Mavs Great Last Second Play

It was a great game from end to end. The Mavs and Spurs each took their blows and in the end it came down to a last second shot that rimmed out and the Spurs survived to stay unbeaten at home. I really like this last play by the Mavs with 2 seconds left so I've illustrated it here for you all to see and read. I think it would work in all situations and for all levels. Watch the video and read my thoughts below,



4 Across formation:

The setup is 4 across the baseline. O4, Dirk is setup at the far corner. O1 at the ball-side corner, O2, Josh Howard is ball-side block, and O5 is far-side block.

O1, Jason Terry, comes off a short flex screen by Josh Howard. Dirk does a cut up and then goes baseline, his defender X4 gets bum-screened by Erick Dampier.

2 Options:

There are actually 2 options from here. The first is actually to Josh Howard who attempts to clear out his man in the middle to receive the pass underneath the hoop for what should be the game-tying quick score. The second option is Dirk in the corner.

What happens here is that with all the switching, X4 goes to cover Dampier up top. X5 has gotten screened by Howard, X2 doesn't switch out to Dirk. So Howard is not really open as he has X5 and X2 guarding him. Dirk is wide open in the corner. The inbounds goes to Dirk and he lets go the shot. Obviously, he has to make that shot, which Dirk doesn't.

Summary:

It's really a great play. With all the switching, Dirk is wide open in the corner. But even if X2 switches out, I think Howard would've been open underneath for the game-tying putback. Dirk gets as good a look as you could want to win the game, and he is the right man to take that shot, it just didn't go in. As we coaches all know, basketball is a funny game, and shots don't always fall for whatever reason.

For a great DVD from a great coach, check out Coach Morgan Wooten's DVD on Coaching to Win in Special Situations. Coach Wooten is the winningest high school coach in the history of basketball and one of my favorite coaching mentors. Don't forget to check out the X's and O's Basketball Forum to discuss this and any of your favorite basketball topics..