I watched almost the entire second half of the Hornets game in Chicago and I was looking for clips showing the league's most dynamic duo, Chris Paul and Tyson Chandler. It came with only a few minutes left in the game but it happened at a crucial time as the Hornets pulled away for the win after the Chandler dunk.
I think teams know that Paul looks for the alley-oop to Chandler off the PNR so they are much better defended now that the jig is up. But it's still a dynamic play because of Paul's ability to penetrate the lane and Chandler's ability to get above the rim. Here is what it looked like live,
Let's face it, the guy who really makes the play work is Chris Paul. Tyson Chandler is athletic and all, but if it was Andre Iguodala or Carmelo Anthony at the other end, it would still be as effective.
As you can see, it's Paul's ability to penetrate the lane and get Ben Wallace to commit to stop Paul that allows Chandler to spring free,
After the Bulls collapse to stop Paul, Chandler heads straight for the rim elevating above everyone. Paul just lobs it up there,
After this alley-oop dunk, the Bulls just fell apart. Paul picked the pocket of Kurt Heinrich and gave it to David West for the flush. That was game, set, match, Hornets get the win on the road.
If you're looking for a video from a truly great coach, take a look at Dave Smart's DVD on PNR screening. Most of you probably don't know Coach Smart, he is head coach of the Carleton Ravens here in Canada and his team has won an unprecedented 5 straight National Championships. To discuss this and many more of your favorite basketball topics, head over to the X's and O's of Basketball Forum to talk with other coaches from around the world.
Zone offense is one of the more important things to consider as we head into playoff season for most of you coaches out there. The vaunted zone defense can cause all sorts of problems for teams who are not prepared and do not have a coordinated plan of attack.
I watched the first half of the Pitt game against Providence and it was pretty close throughout with the Friars even holding the early lead. But the Panthers were too much down low and specifically, they were able to score effectively when the Friars went to a 2-3 zone. Here are a couple of zone offense sequences from the first half,
In order to beat any zone, keep in mind of the big 3,
1. Early Offense, hit the zone before it has time to setup
2. Offensive rebounding, the zone does not have man box out responsibility
3. Use fakes, the zone reacts to the ball and not the man
By winning the battle for the big 3, you can rely more on your players abilities and less on scheme.
1-4 High vs 2-3 Zone:
Having that in mind, you still need to have a specific zone offense strategy. For Pitt, they wanted to attack the zone through the high-post. The ball must be entered into the high-post before a shot is taken. Here, they use a 1-4 high set to go hi-low against the zone,
The high post is a great place to exploit most zones which are weak in the middle. This forces the defense to collapse to the high post which will allow your players to either cut to open space or an open shot.
Summary:
I like the 1-4 high set because you can use it against a 2-3, 1-1-3, 1-3-1, 3-2. Also notice how it alters the 2-3 zone by bringing the defenders higher and away from the basket, this allows your basket cutters to get to the rim without congestion.
For more info on Pitt's zone offense, check out Jamie Dixon's DVD on his 3-out 2-in Zone Offense. Don't forget to check out the X's and O's of Basketball Forum to talk about this and your favorite basketball topics.
During the ESPN broadcast of last nights game between St. Mary's and Santa Clara, they did a short feature on Kerry Keating, 1st year head coach at Santa Clara talking about his emphasis on academics and working on his players' time management skills. Here is the short in-game segment,
I also happened to catch Jay Leno last night and Bobby Knight was his guest and we all know Coach Knight was huge on academics. I found these quotes from last nights show off of Coach Finamore's Blog and IndyStar,
On his players’ academic success: “I think we probably had the highest graduation rate of anybody,” Knight said. “I wanted (my players) to be afraid not to graduate.” He wanted his players to think, ‘Hey, he might not renew our scholarship.’ … I think that when I take your son, I want you to feel after four years that it’s been worthwhile. I want you to be able to say, ‘Hey, thanks for what you’ve done.’ I think the major responsibility that any college coach has who recruits kids is to see that those kids graduate. I mean, why else are they there?”
Lets not forget that most of us are coaching student-athletes. The student comes first before the athlete...
Momentum is always key to winning ball games. Basketball is a game of runs and the one with the longest and most runs will win the game.
I watched the 4th quarter of the game between the Mavs and 76ers and the game was virtually tied going into the last half of the quarter. The Mavs tired out while the 76ers used their younger legs to go on a late 12-1 run and take control of the game. Here are a few key offensive plays that broke the game open,
The Mavs were coming off a road loss to the Nets last night and you could tell that the Mavs were too exhausted in the 4th quater. It was evident in the way they played defense. They were late getting back in transition and you can see from the clips that the Mavs weren't moving their feet, the switches off the ball-screens were way too slow. 
Even when Avery Johnson tried switching to a zone defense in the last few minutes to give his players a little rest, his players were called on a defensive 3 second and a technical foul-shot awarded. On offense, the Mavs were stagnant and it showed up in the number of offensive fouls.
