Opening play of the second half ran by Miami in their game 5 win over the Bulls. Although LBJ's pass was tipped, this is great action to get a guard who can finish close to the basket. Also entering the ball to a playmaker at the elbow puts a lot of pressure on the defense. See More
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Opening play ran by the Heat in their 94-91 closeout game 5 win over the Bulls 5/16/13. With two dynamic scores handing off and a potential Haslem ball screen the Bulls defense was focused on the strong side. Having Bosh pin down for Chalmers game him space to attack the hoop in the center off the court. Altough Boozer was guarding Haslem, and Haslem was standing on a wing, Boozer was protecting the rim. If the Heat had a stretch 4 in at the time, Chalmers would have had a clear path to the rim, or a kick out to a wide open shooter. See More
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Olympiacos ran this set with less than two minutes left in the first half of their Euroleague semi final win over CSKA. It is a relatively simple play, with the guards looping to set up a side ball screen, but the corner drift and flare from 4 to 1 kept the weak side defense occupied to free up the roll man. 2 could have passed to 3 in the corner, 1 coming off the flare, 4 slipping a screen, 4 stepping out after setting the screen, or 5 could have popped after setting the screen. See More
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During today's NBA Draft Combine on ESPNU, the Small Forwards were put through this excellent 1-on-1 Closeout Drills to test the players' offensive and defensive skills in isolation situations. I love this drill because it puts the players in a realistic situation closing out from help defense to a 1-on-1 situation. See More
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Miami ran this play in their game 1 loss to the Bulls. Running Allen over the top of James and Anderson and having Miller spot up in the corner shifts the defense to the left. Noah got disconected from Anderson while helping on Wade coming off of the ball screen. x4 (Boozer) did not enter the lane because he had Mike Miller spotted up in the corner. Anderson was able to get deep post position inside of Boozer because the floor was spaced. NBA players are so good at the throw back pass off the ball screen x3 did not help on the roll man. This defensive rotation breakdown is not typical of Coach Thibodeaus team. See More
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First play Memphis ran in the second half of their game 2 win over OKC. This is a great set play that involves backscreens and cuts to the rim. This puts a lot of pressure on the defense. Although Memphis did not get a great shot attempt, there are multiple opportunities to score on this play. Starting the point guard in the corner allowed a little-big back screen and allows the best passes to feed the best post player isolated on the block. See More
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I am sure I have posted this play in the past but it is one of my favorites so I wanted to post it again! The Golden State Warriors went to this action in the 1st Half of Game 4 versus the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Semi-Finals. This elbow set into a flex action is very popular in the NBA; Stan Van Gundy ran it religiously in Orlando. While us coaches are all very familiar with the Flex, I have learned recently that many young players today are not familiar with how to run the play NOR guard it. In my opinion, if you have two great scorers on the floor, this is a very difficult action to guard. The defense has to respect the flex cut give up a lay-up. Then by pinning down on the screener, the defense must make a decision how to guard and if they over-react the big will be open slipping to the rim. See More
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Here is a set that was run often by the Wichita State Shockers throughout the past season. This quick hitter gives you the option of 1 attacking off the ball screen, 4 cutting to the basket, 3 for a jumper, or 5 posting up on the block. This play is effective for getting a post up because of the misdirection that takes place off the ball screen. As 1 attacks off the ball screen and 4 cuts hard of the back screen from 5, the defense will anticipate the play coming to the strong side. As 3 pops and 5 slips to post up, the ball can be thrown back to 3 and 5 can effectively post up for a quality look at the basket. See More
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Here is a play that is a staple in Greg McDermott's offense at Creighton. This is a set that they go to when they are being pressured heavily by the defense. This set is effective because the ball is constantly changing sides of the floor, which in turn moves the defense into positions where they are vulnerable. This is a great set if you want to get the ball into the post and play inside out. See More
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Monday night in their Game 4 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, the Oklahome City Thunder ran this action for a pick & roll. Throughout the game the Thunder continued to put Memphis into pick & roll situations with a shooter spaced away to force the defense to make a decision. This time, but moving Durant over top, X4 had to respect the cut for a moment which forced the defense to be a tad late on the pick & roll. Furthermore, the Memphis defense decided to stay home on 2 (Sefolosha) which allowed Ibaka to be open on the roll. See More
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1st quarter play ran by the Knicks in thier game 5 loss to Boston. Having Felton set a down screen on Melo should prevent a switch. Much of the Celtics defense is geared to stopping Melo, so having Melo facilitate puts even more pressure on Boston's defense. Chandler set a great screen and Felton curled it perfectly for the open jumper. See More
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The Atlanta Hawks ran this play versus the Indiana Pacers in Round 1 of the 2013 NBA Playoffs. The Hawks like to utilize Josh Smith in the post and this is just one action to get him on the block. But like every great NBA coach, Atlanta has a counter in the event the defense deny's the action. In this case, 5 went into a dribble hand-off to get the ball back to 1. Additional ending after the DHO is for 5 to pin-down for 3. See More
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Last night trailing the Golden State Warriors in overtime of Game 3 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals, the San Antonio Spurs ran this beautiful Sideline Out of Bounds play to get Danny Green an open 3-pointer. Coach Popovich did a tremendous job with the spacing of his personnel on the floor with this action. First, by slipping Tim Duncan to the rim, it forced the weak side defenders to help in the ane a little more. Secondly, with the defense already shifted in the lane, as Leonard sprinted out into the pick the Warriors' defense helped high which opened up a driving lane for Ginobili. With the defense focused on Duncan and Ginobili this opened up the flare in the corner for the knock down 3-pointer. See More
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Opening play of Boston's game 5 victory of NY. C's looked to get the ball inside to Green isolated. The ball screen paired with the wide pin down forces the defense to make choices. KG set a great screen and Chandler was protecting the basket because of the ball screen. Pierce was left with a wide open 3 point attempt. See More
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The Miami Heat ran this set Wednesday night in Game 2 and they also ran it this evening in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals versus the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls being one of the most defensive minded teams in the league, I was surprised they got caught on this same play a second time. As the defense quickly showed on the 3->4 screen, Lebron does a very good job with his footwork creating position on the block for an easy angle to post-up. See More
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