（重招）How NBA teams frustrate Luka Doncic, Trae Young and Zion Williamson

In skills and size, Doncic has the profile of a near-perfect NBA offensive player -- and perfection might just be a few percentage points of long-range accuracy away. With a 6-foot-7 frame, the vision of an owl and a magician's sleight of hand, Doncic can demoralize a defense any which way from any spot on the floor. But there are a few specific decisions that can improve an opponent's chance of survival.

Doncic compiled his lowest shot probability of the season in a loss to the Toronto Raptors in January. The Raptors threw -- among other things -- one of their clever junk defenses at Doncic for much of the night: a box-and-one, with orderly help within the box when necessary. The Raptors deployed blitzing situationally and switched pick-and-rolls, with the new defender assuming the role as the "one" in the scheme. Toronto limited Doncic as a playmaker and forced him to work less comfortably in isolation. He finished with only four field goals on 11 shot attempts, getting to the line for eight free throw attempts.

Most teams won't break out the box-and-one, but the principles still translate.

Doncic uses more screens than any player in the league by a wide margin -- 73 per 100 possession, per Second Spectrum tracking -- so coming up with pick-and-roll coverage is imperative. As sensible as it might seem to get the ball out of his hands with aggressive ball pressure, blitzing presents risk. Doncic's ability to read help situations is freaky, and he has little trouble exploiting rotations. Be prepared to defend 3-on-4 against arguably the league's best passer, which many teams choose to do when Willie Cauley-Stein is the roll man.

What about switching? It needs to be body-on-body, and you need decent defenders who can keep him on the perimeter to avoid help situations. If there's a weak link present in the defensive lineup, Doncic can order him off the menu for an isolation opportunity. Yet this seems to be the preferred coverage. NBA defenses are relatively willing to live with Doncic or Kristaps Porzingis working in isolation, and switching best accounts for small screen-setters.

Doncic has some regular tendencies: If he goes left, expect the step-back jumper, his signature shot. If he goes right, then he's typically looking to work downhill -- this is true both in isolation and the pick-and-roll. Given those proclivities, a defense might choose to fight over a screen when he goes left to take away the step-back and go under the screen if he's moving right to position themselves for the drive -- that is unless you prefer he attempts the step-back. He has drained 32.2% of his step-back 3-point attempts this season, with an effective field goal percentage of 46.5 from all areas on the floor.

Going under the screen if Doncic goes right can trigger a race, and he generally wins those. The Mavs can always re-screen if they don't like the offering, and now Doncic has his defender on his hip. Defenses end up in a help situation with Doncic doing his thing, which is suboptimal.

Dropping a big man off the screen puts him in an uncomfortable position. If the big drops all the way back, Doncic will launch his floater. If he plays a bit farther up, Doncic can sling a wraparound pass or a lob. And now the defense needs a low man to help, which forces rotations. Even if the big is able to tread water, Doncic has the size and strength to put his shoulder into a defender and score.

Whichever coverage you install and whichever tendencies you target, there's a common denominator in maximizing your chances against Doncic: Indecision will kill you. Doncic is simply too creative, too unselfish and too intelligent to squander the slightest opening or split second of vulnerability. It's a level of intuitive understanding of the sport we haven't seen since LeBron James.

Though he's not an exceptional shooter, Williamson eats up space and attacks relentlessly. Defending Williamson requires far more than "putting a body on him" -- more like an entire linebacker corps. There might not be a simple legitimate comp, but Giannis Antetokounmpo provides a template: Build a wall and stay between Williamson and the basket.

That guidance translates to every aspect of combating Williamson's offense, from isolation drives to pick-and-rolls to second-chance attempts. Whatever the action and whatever the scheme designed to stop it, the goal boils down to keeping the guy away from the rim.

Williamson's first instinct is to see whether there's a sea lane to the hoop through which he can dribble into a dunk or layup. The goal, of course, is to induce him to shoot jump shots instead. But Williamson is so deceptively quick in a small space. You can watch him multiple times per game take off with the ball, deflect bodies, spin, muscle his way to the rack, get back to his left hand and score over defenders -- all in one fell swoop. At the rim, he can get into any defender's body and seemingly eliminate your ability to jump or contest.

Ideally, an opponent needs to find a defender who can match him physically and make sure there's more size and length nearby. That defender needs to situate himself between Williamson and the basket, but exactly where is a more treacherous question.

Against many non-shooters, a defender is inclined to play well off him -- but with Zion, dropper beware. Williamson can attack you with a head of steam or the Pelicans can just initiate the actions for Williamson lower. Now he's only a single dribble from putting you in the basket. But play him too high and it's a speed game as the defender tries to stay in front of a 280-pound force -- one who might be fetching a lob at the rim. Good luck with that. So finding the correct pickup point defensively on Williamson is more art than science, and often matchup dependent.

