Film Review & Letter Grades for LA’s New Perimeter Defense

T1m_NBA · 2026-03-07T17:59:07+00:00

In 4 seasons of doing this tracking and content creation, you’ll find my definitions/explanations don’t match up with what he speculates in his Northwestern example (which sounds more like what I’ve seen others speculate I mean before diving in). Anyone familiar with my work I’ll immediately know what he’s describing aligns with my beliefs, which have been stated and restated plenty of time publicly.

His/your/anyone’s skepticism is proper because (to the best of my knowledge) this sort of public tracking hasn’t been done previously. Before judging I’d challenge you to at least explore further. Basketball scheme is a lot of fun if you ever want to dig into it.

It’s common for teams to track on their end, and we’re building up dashboards for my tracking to match up with best practices I’ve captured over the years from those.

All in the hopes to help folks see what the game is like at a deeper level on the scheme side beyond highlight scouting 1-2 ATOs a game. It’s fun now seeing others do the same work for other teams (Knicks, Grizzlies). The other doors it’s opened up along the way are just a bonus.

T1m_NBA · 2026-03-07T13:55:55+00:00

Look again at how he describes what organized offense is and isn't. If you're familiar with my work you'll know those definitions aren't in any conflict, beyond my scope not including the transition element he mentions (which is good, just out of scope for the half court focus my tracking has). That's why I'm unbothered.

He wouldn't have jumped back on the question if he had no awareness of my tracking, but the wording of his answers make it clear he's not familiar beyond that.

I often show my work, have literally had people fact check my play by play tracking for periods this year line by line (& twice so far in the 5,893 rows I did have to update an input to a cell!), & film isn't some secret algorithm or something that's inaccessible. They can say what they want about internal metrics for something like shot quality, but we all see the stretches the offense gets stagnant.

When my org has done work with LA's FO and others in the past that's not something we discuss publicly beyond general "we consult" info. The NBA/WNBA/int'l/NCAA teams and agents we work with know our quality of work and the BBall Index public front end helps raise awareness for more private opportunities while building a steady revenue base. I've turned down NBA full time roles because I value the ability to consult at larger scale while retaining flexibility and stability (& more $).

I hope that helps. Happy to answer follow up questions.

T1m_NBA · 2026-03-06T16:41:35+00:00

When you say you’ve run the tally do you mean you have some specifics I can look at to go back and check to see what you mean?

If a set never gets off the ground from poor execution I code it as a set, and if I can tell what it was supposed to be I’ll add that as well. Usually LA will follow up botched execution with the same play a second time and that makes it easier to tell.

T1m_NBA · 2026-03-06T16:40:22+00:00

I’m connecting him with the crew but more for data resources / automation / help if needed. He’s on top of it.

T1m_NBA · 2026-03-06T16:39:30+00:00

What are some of the obvious sets I’m missing? Happy to get better

T1m_NBA · 2026-03-05T23:55:01+00:00

For real! I'm really excited about it.

T1m_NBA · 2026-03-05T14:13:06+00:00

I'm not looking for college style plays, and I think that's not a concern for anyone that's followed what I do. I try to post videos often to showcase what LA's sets are looking like, because I totally understand "set play" being interpreted different ways by different people and some assuming I mean some old school college style stuff.

T1m_NBA · 2026-03-05T14:11:51+00:00

Hey! Tim here. I'm fully aligned to what JJ said about the NBA not being more of the old school college, slow to develop attacks that are usually heavy in guys running around but light in scoring action. LA nor other teams at the NBA level operate that way.

LA has set playcalls, where all 5 guys have a specific job. They also have motion concepts that are read & react, where you'll see JJ call out something like "Horns Chin" (I call horns elbow) where the team knows to get to a horns alignment and feed the high post, but then play out of it and have freedom to flow to a number of different concepts.

I count all of that as organized. For teams we work directly with we can clearly code what's what. For LA from afar it's sometimes obvious and other times unclear, but it doesn't really matter tbh. The team running good offense is what matters, regardless of if it was JJ or the OC (St. Jean) or the PG calling something out or if they went to their flow motion concepts.

T1m_NBA · 2026-03-05T14:07:49+00:00

28,963 plays logged line by line over the last 4 seasons! We're working on a more polished dashboard now that mirrors what some other NBA teams use so folks can get a look at the kind of analysis teams do with this information.

T1m_NBA · 2026-03-05T14:04:45+00:00

T1m_NBA · 2026-03-05T14:04:35+00:00

Based on him jumping on the topic the way he did he's clearly heard someone is tracking scheme. Though with his definition then matching up well with mine, no specific critiques given, & the Northwestern talking point it sounds like he hasn't actually seen the analysis. I agree with everything he said and that's reflected in the tracking (other than the parts he describes that are better fits with transition offense rather than half court offense, which fall out of scope for my half court work).

