Lessons from this spring/summer for next year

Stanley Bob

I have always liked BLOBS that score off of options AFTER the ball has been inbounded.  This set gives you a look at an inside handoff or a misdirection set for a lay up late in games.

set up in a box set, your two best drivers are you 4 and your 3, your two best shooters are your 1 and 2.  5 screens for 3 who gets open around the ft line extended.  the 1 and the 2 will space out to the wing and corner.

the 5 will immediately pin down for the 4 who will look to catch the ball at the elbow from the 3. The 5 will space to the other block.

The 3 then speed cuts to off the 4 looking for a handoff, they turn the corner looking to score or to get the assist to a shooter or the 5 relocating at the rim.

Once you have run this you have set up the counter in which the 4 fakes the handoff to the 3 and then turns and drives for a lay-up.

ER Jags Shooter BOB

ER Jags Shooter BOB

Mis-direction is one of the best concepts to use when designing sets for your players.  Take this BOB for example, we call it shooter when what we really want to get is a drive for a lay up or foul.

start in a box set, the 3 is your driver, the 2 is your best shooter. The 5 and the 4 move up to set screens for the 1 and the 3, we then enter the ball to the 3.

the 5 and the 4 will now come together to form an elevator screen for the 2 to run through, however this is a fake action.

The 3 must be taught to sell the pass to the 2 but the look is the 3 driving the ball baseline as the defense will be flattened out.  We have the 1 re locate to the corner so we can get rift three pointers if they help from the weak side.

Addison

ER JAGS ADDISON SET

This is a play we run to get a wing iso/pick and roll look.

We start in what I would call and inverted floppy look.  The 2 can go either way though we'd prefer for them to go to the right wing so they have the baseline drive fro their strong hand, whichever way the 2 goes the 3 goes opposite after setting the first screen.  Although the set is primarily for the 2 the 3 can catch and have all the same options.

On the catch if the 2 has angle to score on the baseline they attack.

on the 2's catch the 5 with screen for the 4 who sprints into a ball screen for the 2, the 5 will locate at the edge line and will catch and look hi lo if the the 2 is trapped.

Oregon City ISO

OREGON CITY RIP ISO

This is an isolation play that I have seen Oregon City High School run for years.  I really like it because of its simplicity, but it still has an element of misdirection.

Start in a box set, the 3 is the player we want to isolate on the right side.  The play begins with the 1 hitting the 5 and then the 1 clears over the top to the ball side and the 2 clears to the corner on ball side.

the 3 then moves to set a rip screen for the 4 who cuts to the rim, you may want to coach the 4 to actually run into the 3's defender.  The 3 will shape up at the elbow and receive a pass from the 5.

The 3 will then drive and score.

box series

I got these sets from watching a team called the San Jose Cagers this past weekend.  They are a series all from a box set with built in counters.  

The first set begins with an entry pass to the high post.  The guards will then clear to the wing and ball side corner.

The 1 will then move set a screen for the other post who will reject it and sprint to the rim looking for a backdoor lay in.  If the big isn't open the 4 will throw to the 1 replacing themselves after the fake screen.

The 5 will immediately duck in and the 1 will look to enter the ball to them.  On the weakside the guard and forward on the weakside will run a double screen for the guard in the corner.

The next set involves the same entry as the first. 

This time the 1 will sell that they are setting the same downscreen as the last set, however this time the 5  will set a backpick for the 1 to run to the rim looking for a lay-up.  If the 1 isn't open then the ball will go to the 5 stepping out.

the 5 will then catch and then the 1 will run out to the 3 point line to set up a ballfake backdoor action with the 5.  On the weakside the action is the same as the first set to keep the defense occupied.

Jags Buckeye Set

Er Jags Buckeye Set

Here is a set we have adapted out of our pick and roll series that sets up a unique type of single double.

We begin by dribbling away from the shoot towards an edgeline,our center will then pop out to catch and the 2 will run a decoy flex cut with the 4.

The 1 will cut away then replace himself to recieve a return pass which then cues the single double look.  the 2 will move to set a downscreen for the 3 who can run off the both the 2 and the 5.  The 3 can also run off the 4 who is setting a lateral screen.  the 2 will always cut to the the screen that the 3 doesn't use.

Wazzu

Emerald Ridge Jaguars Wazzu set

Since we run so many pick and rolls, as an offensive change of pace we run sets that involve off ball screens and lots of ball movement.

