Liberty 1-2-2 High Low Quick Hitter

A little late on the take here, but I'm trying to catch up. This is from Sunday's WNBA action, specifically between the New York Liberty and the Sacramento Monarchs. The Monarchs won the game, but I liked the offensive and defensive sets that the Liberty used.

In this offensive set, it's a 1-2-2 set with the hi-lo finish. I like the 1-2-2 set, I see a lot of it in the european game. It frees up the lane and gets your bigs moving to the basket to establish position which has its advantages over your bigs fighting down low for position in a more stationary spot from the low block. Here it is,



1-2-2 High Low:

This quick hitter takes advantage of the overly aggressive defense by the Monarchs at the end of the half. Because the Monarchs are in deny at 1 pass away, O4 can do a quick basket cut losing her defender. O5 pops up to receive the pass and does a quick touch pass to an open O4,


From the 1-2-2, you can also run a lot of good PNR, pick n pop, drive and kick to those corner 3-point shooters, handoffs, etc... It's a very flexible set that can fit many different kinds of teams. The best part that I like is the opening up of the lane, this frees up the critical scoring area from help defenders.

Summary:

The Liberty are a young team, so they're still working through some things. I like their soft full-court 1-2-1-1 press that they use, it doesn't force that many TOs, but it takes up a lot of the 24 shot clock and makes the offense a little hurried. The Monarchs have some very talented players. They're a little inconsistent but if they can put it all together, they could go deep this year.

For more offseason development stuff for your bigs, check out Ganon Baker's new DVD on Post Player Development. Footwork, contact and positioning are what Coach Baker stresses. Discuss your favorite offensive plays at the X's and O's Basketball Forum with other coaches from around the world.