Welcome back to Beyond the Box Score, the series where we use deep analytics to better explain the Bulls' play. Today, we're taking a look at this season's changes to the Bulls' screen defense.
Last season, defending on-ball screens was the Bulls' major Achilles' heel. So when Gar Forman hired offensive-minded Fred Hoiberg to take over as head coach, he also brought along former Spurs assistant, Jim Boylen, to act as associate head coach — and to install new defensive philosophies.
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When Boylen joined the team, the Bulls certainly needed most help guarding the pick and roll. According to Vantage Sports, the Bulls surrendered 0.1 points per screen last season. That figure was the second worst in the NBA. But what were the Bulls doing that was so ineffective?
Under Tom Thibodeau, the Bulls did not play aggressively against screens. A vast majority of the time, they would fall into what we'll call a "drop zone," when the defender covering the screen-setter, lays off of the screen. He usually steps back into the paint, keeping himself in between the ball carrier and the rim, not allowing the ball carrier to drive to the hoop. However, this space gives the ball carrier an opportunity to shoot, or make an open pass.
What the Bulls have started mixing in more often now, is what we'll call a "soft show." Here, the defender guarding the screen-setter will step up and flash in front of the ball carrier. After flashing a hand in the ball carrier's face, the defender will then run back to guard the opponent who set the screen, trying to prevent a pick and roll, or a pick and pop. This defense is a little more aggressive — and therefore a little more risky — but it also forces opponents to make quick decisions, and possibly turnovers.
|
Pts Allowed/Screen |
Drop Zone % |
Soft Show % |
|
|
‘14 - ‘15 Season |
0.1 |
84.2 |
10.7 |
|
'15 - '16 Season |
0.084 |
78.7 |
15.6 |
NBA
As we can see, the Bulls have employed the soft show defense much more often this season, leading to a five percent uptick in soft show usage. Not surprisingly, their drop zone usage has dropped by about five percent, as well. Now, you may be thinking, "Hey, these numbers don't add up to 100!" Good eye. The remainder is when the Bulls go into an aggressive hedge defense, trying to trap the ball carrier and force a turnover. Most NBA teams do this about five percent of the time, so it's not statistically relevant for our purposes.
The other thing you should notice is the Bulls have made a nice improvement by allowing significantly fewer points per screen. Now there's still a lot left to be desired in this department, but they're clearly making progress. As we said earlier, 0.1 points allowed/screen placed the Bulls at 29th in the league last year. But this year, their 0.084 number puts them at 19, according to Vantage Sports.
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To see just how effective soft shows can be when defending the pick and roll, we decided to take a look at the teams who give up the fewest points per screen in the NBA: the Bucks, the Rockets and the Magic.
|
Pts Allowed/Screen |
Drop Zone % |
Soft Show % |
|
|
Bucks |
0.063 |
59 |
27 |
|
Rockets |
0.073 |
69 |
24 |
|
Magic |
0.074 |
72 |
20 |
In addition to being the best screen defenders, they're also teams that soft show much more than the other teams in the league. And as the Bulls continue their trend of soft showing more against the screen, it will be interesting to see if their overall screen defense continues to improve.