We ran this out of our primary break spacing, one forward down on the ballside block, the 2 and 3 in the corners, and the other forward trailing the play with the 1.  The 1 will start the play by dribbling to the side of the floor with the shooter, in this case its the right.  The 5 will then set a slice screen down for the 4 who will cut to the other edgeline and recieve the pass from the 1.

The 1 will then immediately down screen for the 5 then roll out to the right wing, the 2 will move into the key and prepare to backscreen.

The 4 will hit the 5 who then swings it to the 1, the 2 will move to set a back pick for the 4 who will cut to the rim looking for a lay up.

The 5 will follow up with a screen the screener action and will down screen for the 2 and even look to slip to the backside block if there's a switch.

ER Jag 2 side series

Emerald Ridge Jaguars 2 Side Series

This is a pro style set we had some success late in the year with.  We had a gifted point guard who was a skilled finisher but also knocked down jumpers if you went under screens on her.  Because of this we gave her as much space as possible to read screens and score.  I give the 2 side series.

The basic set begins like this, an A-set formation point guard dribbles over to the ft line extended and the ball side guard clears out, while this is happening the ball side post screen to the weak side elbow for the other big who is sprinting into a side ball screen. The offense now plays off that two man game.

To give the defense a different look, or if we saw them switch the elbow to elbow screen, we then ran 2 side slip, so the first big coming to screen would automatically run a slip to the rim and then fill over to the weak side block, and the second big would now sprint into a ball screen.

If a team tried to down the screen started showing really early, we would run 2 side snaps, which the screener would run like they were setting a middle ball screen, then jump into a baseline screen and catch the hedge player out of position.

If the 1 ever had to refuse the screen, or could just turn baseline and score we would space the floor like this:

When we wanted to get a 3, or just make the on ball defender have to work without help from a hedge we would run 2 side pinch, so the 1 would hit the first big at the key line extended and sprint into a hand off.  I initially thought teams would jump hard to deny the hand off and it would set a backdoor cut, but what actually ended up happening is the 1's defender would relax and it almost always resulted in an open three from the hand off.

Something we never ended up running but I always had in my back pocket for a late game trick play was this look where we would run pinch, but the 4 would fake the hand off like a quarterback and spin and attack the rim.

Key to this was that our pg was dynamic, so whatever read the defense showed our 1 was able to execute the move/shot to score against it.

Miami Heat Zipper Series

MIAMI HEAT ZIPPER SERIES

Now that Chris Bosh is out with a strained abdominal muscle, Eric Spoelstra now has an even smaller arsenal of offensive weapons.  The Heat have a team the have extreme pieces/players to utilize on offense,  they have ultra dynamic scorers in Wade and Lebron in addition to players who are limited in there offensive skill at this point in their careers (Mario Chalmers, Joel Anthony, Dexter Pittman, Mike Miller, and Shane Battier).  Spoelstra must find ways to move these pieces around and involve them in sets that set up his best two players and force the defense to give up easy looks to the Heat's role players if they focus all their defensive energy on Lebron and Wade.
In the following frames the 1 and 2 positions are played by Lebron James and Dwayne Wade.  Spoelstra has used them both as the point and the two guard in this set.  It provides mis-direction and false motion and ends in a wing pick and roll as well as transitioning into other sets and counters.  The initial set is as follows







The one dribble enters into a zipper screen for the two, Lebron actually go a quick seal and score when Danny Granger overplayed his cut off this screen at one point in their playoff series, the two receives the ball at the top of the key. after throwing the ball to the two, the one will make an Iverson cut across the free throw line and off the five.  The 2 will then enter the ball to the 1 on the wing who can drive baseline immediately if overplayed.  the 5 will then sprint into a wing pick an roll while the weak side of the floor is spaced by the other 3 players.

One of the first counters the heat run is a two man back door ( I have also seen the Thunder run a play like this for Kevin Durant).  As the 1 makes the Iverson Cut , the four will flash back to the elbow and catch the ball and look to hit the 1 curling the Iverson cut to the rim off the five.  This is work as a counter if the defense sags off the four and/or the are locking and trailing the 1 off the Iverson cut.

Since the two is also usually one of the heats main play makers in this set they also have an option to go into a middle screen for them.  In the frames below after the iverson cut is made and the five's defender is expecting to guard a wing ball screen, now the five will snake into a middle ball screen with the two.