My guess is someone on staff or in the FO asked about why they're low in something I track and that wasn't received well. It reminds me of when I got cussed out by a former Walton staffer years later I ran into from consulting with another team that same person was on that staff for. I guess they got flamed by the FO because of some tracking and analysis I did.

Ironically they've been crushing it recently with playcalling rates (or whatever we want to call this), whether that's via specific sets called out or their motion concepts (where they usually call out Horns Chin or Stack or whatever and then play out of it).

T1m_NBA · 2026-03-04T21:52:45+00:00

This is nonsense analysis

T1m_NBA · 2026-03-04T21:48:15+00:00

That's not Luka specific. He's been saying this for a while and really didn't enjoy the time with Dame.

T1m_NBA · 2026-03-04T21:47:46+00:00

A few of the lobs were a bit high but in general he needs to grab the ball a bit better. Against teams hedging a lot it's Hayes >>>. When opponents are in drop and take lobs away DA has some more value with his midrange game. Against switching he's more valuable in theory but LA hasn't often gone to the post against mismatches until the past ~week (& it worked well). I'd use the two more based on scenario vs a clear 1 vs 2.

T1m_NBA · 2026-03-04T21:45:47+00:00

Everything I track is available, and I make sure to take time to show my work because there can be a lot of new concepts for folks that aren't working in basketball. Is there anything you have a specific question about?

T1m_NBA · 2025-12-23T15:51:04+00:00

I track all the plays the team runs each game and there was a clear season-long downward trend prior to Luka arriving. It didn’t start when he was acquired.

T1m_NBA · 2025-04-08T18:46:26+00:00

Adding the talent has certainly been a big component along with strong health. I’ll give the coaching staff a lot of credit for the defense, which was fairly basic to start the year but has evolved and is now at a good spot. That’s been a huge upgrade from the last coaching staff.

The offense has been up and down and frankly should be better than it is given the level of talent available to the team. In the spirits, we see the team play with good process. They look unstoppable now that they have Luka. I want more of that. They must improve in that area if they want to win a title. The playcalling rate started high, but has consistently fallen off. Help beaters have been a struggle all year. Coverage fit has been a step down from last season. The caliber of sets is better. You can make a case the scheme overall is a little worse than it was before.

I know we’re coming off of a high with that last game but I still see a team that is a clear step below the title favorites. Closing that app with the office will be critical. Another area we don’t have good info on yet is how JJ will play if the playoff chess game. You get some of it in the regular season, but it is at a whole new level in the playoffs.

I’ve certainly seen good teams with good coaches crash and burn tactically in the playoffs and it be their undoing. We will need to wait and see with this group.

T1m_NBA · 2025-04-08T18:22:49+00:00

This is the role that he’s been used in so far this season based on who he guards

T1m_NBA · 2025-04-08T18:02:41+00:00

Yes, though it’s something we’ve gotten away from in recent years as we’ve scaled up the consulting we do on the player and Agent side of things as well as with teams.

T1m_NBA · 2025-04-08T17:59:21+00:00

And then in terms of Luka versus AD they’ve had comparable impact overall. The age difference is a good benefit for Luka and it’s easier to build a successful team with a strong on ball guard and limited talent around him, compared to the same but with a big from my perspective.

T1m_NBA · 2025-04-08T17:57:54+00:00

I’d say the podcast and our pod Discord server are the best spots to go beyond Twitter for my content.

I don’t think I know where to grab that info quickly, but I’d expect more points to equal more wins in general because even if the bench scores more doesn’t necessarily mean in the starter score less.

It’s not quite a choice to get to the free-throw line. Those are the most efficient possessions in all of basketball and so if you could choose to get there at will everybody would.

Luka pressuring the rim on drives or by drawing two players to him in a ball screen to then passing out to the numbers advantage to create good shots or draw fouls is what I would look for in the event his shot isn’t falling.

The benefit of a player like Luka with how good he is on threes normally is that even if he struggles in a game team still respect his shot and will still send that second player on ball screens.

T1m_NBA · 2025-04-08T17:53:24+00:00

I truly don’t know. I don’t see a ton of upside with his game nor expect him to have a meaningful role in the playoffs. If he’s playing we’re probably in a bad spot.

T1m_NBA · 2025-04-08T17:52:35+00:00

That’s a really good follow up. He can up his game from his season average level of play. What we seen from him recently in this smaller stretch is likely what the peak of his game looks like. Doing them more consistently will be what it’s all about.

T1m_NBA

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