I'm posting in a little advance of my usual schedule mostly because the National Championship in football is being played tonight and I probably won't see much basketball action until tomorrow.

I didn't watch the Big East game between Pittsburgh and Villanova a couple of nights ago but I did see highlights and read the post-game comments. What I found interesting was the talk of the last play that Pitt ran to try to win the game in comparison to the last play that they ran to beat Duke earlier in the year. In fact, it was the same exact play, except with different personnel (Levance Fields is sidelined with an injury). Here is what was written after the game,

Against Duke, Fields pulled up and made a 3-pointer to give Pitt a 65-64 victory. If Ramon had scored, the final score would have been identical. But Villanova trapped Ramon at the top of the key, and he fumbled the ball away.

"It was the same play we ran in the Duke game, basically," senior guard Keith Benjamin explained.

"It's called five-up screen. Sometimes you get a hard hedge like they did, sometimes you don't. There's no way of knowing.

"That time they hedged much harder and trapped at the top. We just lost the ball. They just made a great adjustment. They snuffed it out. In instances like that, you have to think on the fly, and it just didn't work for us today."

After analyzing both the end of the Duke game and the end of the Villanova game, I think it's clear that what happened is that Ronald Ramon just lost the handle. Villanova didn't defend the play any differently than Duke did, in fact there was no trap by Duke or Villanova, just a hard switch with a slower defender on a quicker guard. See for yourself,



Pitt's "5-up" Game Winning Play:

Nothing special here. It's a play designed to force a hard switch to get a smaller guard going up against a bigger slower defender.

The screener needs to come hard then roll quickly.

Drive hard to the net then pull back for the jumper. It's really just a 1v1 play with a guard going against a forward.

The play works because in late-game situations, traditional thinking defensively is to switch on all picks. We do it, everyone does it, you always switch all picks late in games. So here, the "5 up" is designed to get a switch and the guard should be able to take the slower forward 1v1. Also, you have a mismatch down low for the offensive rebound with a bigger forward being guarded by a smaller guard.

Summary:

In analyzing the plays, it's clear what the message here is. Players win games. You can have the best game winning play ever designed, but in the end, it's the guy that swishes the net that takes the glory if he hits it and the heat if he misses. One can always speculate that had Levance Fields been healthy, Pitt wins the game handily. And that's probably true.

Jamie Dixon, head coach at Pitt has a bunch of great new DVD's out. You can get the 5-pack or a hot item that you might want to look at is the 4-out 1-in Spread Motion offense. Don't forget to check out the X's and O's Basketball Forum to discuss this and any of your favorite basketball topics.

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Tonight was a night that you knew was going to be a special one for Allen Iverson of the Denver Nuggets facing his old team, the Philadelphia 76ers for the second time since being traded. Now, the Allen Iverson we remember from the 76ers was a Larry Brown coached team that would run Iverson off a maze of screens to get open for the jumper, primarily a 3-pointer.

Starting last season, the Denver Nuggets under coach George Karl decided to go with the Walberg offense and while the Nuggets had mixed results with the offense it wasn't until they acquired Iverson when the offense really has looked fantastic. In my opinion, the dribble drive motion, or AASAA, was made for a player like Allen Iverson. And it's not the 10-second over-dribbling version of Iverson, it's the pure speed of Iverson that makes the dribble drive offense and Iverson so compatible. Watch the video clip I made that combines highlights of the Iverson in his 76er days with today's 38-point outburst,



In my opinion, the Warriors and Nuggets are so similar in their offenses that when I watched them last week the clips I took could've been interchanged for each other. The major difference being that the Warriors use the kick out 3-pointer much more, while the Nuggets rely on Iverson to drive and score a lot more. The only difference between the NBA version of the dribble drive and the college or HS versions is that I've seen the Nuggets isolate Carmelo Anthony on 1v1 post-ups, the Warriors do the same with Steven Jackson. In this way, both Iverson and Anthony have been able to co-exist with both giving up a little of their offensive production.

I won't bore you with diagrams with the 1v1. If I were to take over a team with an Allen Iverson or Derrick Rose, the PG 1v1 drive and score would probably account for at least 75% of the plays. Here are a few plays that I think act as great counters as teams try to defend you M2M.

