16 RGV Vipers Season Blog
12.1.15 Poor effort exploits Vipers’ defense
Through the first five games of the season, the Vipers looked to have turn the tide defensively. After a past couple of seasons in which Rio Grande Valley was in the basement of NBA D League defense, it showed early this season an attention to detail and effort and energy on defense that had been painfully absent.
And then it all went away. Los Angeles blistered the Vipers last Saturday 126 109. The D Fenders shot 57.1 percent, including 40.9 percent from 3, assisted on 23 of 48 field goals, and outscored RGV in points in the paint (66 64), second chance points (13 12) and fast break points (11 10).
One night after the Vipers had held the D Fenders to 43.2 percent shooting and no points in the three minute overtime, RGV combusted.
“It’s just effort and being locked in for 48 minutes,” Vipers coach Matt Brase said. “It’s not anything we’re not physically capable of doing. It’s lack of focus for certain key plays. There was a free throw we missed that they turned into a layup on the other end because we’re not getting back and we’re not matching up.”
So even with all the promise the Vipers had shown defensively through the first handful of games this season, this is where they stand after six games: last in defensive rating (109.3), 15th in defensive rebound percentage (70.4) and 14th in opponent’s field goal percentage (47.4).
“It’s an understanding that it’s our five guys against the ball,” Brase said. “It’s not one on one defense. If your man is not catching the ball, that doesn’t mean you’re doing your job. You’ve got to support and help too. We’ve watched film and guys are starting to see what they do off the ball affects what happens with the other team.”
A couple things: six games is obviously a small sample size, and the D Fenders are a loaded team stacked with NBA talent. But this is a 50 game season where every game is important and no one knows what the team will look like one week to the next.
It’s something the Vipers are well aware of.wholesale jerseys from china
“This league is tough to win games,” Brase said. “You have to value every chance you get out there to get a win. the last game of the season that kept them out of the playoffs. And for our three returners, that’s still on their mind. It’s not about who the opponent is as much as that each game matters. went with a smaller starting lineup, similar to what the Vipers will see Friday when they host Reno, which has the league’s top offensive rating. Vipers coaches and most players said the small lineup was a non factor. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. team that moved the ball quicker and almost always had the Vipers’ defense on its heels from the jump. And guard Jarvis Threatt admitted the smaller look “fooled” RGV a bit as far as its pick and roll coverages.
Effort and positioning were issues Saturday, but they can’t afford to be issues against Reno, which moves the ball quick, plays at the fastest tempo in the league and makes and takes a lot of 3s. Lapses of poor defense have become a theme for the Vipers this early part of the season. And though the Vipers have generally played sound and continue to get better in fundamental defense, those stretches are more than enough to overwhelm a game for a RGV team that has a net rating (point differential with pace factored in) of 1.4.
11.20.15 Vipers make progress in direction.
Vipers coach Matt Brase said prior to Thursday’s 125 120 win against Oklahoma City that he saw an opportunity for his team to play like it knows how.
“It’s a chance for us to be who we are,” Brase said. “We want to push tempo and be able to do it against teams that play fast like Oklahoma City (second in the D League in pace entering Thursday’s game). We want to impose our style on teams so it’s our third test in trying and doing that.”
The Vipers indeed got closer to being who they want to be.
After dismissing a putrid first quarter in which they shot 36 percent and had twice as many turnovers (6) as assists (3), the Vipers rolled. It started with defense. The Vipers sat back and kept Oklahoma City’s players in front of them while having active hands to swarm gaps.
That led to a slew of fouls (OKC went 16 for 20 on free throws in the first half), but also a slew of OKC turnovers (16 in all). That led to fast break opportunities. That led to easy buckets, momentum and a grasp of the game.
“We started rebounding and getting out on the break,” guard Jarvis Threatt said. “Transition really just picks up everything for us, and then the ball starts going and we’re doing our jobs. But it starts with rebounding.”
Even a 15 minute halftime break didn’t deter all the goodwill RGV bought itself in the second quarter. The Vipers outscored OKC 33 24 in the third, again using defense to spark offense.
It’s a complete turnaround in philosophy from the past couple of years when the Vipers often had to be rolling offensively to be playing well defensively.
“We just started getting stops,” Brase said. “We went a stretch where we were limiting them to one shot and we were rebounding it and pushing. It’s simple. When we give up one shot, we get to run off it. When we don’t, we’re stuck.”
The Vipers held OKC to 45.2 percent shooting, and only a slew of final minute desperation 3s boosted that number. All night, RGV executed its defensive game plan. It stopped penetration and forced a poor shooting Blue team to hit shots.
The Blue did, particularly from 3, but they had to go to Plan B to get offense. Oftentimes during past seasons, opponents tore up the Vipers with Plan A early and often.
Through three games this season, the Vipers are a quick but patient offensive unit that takes quality shots, and a heady defensive unit that takes advantage of its length to contest shots and swarm passing lanes.
That’s an ideal direction to be headed in, particularly when Houston Rockets and Vipers management desire a return to the championship winning ways of the past.
11.20.15 Putney stars after poor outing
After a lethargic game Saturday, a 112 101 Vipers loss to Idaho, in which he missed seven of eight shots and had more fouls (6) than points (2) in 17 minutes, Raphiael Putney was determined to do better.