Welcome to my game notes. For the most part(particularly on offense), these are possession-by-possession notes of all the things that happened on the court. It’s a way for me to learn as much as possible about what happened during the game because I would otherwise forget. Anything can be a note, no matter how small or complicated.
These are my personal notes. This is not meant to read as analysis or a piece. Some of the sentences may not have structure or perfect grammar. They are notes. My goal for this is to somewhat track the things that happen to know what to dig deeper into and have some kind of reference to it somewhere.
Clips will be accompanied for key plays I want to highlight.
1st
1st
11:34 — Giannis just getting beat badly on the backcut. Thought it was going to be a handoff. Wiggins didn’t look to rotate or was even seeing the action to rotate as the low man
11:00 — Klay top locking Curry. Wiggins and Klay switch on the cut
10:35 — Giannis losing his man again. That was just laziness on the screen and defense is now in rotations
10:21 — Bam switches on Steph in PNR. Does a good job on the drive
9:48 — Davion doing a good job defending the drive from Steph
9:23 — Bam switching on Yaxel in PNR. Just giving up a pu 3pt
9:00 — Klay good 1v1 defense vs Podz. Bam blitzed him for some reason. Draymond gets a short roll but good help from Giannis
Not sure why Bam did that for no reason when Klay was fine
7:55 — This was a good possession from everyone. Bam switched on Steph. Davion switched as well. There was no advantages anywhere
7:09 — Steph getting open off ball vs Klay. Just poor defense allowing that much space. Gets a wide open 3pt. Need to fight harder
6:44 — Giannis not caring about Dray shooting
5:50 — Transition defense
5:30 — Poor defense from Davion vs Steph. Tried to gamble from behind and gets beat. Gives up a clean drive. Klay good rotation to help and contest
5:10 — Klay top locks Steph. Bobby late contest on the pop 3pt
4:48 — Klay again top locks Steph. Did get a step on him on the cut but good recovery
Klay has been solid defensively to start the game, especially since it’s vs Steph
4:22 — Zone defense. Giving up wide open 3pt off just a swing around the arc
4:00 — Conwell giving some pressure full court. Another wide open corner 3pt, this time to Niang. I don’t know what Bobby was doing helping that much. THJ just ball watches and lost his man on ORB. Awful contest from Bobby too and it’s a layup
3:18 — What is THJ doing here off ball? He’s just jumping around
3:16 — Zone defense. Again where is THJ meant to be? It feels like he’s out of place
2:40 — More zone defense
2:02 — Awful defense in early offense. Another wide open corner 3pt to Niang. Not everyone matched up
1:42 - -Semi transition defense. Giving up more ORBS. That’s on Bobby’s poor box out
1:05 — Transition defense. THJ got there in time for a charge
0:52 — THJ providing too much help off strong corner and just gives up a cut. No weakside help from Giannis too. Bobby was on the perimeter and that’s why there was help but that was too much
0:30 — Pelle with a good closeout
2nd
11:53 — Pelle on Steph. Conwell switches on Steph. Feels like zone defense actually instead. Conwell great defense on Draymond to force the TOV
11:22 — Giannis hard show vs Steph. Draymond gets an open slip. Pelle doesn’t tag him and it’s an easy cut to the rim
Breakdown here
10:50 — More wide open corner 3s. Davion-Bobby PNR vs Steph. Put 2 on the ball. Pelle rotates to the pop. Wide open swing pass. Giannis didn’t rotate and was getting screened by Draymond. Bobby tried to recover
10:27 — Bobby on the perimeter on Podz. Pelle on Draymond in the post. Davion loses Steph on the backcut. Was overly aggressive. Conwell picks him well but then he lost him relocating to the corner. Awful communication that gives up a wide open corner 3pt
9:30 — Zone defense with Pelle and Conwell up top. Wide open Niang for 3pt
I don’t know how much I like the zone with Bobby. This was becoming an issue in the Lakers game too
9:13 — Transition defense
8:55 — Pelle with great hustle pressuring full court ends up with a steal
8:36 — Pelle top locks Steph
8:26 — More zone defense. Podz relocates for the wide open corner 3pt. Bobby gets screened and doesn’t contest
The zone isn’t looking good
7:50 — Conwell switches on Steph. Davion almost losing Payton on the cut. Pelle switches. Davion then gets in the passing lanes
7:38 — Niko switches on Steph. Good job keeping him in front for a stepback 2pt
7:05 — Niko again with solid defense 1v1. Doesn’t give up anything and forces a TOV
That’s B2B good possessions for Niko
6:45 — Niko in the PNR. Switches and gets the deflection on the pass to the slip. Love this. Then stays on Yaxel on the drive and gives up nothing
5:50 — Niko switches up top. Niko helps in the paint and recovers on the drive. He also rotates to the shooter and helps with the board. This was a great possession from him
4:55 — Good pressure from Bam vs Yaxel
4:28 — Niko vs Yaxel. Doesn’t allow the drive. Wiggins good denial on Podz. Conwell poor closeout and gets beat to the rim. No rim protection either
3:48 — Miscomm with Klay and Niko. Allowing a wide open 3pt
3:20 — Niko switches on Steph. Does a great job on his drive but then ends up fouling him
2:53 — Davion pressing Steph. Pelle switches on Steph. Davion is behind on Yaxel on the slip. Bam with not great contest and just allowed that layup
2:30 — Transition defense. Allowing a layup
1:40 — Transition defense. Allowing Steph to cherry pick and get an easy shot at the rim
1:22 — Bam switches on Steph. No advantage, just passed it off
1:00 — Davion trailing Steph off ball. Tried to top lock him but failed
0:7 — Bam-Davion PNR vs Steph. Just switch, no advantage.