Drive and Dump:

When you have a great penetrating guard like Iverson, the defense must respect his ability to breakdown his defender 1v1 and bring help. This allows a great finisher like Melo to get the easy dump off pass from Iverson.


Fake the Ball-screen:

In the dribble drive, you don't need ball-screens. Iverson especially doesn't need a ball-screen. But what this does is it creates so many opportunities to exploit a defenses indecision. I have an excellent clip of this, just didn't include it above. Kenyon Martin (K-Mart) comes to pretend to set the pick, this freezes the defense. Then he does a quick change of direction and cuts hard to the basket. Iverson lobs it for an alley-oop dunk.


Skip pass, Attack, Kick-out"

This is the traditional dribble drive look. You skip it from one side (in this case, out of a double team on Melo). You attack the basket with Iverson, then you kick it out for the 3-pointer.



Summary:

The Nuggets are in the top 5 in the league in scoring, and lead the league in FTA at 31. The dribble drive and Allen Iverson have been the perfect fit. And the Nuggets are even playing decent M2M defense to boot.

I hear from HS coaches all the time that want to implement the offense. First off, I think you need to have the right personnel. If you don't have guards that are extremely quick and can break down defenders 1v1 off the dribble, this offense is not for you. If you don't have shooters that can hit shots, this offense is not for you. And be real honest with evaluating the skills of your players, don't go with a system because you see it on Sportscenter or on this blog. Implement something that fits the strengths of your players. Case in point, look at Pepperdine. They are 5-10 right now and probably won't have a winning record to end the year (they were 8-23 last season). It certainly isn't the case that Walberg can't coach his own system, it's simply been a matter of not having the players that fit the dribble drive well (though his 08 recruits fit the bill). I know this, because one of the players from last year's team that I'm acquaintances with decided to transfer to Cal-Northridge at the end of the season.

For a relatively new video on perimeter play improvement, take a look at Jason Shay's DVD on 33 Perimeter drills. Coach Shay's is an assistant with the University of Tennessee men's team. Don't forget to check out the X's and O's of Basketball Forum to talk about this and your favorite basketball topics.

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First, just want to say it was a great day in sports for me today as Team Canada won the World Junior Hockey Championships and the Seattle Seahawks beat the Redskins. I watched a couple of basketball games, and the MWC matchup between New Mexico and Wyoming was crazy to watch. New Mexico came back from a 16 game deficit to take the lead, then give it up, then win it in OT. The Lobos didn't run much of Steve Alford's 2-out 3-in motion offense as Wyoming used a lot of zone. I was able to catch this one set play by the Lobos against M2M defense. It reminds me of a play that Tom Izzo at Michigan St. likes to use. I'm sure that all those Big 10 matchups against Michigan St. left it's imprint on coach Alford. Anyways, watch the video and read my thoughts below,



MSU uses this wing flex as one of their quick hitters for either a 3-pointer by Drew Neitzel or for a low-post entry. Here, NM uses it in combination with a dribble handoff for a very effective 3-pointer play.

Wing Flex to Dribble Handoff 3-pointer:

The play starts in a 2-3 high set. O1 reverses the ball from the right side to the left-side wing.

It's important that when O1 passes off and cuts to the basket, he looks for the ball on the cut. If you look at the video again, O1 is actually open going to the basket. O2 waits for a 2-3 second count then also cuts to the basket. It's important to wait so as to not get in the way of O1's basket cut.

O4 pops out after setting the UCLA up-screen for O1. O3 passes it to O4 on the pop out, then O3 immediately goes to set a flex down screen for O2. O5 sets a similar flex down screen for O1.

At this point, O4 can choose to dribble to either wing. In this case, he dribbles to the left wing. O2 comes off the wing down-screen and curls around O4 dribble right at him. O4 does a handoff and screens O2's defender. O2 shoots the open 3-pointer, and of course he nails it for this highlight clip.

Summary:

I have clips of Steve Alford's 2-out 3-in motion offense when NM played Texas Tech earlier in the season. You see, Coach Bobby Knight does not believe in playing much zone so NM ran it almost exclusively there. Let me know if you want me to upload that one.

