I am not a HOF coach but...

[Dahlsim]

RC making his best attempt at shedding the "veteran's coach" title.

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I'd say the biggest percentage of the fault lies at his feet, but not wholly his fault. The players still have to play the game too.

He didn't really put them in a position to succeed in the fourth. That ultra small ball experiment just screamed cocky experimenting to me.

Players have to execute, but that was still majorly influenced by coaching.

Nurse is an excellent coach. Rick is too

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I don't think that was experimental coaching as much as it was an attempt to offset the press with 5 + ball-handlers. I have said that the answer should have been 4+KP with KP understanding that he is a pass-only pivot in the middle. I was shocked the adjustment did not get made at half-time AND/OR the adjustments were not more effective.

Putting 5 ball handlers on the floor is not the only way nor is it even the traditional way to beat a press.  

The old fashioned 2 guards, 2 forwards and a center rotation works fine if the floor is spread properly and you have good smart ball handlers especially at 1,2,3.   The defense is unbalanced since they are double teaming up the court. 

Let's say your big men are like 7'3" KP and 7"2" Boban. They are now big tall targets in the front court.  Your smart passing out of double teams will reach them within 1, 2 or 3 good passes, maybe your 2 guard or small forward ends up penetrating against a 3 on 2 or 2 or 1. 

Your bigs like KP and Boban will be left with a 1 on 1 paint scoring opportunity or even an open dunk against a scrambling defense and those guys are waaay too good for the defense to survive too many of those.    
You just need crisp ball handling and passing because there is someone open at all times and defense scrambling.  The ball moves faster in the air than anyone can run.  Traditionally your 1,2,3 should all be solid ball handlers and passers. that's enough to break any press and get easy bucket opportunities on the other end once the press is beaten.

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I don't understand the confusion. Against the press you need more people that can dribble out of it. More bigs makes the press more effective since their dribble would get picked more easily.

  

Your 1,2,3 break the press with the dribble and pass. After the initial press is beaten the defense is scrambling back, your big men should be facing less opposition not more.  They can dribble or they can also pass which means big guys with good vision can see over the top of smaller defenders then pick and choose who they want to pass to, could be for layups or for wide open 3's which they also are prepared to go rebound.  

Full court presses are not common at all in the NBA because they are so easy for skilled players to beat usually and the defense usually ends up giving up easy and open shots once the traps are beaten. 

[SkenfromLMF]

I am just trying to explain coach-think in the scenario...
It is pretty obvious that Rick perceived 2 things: 1) he really wanted no part of KP putting the ball in his dribble away from further than the half court set; 2) that somewhwre in his 1-3, Brunson is my guess, we could not make the smart pass/dribble choice against the pressure. That is where he chose to flood the press.

I still think he wanted Toronto to slow down on their P&R usage and going small is a way to limit the advantage of Lowery getting a big in space.

It MIGHT have been more effective if 2 aspects were different: a) Toronto doesn't go on an Offensive Rebounding spree OR b) the small lineup could have hit 1 basket.

Maybe, just Maybe Rick won't try this again... At least Until he can run Luka as a forward in that scenario.

IMHO Luka as the Primary BH limits the effectiveness of the press in the 1st place and we don't see this tactic any further with this effect.

[Dahlsim]

I am just trying to explain coach-think in the scenario...
It is pretty obvious that Rick perceived 2 things: 1) he really wanted no part of KP putting the ball in his dribble away from further than the half court set; 2) that somewhwre in his 1-3, Brunson is my guess, we could not make the smart pass/dribble choice against the pressure. That is where he chose to flood the press.

I still think he wanted Toronto to slow down on their P&R usage and going small is a way to limit the advantage of Lowery getting a big in space.

It MIGHT have been more effective if 2 aspects were different: a) Toronto doesn't go on an Offensive Rebounding spree OR b) the small lineup could have hit 1 basket.

Maybe, just Maybe Rick won't try this again... At least Until he can run Luka as a forward in that scenario.

IMHO Luka as the Primary BH limits the effectiveness of the press in the 1st place and we don't see this tactic any further with this effect.

Agreed, its a whole different scenario with Luka, and a press likely doesn't work well against Dallas with Luka. 

Even still, we have seen this season the team drag even with Luka and Carlisle has gotten the spark from the bench including using JJ and even Boban for offensive bounce.  In this case, coach didn't choose to even try those tactics even though they worked before.  
Its coaches prerogative. 

Merry Christmas!