ability to defend at the highest levels and his vulnerability in ballscreen defense. To combat this the Nuggets will…

Before the season I did some general previews of both teams that covers some basic stats and thoughts as well as some film on their favorite actions and plays:

2022-23 Season Previews

Miami Heat 2022-23 Season Preview

October 13, 2022

Welcome to the 2022-23 previews for every NBA team! These breakdowns are designed to look at stats, film & anything I found interesting in my preparation for the upcoming NBA season.

2022-23 Season Previews

Denver Nuggets 2022-23 Season Preview

October 11, 2022

Welcome to the 2022-23 previews for every NBA team! These breakdowns are designed to look at stats, film & anything I found interesting in my preparation for the upcoming NBA season.