New Mexico proved widely inconsistent. Sign of a team still adjusting to new head coach Steve Alford. The MWC will not be a cakewalk, UNLV, BYU and Utah are all very good. Wyoming proved that when they can make shots, they are also dangerous. I think if the Lobos can stay in the top 2, they can make the NCAA's.

If you're interested in the 2-out 3-in motion offense, Steve Alford's DVD on his 2-out 3-in motion offense. Enjoy the rest of the weekend as most of you coaches get ready to go back to school and practices on Monday don't forget to head over to the X's and O's of Basketball Forum to talk hoops.

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Saw this earlier today on ESPN. It's a breakdown by ESPN color analyst Fran Fraschilla on the offense that Kansas has been using, a rotating PNR. I haven't watched many Kansas games so far this season, but I had a feeling that they weren't running Bill Self's Hi-lo. With a talent like Brandon Rush, you'd have to think they would run a more pro-style offense with PNRs and isoloations to get Rush in space. Anyways, watch Fran break down Kansas' PNR offense and read my brief comments after,



Trends in College Basketball:

You're definitely seeing more pro-style trends entering college basketball. I was listening to an interview between Jim Rome and John Wooden back in November and coach Wooden talked about how today's college game is resembling the NBA game every day forward. Duke's new spread PNR, Kansas' rotating PNR, even the Memphis dribble drive, they are all isolation style offenses designed around the attributes of the individual with less emphasis on passing and movement.

Though I agree with Coach Wooden that the game is changing, I disagree with his belief that the game has digressed. Take the average college basketball player nowadays, much more athletic and skilled than they were back in the day, and offenses are designed to take advantage of that. Add to it that the officiating has become much more rigid, where fouls are called strictly by the book, it's easy to see why the game has moved in this direction.

I wrote about before how if Memphis were to win the National Championship, I think you'll start to see a lot of college and even HS teams follow suit with the dribble drive.

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.

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Now that the holidays are officially over and school starts tomorrow, you might be thinking about how to help bring up the level of play of you guards or forwards or both. Maybe you're looking for more ideas on a particular skill development. Better Basketball has the video instruction you're looking for. Their state of the art teaching methods will help anybody of any level featuring some of the best pros showing you how they get it done. Check out some of their videos,

BETTER 1 ON 1 OFFENSE
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- Ideal for coaches trying to improve their players' dribbling abilities.
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SCORING WITHOUT THE BALL
- the most advanced player improvement video ever produced. The techniques in this video will increase your basketball IQ, and help you develop a set of skills the vast majority of players do not possess.
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- How to react to your teammate’s dribble penetration, an essential skill because the drive is the most common offensive act in basketball today. Included in this chapter is an explanation of the Circle Movement.
- Contains bonus sections from Hall-of-Famer Nancy Lieberman and future Hall-of-Famer Jason Kidd.

The newest addition to the Better Basketball video collection is JJ Redick's only instructional video. JJ Redick plays for the Orlando Magic and is the Atlantic Coast Conference's all-time leading scorer while playing collegiately at Duke University. Don't wait, check it out today.

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I used to be obsessed with the triangle offense when I was growing up watching the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan in the 90s. In fact, it's probably one of the reasons why I got into coaching, as I wanted to know everything about the triangle offense and ended up learning about all this other stuff. Anyways, I was watching the Lakers tonight against the 76ers and I made a point of looking for the triangle and I noticed a few subtle changes from the traditional triple-post offense that I was used to and implemented before.

Though most of the triangle offense remnants remain, the major difference I noticed was that the Lakers were not setting up the triangle by overloading the ball-side anymore. Most of their sets were run either from the top of the key or the wing. I took several clips of the various options out of this 'newer' version of the triangle offense. Watch the video and read my thoughts below,



It's still the same triangle offense, just that the entry into the post comes from the wing or top instead. Now, I haven't watched enough Laker games to really know whether this has been happening for 1 game, 1 week, 1 month, or several years, but it is different from the traditional overload that I am used to and have taught before. I think this change works better for the NBA game because it's quicker to get into and creates better overall spacing. I've diagrammed a couple of the options from the video.

