Peter Clayton A. Smith — I think you make an excellent point, and so did Eric Snow. Even bad shooters like Kidd and Rose can get on a roll when their defenders cheat on them. It’s lazy defense, and it will cost a team wins. You’ll notice the better defensive teams — Boston, Cleveland, San Antonio, etc. — rarely cheat. They always try to challenge shots. It’s a little extra effort, but man it pays off.

He only ended the game with three layups out of his fourteen shots, and the shot chart shows about five shots coming off what look like the Hornets going underneath a screen. This made me think about what his shooting percentage is when a team does this, and dares him to shoot the ball. I doubt 82games has the statistics that say New Orleans went underneath a screen and then this happened, but they would be interesting to see. Unfortunately the PBPs don’t help much with that.

To go with that last night on NBA TV they were talking in the studio about teams, not specifically the Hornets with Derrick Rose, but more teams doing the same thing with Jason Kidd, going underneath screens on the high pick and roll and leaving bad shooters “open”. Eric Snow said that you needed to still pressure them and put a hand in their face because if you didn’t you let someone like Kidd or Rose read the floor and do what they are best at. It made sense to me, but I don’t know what the numbers back up in terms of how to defend the pick and roll with Rose.