Florida's Double Ball Screen out of Spread

What a great game it was between Florida and Tennessee tonight. The Gators shot the lights out at 65% in the first half but only led by 4. The Vols responded in the second half with their specialty, a barrage of 3-pointers and ended up routing the Gators.

One of the plays that the Gators used a few times during the game was an offensive set out of the spread PNR that Billy Donovan is famous for. This is very similar to the offense that Duke runs, except the Gators have altered many sets so that they they have more action going to the basket as opposed to shooting the 3-pointer because the Gators are not a great 3-point shooting team. In this play, the Gators run a double-staggered ball-screen for Walter Hodge who then has a few options based on how the defense is playing. Watch Jimmy Dykes of ESPN breakdown the play,



There are 3 options off of the double-stagger,

1. Take it to the cup. Against M2M, this is always option 1. Walter has the quickness to turn the corner and take it all the way for the layup.
2. Pick and Roll. Against a M2M switch or if the defense hedges, the roll to the basket should be open or at least a mis-match should occur.
3. Pick and Pop. If the defense chooses to switch everything underneath the screens, O4 should be open on the pop after the screen.

This is what the full play looks like,

If I were to defend against this play, I would probably choose to trap the first screen by O5. O1 can hit O5 rolling to the basket but since the screen is set so high, the other defenders should be able to rotate. Plus, it's a big difference when its Marreese Speights rolling as opposed to Joakim Noah. It's a good play though and it can be run over and over because the options change depending on how the defense chooses to play it.

If you like this offense, than you should get Billy Donovan's DVD on the Spread Offense. Coach Donovan used it to win back-to-back national championships at Florida. Don't forget to check out the X's and O's of Basketball Forum to talk about this and your favorite basketball topics.