In their preparation for the Pelicans, it's gospel among opponents that Williamson is going to try to get back to his left hand. Yet shading him accordingly won't necessarily disarm him. Even when forced right, Williamson is so adept at his counter-spin back to his left. On the right elbow, Williamson will rip baseline and can still manage to finish with his left on a reverse layup if the help arrives.

The Pelicans, of late, have incorporated more pick-and-rolls with Williamson as a ball handler. This isn't a native part of Williamson's game -- and New Orleans isn't generating great offense out of it, at least not yet -- but the potential is tantalizing, as he demonstrated Tuesday when he scored 30 points, hitting 13 of his 16 shot attempts and collecting six assists in a big win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Even though Williamson isn't a strong shooter or an elite passer, it's already tough to guard this action 2-on-2. The Grizzlies tired a few different schemes.

They hedged the action for much of the night, sending help early. Yet Williamson was content rejecting screens, going right and still countering with his spin. Or he just drove baseline and absorbed the likes of the massive Jonas Valanciunas at the rim for an and-1, somehow getting back to his left hand midair. The Pels are adding Anderson Varejao-style flip-the-screen action, allowing Williamson to strike when the moment is right. The Grizzlies blitzed Williamson on a couple of occasions in the second half, and he picked up some hockey assists swinging the ball out of the trap. When Williamson operated as a screener, the Grizzlies hedged as well, with a low man moving into help position.

There are few NBA players whom defenses need to account for in the half-court as a potential offensive rebounder, but Williamson is one of them. Defenses almost have to treat him as a sharpshooter, though he isn't one. His gravity on the offensive glass is so extreme -- especially when he's near the elbow -- a defense has to consider guarding him off the ball like vintage Ray Allen. Leave his body at your peril. If you try to help off Williamson and allow separation when the shot goes up, he'll be crashing the glass. And even without that space, the guy guarding Williamson must put his weight on him so he can't get a running jump at a potential miss.

Williamson has just started to explore the full range of his playmaking capacity and the refinement of his outside shot. When he does, the degree of difficulty of this litany of questions will be compounded -- and there will be no easy answers.

Young is an appealing prototype of the modern, dynamic, high-usage NBA point guard -- a pick-and-roll virtuoso who can shoot from the half-court logo.

The bedrock of the Hawks' offense, and the action that best highlights Young's ingenuity as an offensive threat, is the double drag-screen. High, high up in the half-court, John Collins and Clint Capela set a couple of stagger screens, off which Young has an attractive menu of options and the defense has a series of tough questions.

There's a lot to account for: Collins can both pop out for a long-range shot or dive, and Capela is an eager rim-runner. But it's still Young's show, and he has demonstrated an ability to contend with just about any coverage scheme thrown at him. Drop the big men and he'll take advantage of that space, with the floater and by getting to the free throw line. Switch, and he'll often reject the screen, attack and draw fouls.

Many opponents prefer fighting over both screens, with the big man guarding the second screener playing moderately "up," about an arm's distance from the screener. They want Young to see a body as he comes off the double drag and be a little uncomfortable.

Young's defender will go over the screen, but it's tricky because Young has frustrated the entire league with his uncanny ability to draw fouls. Don't try to "blow the screen up" by beating Young over it -- he'll drop into you and create contact, and you will be whistled for a foul. Instead, shade him left, because if he goes to his jumper, you'll be right there on his shooting hand. Trail off him as he comes off the pick, as if it were an off-ball screen. Play in the rearview and use your length to get around, but don't close all the way to his body. Exercise control and discipline to avoid that rear-end collision.

Another effective way to combat the double drag is to not deal with it at all. Get the ball out of Young's hands and force John Collins to make a pass or Cam Reddish to create his own shot. Trapping at 85 feet can be an option, but so can a smart blitz if you have a mobile big man.

Early in the season in a two-game series against Charlotte, the Hornets had some success forcing Young to give up the ball and, more importantly, not letting him get it back.

The Hornets would commit a help-side defender on the drive or throw two bodies at him earlier. Once Young passed the ball, the defender went into full denial mode with no responsibility to help, while the Hornets dropped back into a junk zone. Young isn't always eager to work off the ball, but when he did, the Hornets did what they could to limit pick-and-roll action. In general, denying defenders need to make sure not to position themselves too, too high, because Young can deke them with a back cut.

Young went 7-for-26 from the field over the two games, with only eight free throw attempts and 12 turnovers to 13 assists. Young excels as a creator for others, so teams are increasingly inviting him to shoot from distance, as electric as those successful attempts are as viral clips. The brilliance of Young's offensive game has a limit when he's forced to operate solo.