Raptors Playbook: ICE Defense
Over at the Raptors Playbook YouTube channel (@RaptorsPlaybook on Twitter), I am breaking down the X’s & O’s of the Toronto Raptors every Wednesday. This week, we’ll focus on the Toronto Raptors ICE Defense. Watch the video embedded below alongside the summary written, and remember to follow and subscribe to never miss out on a video.
Before the 2015-16 season, the Raptors infamously hedged to defend a large portion of the opponents pick and rolls. While this frenetic defensive system benefited some of the personnel, such as Patrick Patterson, it hindered and alienated others on the roster, like Jonas Valanciunas. To alleviate the fundamental issue of a core franchise piece being unable to defend the most common offensive action under the team’s preferred method, the Raptors altered their primary pick and roll coverage by deciding to “ICE”, which reflected the preference of the rest of the league.
The main principle that guides ICE defense is to not allow the middle of the floor while attempting to keep all side pick and rolls on the side in which they started. The reason for this is that once a pick and roll is able to maneuver into the middle of the court, it inherently becomes more effective. In the season before the Raptors decided to ICE, side pick and rolls that went towards the middle of the floor scored 3 more points per 100 possessions relative to pick and rolls that were contained to the side.
To stop side pick and rolls from entering the middle of the floor, the Raptors’ guards are responsible for disallowing the ball-handler from utilizing the screen, while simultaneously directing the offensive player towards the sideline as well as downwards towards the baseline where the secondary defender is positioned as they wall off the paint.
