We do have an option. We don't have to defend the pick and roll the same way every time. People attack us with the pick and roll because we give the ball handler a lot of room to work because we always go over ball screens, and our bigs wait in the paint rather than hedging. A guy like Parker, who would rather drive than shoot outside, loves this because it gives him room to operate in a 2 on 1 with a head of steam before he reaches the defender, who is stuck standing still in the paint waiting to react. He makes lots of shots in the paint, and he finds open players when we are forced to collapse. Stotts plays this defense because he hopes players will take contested mid-range shots, but they are often not contested very well because the big is too deep in the paint, and the wing player is behind the play. Parker will just weave around our bigs and fuck up our entire defense.
That is why my original post on this matter was to go under more of the perimeter ball screens and try to entice him to shoot longer shots, because he doesn't convert those at such a high rate. If nothing else, it might stagnate their offense a bit if all they do is set a ball screen and watch Parker shoot. If we allow him into the paint at will, he will kill us. He makes their entire offense go by collapsing the defense.
But I'm wrong. You win.
