Defensive Strategy Against The Grizzlies?

[TheAlmighty]

Any recommendations on how to stop the Grizzlies on and offline? I use the Bulls.

Rudy Gay is Durant-lite, Conley can make you pay from 3, Z-Bo has a nice midrange and post game, and Gasol can wreak havoc on you if you aren't careful.

I can beat lower level users who just spam Rudy Gay all game, but against higher level users who involve the whole team the Grizz are really a headache.

[a_maz_ing]

Re: Defensive Strategy Against The Grizzlies?

Well I don't play a lot offline, have only played 2 offline games, and don't play games online, but can tell u how I play the CPU grizzlies. I agree there are a tough team though.
I try to lock down the paint (literally, the option) except for Rudy Gay.. The grizzlies don't have many shooters, they prefer to drive. There is really only Gay, Mayo, Conley, and S.Battier. The last 2 have low shot tendencies so you should prioritize on Mayo and Gay.

I'd put Noah on Zach and Boozer on Gasol. I know it's height mismatch, but either way your stuck with a paint mismatch because Boozer can't guard anyone. U might want to consider starting one of the other 2 bigs who play better D.
THen put Rose on Conley and Brewer on Gay. Bogan or Brewer can guard Mayo.

But that is just my advice.

[TheAlmighty]

Re: Defensive Strategy Against The Grizzlies?

Well I don't play a lot offline, have only played 2 offline games, and don't play games online, but can tell u how I play the CPU grizzlies. I agree there are a tough team though.
I try to lock down the paint (literally, the option) except for Rudy Gay.. The grizzlies don't have many shooters, they prefer to drive. There is really only Gay, Mayo, Conley, and S.Battier. The last 2 have low shot tendencies so you should prioritize on Mayo and Gay.

I'd put Noah on Zach and Boozer on Gasol. I know it's height mismatch, but either way your stuck with a paint mismatch because Boozer can't guard anyone. U might want to consider starting one of the other 2 bigs who play better D.
THen put Rose on Conley and Brewer on Gay. Bogan or Brewer can guard Mayo.

But that is just my advice.

Thanks for the response.

So you use the "Lock Down Paint" option, but what is your individual defensive philosophy on Rudy Gay? I usually try to play him on-ball at all times.

You're right though, I have been using Brewer on him, he's pretty much the only Lock Down defender on the Bulls as far as wings.

I don't start Boozer, but I may have to because the Grizz frontcourt is too beastly.

I usually start Taj because he camps out at about 15 feet and his mid range release is smooth. I can kick to him with Rose and trust him to knock it down.

I'm going to have to experiment with some different stuff.

[a_maz_ing]

Re: Defensive Strategy Against The Grizzlies?

Thanks for the response.

So you use the "Lock Down Paint" option, but what is your individual defensive philosophy on Rudy Gay? I usually try to play him on-ball at all times.

You're right though, I have been using Brewer on him, he's pretty much the only Lock Down defender on the Bulls as far as wings.

I don't start Boozer, but I may have to because the Grizz frontcourt is too beastly.

I usually start Taj because he camps out at about 15 feet and his mid range release is smooth. I can kick to him with Rose and trust him to knock it down.

I'm going to have to experiment with some different stuff.

No problem.
I use play tight and deny ball. Screen philosophy depends on how he is playing but I usually do Over to try and take away the shot. If he gets really bad I will put screen option on Double. I don't fully understand Hedge but I know you use Hard hedge when pressuring shooters so thats what I would do against him.

And I think you should keep Boozer on the bench, or risk having his bad paint D exposed by Gasol or Zach.

Also if you don't know, don't sleep on Darrell Arthur. He is a great dunker.

[Synchromesh]

Re: Defensive Strategy Against The Grizzlies?

What quarter length do you typically play on? I use 12 minute quarters so have to change my defensive settings up during the game but I would recommend starting like this:

- Mike Conley: On-Ball (Moderate / Sag-off), Off-Ball (Moderate), Screen (Go Under), Hedge (Hard Hedge)

Conley can knock down the three but isn't a reliable shooter off the dribble or on his non layup two-point field goals, I like to "hard hedge" against quick point guards / players that love to attack the basket if done correctly (you may have to switch back in forth between your PG and the hedge-man) you can really take away the lane.

As an alternative if Conley gets on a roll (or sometimes I do this just for the hell of it to change up coverage) you could set double-teams to "only on drive" it's surprisingly effective. The player coming to double-team generally doesn't hard double so this is another effective way of disrupting drives.


- O.J. Mayo: On-Ball (Play Tight), Off-Ball (Play Tight), Screen (Go Over), Hedge (Soft Hedge)

With Mayo I'm always worried about his his three-point shots more than I am his attacks to the basket, with these settings you're essentially saying I'm going to in-your-face contest every single jumper you take try and drive by me.

- Rudy Gay: On-Ball (Moderate), Off-Ball (Deny Ball), Screen (Go Over), Hedge (Soft Hedge)

You could hard hedge here, but if you have too many hard hedges the chances of leaving someone open increases, for parts of the game change Off-Ball to "play tight" to give your primary defender on Gay a break (deny ball can be a big drain on fatigue). In-game Gay can do it all so you may need to use the double-team settings accordingly (only in post, on drive, as a rule of thumb I never double-team more than a handful of possessions in a row).

- Zach Randolph: On-Ball (Moderate), Off-Ball (Moderate)

Try to put your longer (taller) player against Randolph, if he starts to go off then for a few possessions double him but only when he's in the post (manual double-teaming will work best)

- Marc Gasol: On-Ball (Sag Off), Off-Ball (Sag Off)

I've never really had a problem defending Marc Gasol he can hit the mid-range J semi-well but he's a bit slow so even while sagging off (which can help you protect the paint / double Randolph) you should be able to recover.

---

*Note: When one player on the opposing team starts beating you ask yourself why? If you're consistently taking Rudy Gay out of the occasion it's possible that all your extra defensive attention is giving someone like Mayo or Randolph extra room to operate. If that's the case CHANGE UP YOUR DEFENSE! put more pressure on the man who's lighting you up and then change back to your standard gameplan once the opposing player has cooled off.

*Note: SET DOUBLE TEAM TO NEVER FOR EVERY SINGLE PLAYER TO START THE GAME AND THEN CHANGE THE SETTING IF NEEDED THROUGHOUT THE GAME.

[Synchromesh]

Re: Defensive Strategy Against The Grizzlies?

No problem.
I use play tight and deny ball. Screen philosophy depends on how he is playing but I usually do Over to try and take away the shot. If he gets really bad I will put screen option on Double. I don't fully understand Hedge but I know you use Hard hedge when pressuring shooters so thats what I would do against him.

And I think you should keep Boozer on the bench, or risk having his bad paint D exposed by Gasol or Zach.

Also if you don't know, don't sleep on Darrell Arthur. He is a great dunker.

Hedging refers to how your player reacts when presented with a pick and roll. If you put it on "hard" then the off-ball defender (the defender who is guarding the opposing player who set the screen) will essentially jump into the ball-handler / into his way.

It's almost like a split second double team where the goal is to stop the dribble and take away the opposing player's path to the basket.

Watch Battier on this play:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3rrTTUF-oM

*In game with hard hedge the player doesn't come out as high as Battier did on that play.

With a soft hedge the off-ball defender isn't jumping out all of the way he's coming out part way and trying to guide the ball-handler to a spot on the floor until the original defender recovers (around the screen).

Watch Pau Gasol on this play:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3EZdvDIfg0&feature=related