The 76ers took advantage of the tired legs of the Mavs and never looked back. If your team has more depth and athleticism, you need to use it to your advantage. No matter what the score is at halftime, we always like to think that we will out-score our opponents in the second half because we're better conditioned and better athletes than the rest of the teams we play.
For a new video, take a look at Tom Crean's DVD on Winning Late Game Strategies. Coach Crean is the head coach at Marquette. Don't forget to check out the X's and O's of Basketball Forum to talk about this and your favorite basketball topics.
I watched most of the St. Mary's game against Santa Clara tonight, the late game on ESPN2. I thought it was a a really good defensive game all the way through. Both coaches teach good fundamental man defense and their teams reflect the way the game is supposed to be played.
I took this clip of St. Mary's offense. The Gaels use a couple of different sets but they used this rotating PNR set more than a few times. In many ways, it's very similar to Kansas' rotating PNR offense. Here is what it looked live (apologize for the grainy video, having fddshow problems),
Rotating PNR:
The PNR is a very pro-style offense. It works though because of the way the offense can read how the defense is choosing to defend the play.
They start out in a 4-out 1-in look. The first iteration is a PNR from the post to the wing. O5 rolls back to the basket, nothing is there so the ball is reversed to the opposite wing.
O5 comes again to set the screen for O2 this time. 
O2 dribbles towards the middle. O5 rolls to the basket, this causes X3 to briefly check down to cover O5. O3 drags the 3-point line to the free-throw line extended. O2 passes it to O3 who exploits X3 who is slightly out of position and hits the 3-pointer.
For a great video on the spread PNR offense, take a look at Billy Donovan's DVD on the Spread Offense. Coach Donovan used it to win back-to-back national championships at Florida. As always, please check out the X's and O's Basketball forum to talk hoops and exchange notes and ideas.
Raptors Clear Out and Run Isolation for Chris Bosh
Posted by bruchu Labels: *NBA, Half-Court Set OffenseSometimes we as coaches get so caught up in the placements and positions of players that we overlook glaring advantages. One of the reasons why PNR basketball works is because it creates mismatches on switches and rotations. The result of which can mean a significant advantage between one of your better forwards against a smaller defender. If that is the case, you want to isolate your forward against the smaller defender for a 1v1 situation making it hard for the defense to bring help.
I watched the Raptors play the T-Wolves today and one of the things I like about the Raptors is the way they isolate Chris Bosh and allow him space to go 1v1. In this sequence, the PNR results in a rotation and ultimately a mismatch between Bosh and Jaric. Here is what it looked live,
PNR to Clear Out Isolation:
The play starts off innocently enough. It's a PNR situation between Jose Calderon and Chris Bosh on the wing. The T-Wolves decide to half-hedge and rotate defenders. I say half-hedge because the ball-screen defender doesn't go to defend Bosh but instead stays on Bosh. They instead bring Marko Jaric from the weak side baseline and #4 Randy Foye comes in to take Jaric's spot on the baseline,
Once Bosh realizes he has a smaller inferior defender in Jaric checking him. He starts backing him down. At this time, #33 Jamario Moon must clear out of the lane through to the top of the key such that he brings his defender #25 Al Jefferson with him, thus spreading the floor and giving Bosh a clear lane to the basket without help defense,
This is just smart basketball. At times, we as coaches tend to over-coach the game, trying to control every possession and where players should be. What you really want to do, is get to a point where your players can run a simple play like a PNR and read the defense and make smart decisions based on what the defense is giving them.
Probably the best video out there on PNR baksetball is Jeff Van Gundy's DVD on the pick and roll offense. After all, Van Gundy has coached some of the best big-little combos in the history of the NBA. Be sure to head over to the X's and O's Basketball Forum to discuss this and more of your favorite basketball topics.
If I had more hours in the day, the top of my list would be to watch more women's college basketball. The main reason is because girls just execute better than the boys. Boys tend to freelance, deviate from the play, and do things their own way. Girls generally listen better and do what is asked of them.
This is a nice box inbounds play that Nebraska ran against Oklahoma St. in the second half of their game. One of the advantages of scouting is knowing how your opponent defends inbounds plays. If they use a 2-3 zone, you can get an easy score almost every time by sending 2 cutters into the lane going opposite ways. As someone on the X's and O's forum mentioned, it's a score every time. Here is what it looked live,
Box Inbounds vs 2-3 zone:
They start out in a box set. Your 2 forwards start out at the elbows, your guards are on the low blocks.
O1 and O3 split out wide to the corners. They are the safeties and should be open should none of the forwards cutting are open. O5 cuts first from the opposite elbow coming across the lane to the ball. This will draw X5 to that side.
O4 now cuts from the opposite elbow down across to the open side of the low block. Since X5 is covering O5, X3 is zoned in between O1 and the lane. O4 should be wide open on the basket cut for the layup.
I'm a big Bruce Pearl fan and he has a great DVD you'll probably want to check out, Bruce Pearl's DVD on OB nuggets. Though he talks more about executing BLOB, it's a good insight into the mind of a great X's and O's coach. Be sure to check out the X's and O's of Basketball Forum to discuss this and more of your favorite basketball topics.
