The List: Michael Porter Jr. against the switch

“The List” is a brand new series that serves as a companion piece for the “Notebook” episodes of the Locked on Nuggets podcast and the DNVR Nuggets podcast. In this edition, I share notes on Michael Porter Jr. punishing switches and Jerami Grant’s defense on Kawhi Leonard.

1. At 6’10” tall, Michael Porter Jr. presents a matchup problem against teams who prefer to switch all perimeter players. The Clippers are one of those teams and the Nuggets were able to open up their best quarter of Monday’s game by making a slight alteration to a play that I have labeled “the MPJ play” in order to take advantage of the Clippers’ defensive tendencies.

2. Jerami Grant played some phenomenal on-ball defense in this game against Kawhi Leonard but he still struggles as a back side defender on plays like this one.

Here is an example of Jamal Murray doing a much better job of sprinting over on his rotation early before closing out to the corner. Moe Harkless isn’t as big of a corner threat as Lou Williams in the Jerami Grant clip but this still provides a nice example of the proper way to rotate on a single side tag, the term used to describe when the help defense must come from a defender who is alone on the weak side.

3. But whatever missteps he made as a help defender, he was absolutely brilliant defending Kawhi. He did a great job of cutting off driving angles to the basket and using his length to contest the shot after Kawhi went into his shooting motion.

4. And while Grant cut off the head of the snake, the rest of the Nuggets were rotating on a string behind him to take away the secondary options. The second rotation by Will Barton in the clip below is especially noteworthy as he is early into the paint to meet the rolling Ivica Zubac before scrambling to close out on the wing.

5. I’ve made a point to highlight the times when Jamal Murray has failed to step into rhythm three-point shots when the defense goes under a ball screen so it’s only fair that I point out this example of him using great footwork to recognize and knock down a triple when Landry Shammet got caught cheating deep below the three-point arc on Jokic’s screen.

6. One of Denver’s plays that I often highlight in this series is a play called “C Corner.” Michael Porter Jr. provides a really interesting puzzle for defenses to solves when the Nuggets are able to involve him in the trigger spot in the corner. On the first example, the defense trails the screen but gives up a dunk.

In the second example, the defense goes under the screen which creates a slight advantage for Monte Morris to sprint into a pick and roll with Mason Plumlee, eventually resulting in a dunk.