Give and Go, Hit the Cutter:

Other than the straight post up, which Andrew Bynum has been beastly lately, the next simplest play out of the triangle is the give and go. Again, notice how the new triangle offense no longer has the flare to the corner, the pass goes from top of the key to wing to post.

So, O1 passes to O3, O3 makes the post entry. O1 cuts to the hoop and O5 hits the cutter. In the clip Derek Fisher gets fouled.

Skip Pass for 3-pointer:

Next up is a progression and reaction to the defense. When the post-entry pass is made, there is the option of the post-isoloation, in this case with Bynum who can dominate his defender. O1 passes to O3 who makes the post-entry to Bynum.

At this point, O3 will cut to the weakside for spacing. If Bynum chooses, he can give it back to O3 for a quick shot. Once the isolation is established, Bynum can make a move and go. Now, O1 comes from the top and cuts to the basket, also as an option.

Now, the 76ers, seeing that Bynum will dominate them 1v1, decide to send help and X3 goes to double.

Bynum sees the double coming and in the corner of his eye sees O3 wide open in the weak side corner. He hits him for the open 3-pointer.

Summary:

I ran the triple-post continuity a few years ago when I had a good passing post player. In hindsight, I probably would've switched to a high-post offense if I was coaching that team now. The traditional triple-post was a little confining with the overload and action going along the baseline, the high-post works better because you can use alot of the same concepts but the action is higher up and in the middle of the floor giving you more space. But I like what the Lakers have done with their triangle offense, bypassing that flare pass to the corner. With the personnel the Lakers have, I can see them making a deep run this year.

The innovator of the triangle offense, a version of the triple-post continuity is Tex Winter. For more on the triangle, you should look at Tex Winter's DVD on the Encyclopedia of the Triangle Offense. Don't forget to check out the X's and O's Basketball Forum to discuss this and any of your favorite basketball topics.

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I wrote last week about the Pacers new pack-line defense under coaches Jim O'Brien and Dick Harter. It has been a WIP for the Pacers and one of the major reasons why the Pacers rank well in opponent FG% (fifth) but last in opponent FTA is because they don't take enough charge. NBA referees like calling the charge, in fact the rules needed to be changed to include that semi-circle underneath the hoop so that the league could limit the amount of charges called (to speed up the game and increase scoring as well).

Aside from defensive philosophy, taking charges is extremely important in stopping dribble penetration. In order to effectively defend teams that play dribble drive motion, or other aggressive attacking offenses, you must step up and take charges. 1v1, you won't be able to stop the other team, because the point of a dribble drive is to find the weakest defender and attack them 1v1. You can't just provide help defense against hard dribble penetration, I believe you have to take the charge to be successful. Yes, you may get some blocks called, but you will get some charges as well. A charge is perhaps the most underrated play because not only does it result in a change of possession, but it results in a personal and team foul. In this video, Jermaine O'Neal steps up in their pack-style defense and takes a hard charge from Josh Childress of the Hawks,



Three-Man Take the Charge Drill:

A lot of coaches probably use this drill but I'm going to go through it just in case you don't because it really is a good one.

You need 3 men, and 1 ball. The ball starts with O1 up top, passes to O2 on the wing, does a V-cut to the basket and gets the ball back in the middle of the key. O1 dribbles hard at the basket.

O3 steps up and gets into the proper position with feet set underneath. Contact is made with O1 and O3 should do a shoulder roll to the ground (never with the neck or head). Also teach your players to make a grunt or umph sound for effect.

The Pacers did win the game, and it looks like their defense has really made strides. Their offense has slowed and it appears that they are fast-breaking less. The key stat to watch for the Pacers as the season progresses is whether they can lower the number of opponent FTA, currently at a league high 31.5 FTA.

A great DVD that breaks down the M2M fundamentals is Tom Izzo's Rebounding and Defensive Drills DVD. Tom Izzo is the head coach of the Michigan State Spartans. Head over to the X's and O's of Basketball Forum to get all of your hoops fill.

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