james harden taking advantage of 2.9

knowing when the help has to leave the key

saw this interesting possession from nikola jokic today against the utah jazz:

he and will barton work to get a smaller jazz player onto jokic in the post. then it was what seemed like a straightforward quick spin to the baseline for a wide open layup.

but was it that simple?

i might be reaching here, but i feel like jokic took advantage of "two nine".

"two nine" refers to the 2.9 seconds that a player can spend in the paint without actively guarding an offensive player before defensive three seconds is called.

the best "two nine" defenders will bottle up the middle of the key for exactly 2.9 seconds, touch off on an offensive player or completely move out of the key area to "cleanse" and start the 2.9-second clock anew, then go back to clogging valuable real estate in the middle of the key to deter rim attackers.

smart offensive players know this, and will time their attacks precisely around when the defensive player starts to move out of the key.

two attacking dribbles should get you to the rim before the "two nine" man can recover. timing is everything.

i don't think it's pure coincidence nikola waited until exactly when rudy gobert had to get out of the key to spin and attack. watch again:

even if i'm reaching with jokic on that possession, i'm definitely not with james harden.

james will sometimes literally point at the 2.9 defender to get him to move out of the key.

exhibit a:

exhibit b:

what was once checkers has now become chess.

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