3rd
12:00 — Davion-Wiggins PNR. Switch. Not seamless and allowing the slip. Klay relocates from the corner with Podz taking away the help. There’s now no tag. Giannis late to react on the contest
Great design from GSW to take away that help initially
11:15 — Davion-Wiggins PNR. Switch. Same play but no slip this time. Did I just see Wiggins go under a Steph PNR? Why would that ever be a thing. He gets a wide open 3pt
10:38 — Klay pressing Podz well. He’s had good moments vs him. Forced a TOV
10:23 — Davion trying to keep up with Steph off ball and navigate screens. Ends up giving up a 3pt
9:47 — Davion-Bam PNR vs Steph. Hard show, 2 on the ball. Switch. No advantage. Klay on Podz no advantage on the drive.
9:25 — Semi transition. Yaxel attacks Wiggins off the catch and easily beats him. No help at all
8:53 — Klay on Steph. Just a foul. That was easy
8:49 — Bam starts on Steph. Klay with solid defense on the drive. Giannis looks to help for no reason. He does that twice. That ends up putting the defense in rotation and his initial man gets the ORB
I don’t know what the process is with Giannis here. Is he just trying to be switched on the player to stay at the rim?
Also, when the ball goes up, everyone is just ball watching rather than where a guy is
7:43 — Klay switches on Steph. Bam showing strong help at the nail. Wiggins with great defense off ball and then on his drive
7:00 — Davion on Steph off ball. Goes under the screen for some reason and Steph gets the 3pt
Why are we going under screens on Steph???
6:30 — More off ball for Steph with Davion trailing
6:13 — Poor transition defense. Horford gets an open 3pt with Bam not in position
5:36 — Good possession until the very end. Too much defense in rotation. Bobby just gets beat eat the end. Allows a drive to the rim and Klay poor contest on the foul
5:00 — Conwell doing a good job on Yaxel’s drive. This is another good possession
3:20 — Davion allowing a drive. That forced help from Conwell. He’s out of position on his drive. That collapses the defense for a wide open 3pt. Conwell with a weak box out allows ORB
2:56 — Transition defense. Just poor stuff
2:26 — Bam with a poor closeout on Niang, allowing a drive. Bobby with a poor contest. Ends up fouling
2:10 — More transition defense. And it’s always just a shot at the rim
1:32 — Pelle doing a good job on Yaxel and on his drive. Stopped any advantages
1:10 — Zone defense? Giannis rotates on the drive to force a floater instead
0:50 — Transition defense. Great recovery. Davion and Pelle got back to force the miss
4th
11:15 — Davion losing Steph off ball. He just kept moving and Davion relaxed. Then got caught on the screen. I think Pelle thought to switch because then Payton got free on the cut. Niko late reaction to help
10:42 — Davion top locks Steph. Allows a cut. That’s just too easy
That’s two possessions to start the 4th with Davion’s mistakes
10:15 — Niko on Steph. Moving the feet well. Stays with him and contests the 3pt stepback and gets the block. Amazing
9:41 — Zone defense. Great entire possession. This was amazing too. Forced a 24s
8:58 — Davion vs Steph off ball. Gets caught on a screen and gives up and open 3pt
8:25 — Zone defense again. Pelle gets beat badly on the Steph cut. Niko rotates on him but slow reaction from Giannis
Over the past few games, Giannis motor has stood out a lot
7:55 — Davion losing Steph on the cut again. Just no effort to keep up. Great read in the passing lanes by Pelle
7:46 — Davion just ball watching and then just forgets about Steph. He relocates for a wide open 3pt
There’s absolutely no awareness
7:15 — Wiggins switches on Steph. Davion switches on Steph. No advantages
6:42 — Bam has been undisciplined on his closeouts. Why are we jumping like that on Yaxel
5:40 — Bam not keen to help off the strong corner off of Horford. Pelle allows a drive. Davion was the low man and rotated but I don’t know what he offered
5:14 — Good defense from Pelle fronting and getting the steal
5:02 — Zone defense. Defense rotating well. Pelle gets a good contest on a drive
4:34 — More zone defense. Davion showing strong help off the strong corner. That allows a drive. Bam good rotation. Bam has been great on this possession with the rim protection
4:08 — Early offense. Wiggins not matched up and lost a rim runner
3:45 — Transition defense. Just a layup