Before entering January 2022, the sound of Jason Kidd's dismissal came and went, with 4 wins and 2 losses in October 2021, 6 wins and 7 losses in November, and 7 wins and 9 losses in December, with a total record of 17 wins and 18 losses, making Kidd's position precarious. But into January, the Lone Ranger's record suddenly soared, and after a big victory over the Pacers on January 30, the Lone Ranger achieved a 12-3 record in the first 15 games of January, and the last opponent in January was the Fish Belly Magic, and the Lone Ranger won basically without problems.
From a win rate of less than 50% to now fifth in the West with 29 wins and 21 losses, and only a slight gap with the fourth-place Jazz (30 wins and 20 losses), the Lone Ranger has played a beautiful turnaround battle, how did Kidd accomplish it? The Lone Ranger's lineup framework hasn't changed significantly, with Luka Doncic at the ball-carrying core, paired with Christaps Porzingis, Jaylen Brunson, Tim Hardaway Jr., Finney Smith, Maxi Kleber, Dwight Powell and Reggie Bullock. Such a squad is not very good, even if they have the duo of Doncic and Porzingis. Therefore, it is Kidd's careful tuning that has given the Lone Ranger a qualitative improvement.
Let's look at a statistic about the Lone Ranger opponent (only 6 games in October 2021, a small sample of data, not counted): In November 2021, the Lone Ranger opponent shot 49 percent from the field, the league's highest, three-point shooting rate at 38 percent, the league's third-highest; in December 2021, the Lone Ranger opponent's shot percentage was 44.1 percent, the league's sixth-low, three-point shooting rate was 34.5 percent, the league's tenth lowest; in January 2022, The Lone Ranger's opponent shot 43.9 percent from the field, the league's fourth-lowest, three-point shooting rate of 29.1 percent, the league's lowest.
The data has been able to illustrate some problems, the Lone Ranger has shown a positive development in terms of limiting opponents' shooting percentage and three-point shooting rate, from November 2021 to January 2022, the Lone Ranger's defensive effect is getting better and better, especially in January, the Lone Ranger limited the opponent's three-point shooting rate to 29.1%, is the only team in the league to limit the opponent's three-point shooting rate to less than 30%, ranking second is the Warriors' 32.5%, It's 3.4 percentage points higher than the Lone Ranger, and the lead is a bit big. So, how did the Lone Ranger improve his defense? There are two main aspects:
First, increase the movement speed of the defensive end
In November 2021, the Lone Ranger's defensive end moved at a speed of 3.86 mph; in December 2021, the Lone Ranger's defensive end moved at a speed of 3.87 mph; and in January 2022, the Lone Ranger's defensive end moved at a speed of 3.93 mph. The increase in the speed of movement on the defensive end can directly affect the player's defensive arrival rate, and it is also the embodiment of the player's defensive attitude. Faster defensive movement speed can ensure that the player's defensive position rate, which in turn affects the rhythm and mentality of the attacking player.
Second, complete more defensive end card slots
In November 2021, the Lone Ranger averaged 6.5 defensive end card slots per game, ranking nineteenth in the league; in December 2021, the Lone Ranger averaged 8.7 defensive end card slots per game, ranking third in the league; and in January 2022, the Lone Ranger averaged 6.7 defensive end card slots per game, ranking ninth in the league. In the past three months, the Lone Ranger's average defensive end card slot per game has improved from the middle and lower levels of the league to the middle and upper level, and the improvement is very obvious. Although there was a significant decline in January 2022 and December 2021, it is still at the middle and upper level of the league, and the lone ranger's defensive end has greatly improved its movement speed, and their defensive strategy has also changed, and the defensive speed of the defensive end has increased the defensive position rate, and the defensive effect is even better.
With Doncic's tandem, the Lone Ranger's offense actually does not need to worry, so the most important problem for the Lone Ranger to solve is the defense, once the defense finds the state, the Lone Ranger's record will pick up, the current Lone Ranger defensive efficiency is 106.8, the fifth lowest in the league, second only to the Warriors, Suns, Cavaliers and other teams. Therefore, the Lone Ranger has the hope of becoming a later counterattacker, and the Suns, Warriors, Grizzlies and Jazz must not be taken lightly before them.
Text/Shuang Brother