Euroleague F4: PAO - Ball Screen

Once the Euroleague season is over, as usual, everybody seems to forget about the "loosers". The new reigning champions, Olympiakos, focus all the attention and that's all...

I want to point out, once again, how well PAO play the ball screen situations, and I'd like to show you their amazing performance during the semifinal's first quarter.

Different solutions, adapting to the defensive options, and above average level of success when running ball screens. The spacing, the defense reading, the decision making... the passing skills...

Fourteen times they run a ball screen situation in their offense during the first quarter, scoring 20 points, plus getting 3 free throws, while turning the ball over twice. These are crazy numbers that show the greens' astounding performance during that period of the game.

Take a look at the video, there's not much more to say...

Eurochallenge F4: Players

After focusing on Besiktas in my last post, now I bring one player of each of the other three teams, Hristo Nikolov from Szolnok, Blake Schlib from Chalon and Sergey Karasev from Triumph. Let's start with the youngest of them.

Sergey Karasev, born in 1993 is one of the european top prospects. For good reasons, as he is an all around player who can play in four different positions, with great size and impressive skills.

He's got an amazing talent to pass that makes him a huge threat when playing pick and roll situations. He can pass with both left (he's left handed) and right hands, in many different ways. The roll man has to be ready to receive his pass. Unselfish and really good at reading the defense, he will find a teammate every single time.

When it comes to shooting, Karasev's quick release allows him to shoot even if the defender is next to him. Hands and feet ready to catch and shoot. 35% in three point shots along this Eurochallenge, his percentages will improve even more in the future.

Another thing I love from Karasev, is something you don't find so often in players his age. He plays really well without the ball. Back doors, cuts... He knows the game and reads the defense to get many scoring options. His physical qualities allow him to finish hard on those cuts toward the basket.

To finsh, he's got a nice instinct to get offensive rebounds. Another side of his game knowledge that gives him second options to score. He's eager to fight for the rebounds, and this guy... can jump.

Let's talk about Blake Schlib, whose season in Chalon is being astounding. This 1'98 SF is the most important player in Chalon's offense. He can do so many things that his team can rely on him. He averages 19 points and 5 assists per game, and has had great games not only against Roanne in the quarter finals (25 points with 4/5 threes and 16 points + 6 rebs + 8 assists) but also along the season.

As we can see in the video, Chalon looks for him in low post quite often. He will post up not only against smaller players but also against those his size and bigger. He goes well towards both shoulders and he can finish in many ways. His turnaround jumpers are really hard to stop.

Another one of the things I like about Schlib are his curls towards the basket when using off ball screens. With one dribble or with no dribble at all he manages to score with lay ups or short shots. Dangerous.

Maybe he isn't the fastest player in the Final Four, but his well polished fundamentals make him a very good ball screen player. He can shoot off the dribble, he can finish with both hands, he can shoot floaters... and he likes to use some kind of hesitation to atract the defenders and beat them once they commit.

Not being a big time long range shooter, he is reliable and he will never hide when his team need his shots. Again, he reads defense quite well and finds the spot to hit the three.

As we said about Karasev, Schlib is also a dangerous player going hard to get the offensive rebound.

I'd like to finish with Hristo Nikolov. I know him well as my team faced Szolnok four times this season. I can say Nikolov is a unique player in the Hungarian league, there's no other like him. He is a power forward who can also play the small forward, and whose agressive style gives his team an extra no other team has in Hungary.

Nikolov is a great fastbreak finisher. Once he's got the advantage and he's running towards the basket, there aren't many ways to stop him. He'll never hesitate to finish those runs with dunks, as you can see.

He's good playing one on one facing the basket. He can finish hard in traffic, and he can also take a step back to hit the three. He's aggressive and has a good shooting range, but can also shoot coming off driblle. They play many times triangles in which he will be beyond the three point line creating space inside for the other big.

Dangerous spot up shooter, he knows how to punish long helps.

So it's going to be a great basketball weekend in the Eurochallenge Final Four...

Eurochallenge F4: Besiktas

When you take a look at Besiktas' roster you can be mistaken. I say so because you can think this is the kind of team that mixes a lot of big names and let them play hoping the'll bring the wins only because they make a lot of money, so they must be really good, so they'll make a good team. No. Coach Ataman is one of the best coaches of the last decade and he has made a tough and well organized group. Of course, they have high talented players, but there is more.

They are the top favourite to win 2011-12 Eurochallenge Final Four in Debrecen (by the way, I recommend everyone to come and spend some great basketball days in this beautiful city) and I want to give you a quick look at some of their virtues and their main schemes from the coach's point of view.

After watching their games, the first thing that comes to my mind is, they score a lot of easy points. Points coming off second chances after offensive rebounds, and (this is one of the things I love from them) points off Pops Mensah Bonsu fastbreaks. Take a look at how quick he runs the court as soon as they have the defensive rebound (sometimes, when he challenges the shot, he gets ready even before they get the rebound, and this is a risk, but they seem to feel fine about that risk, as most of the times works well for them) and also when they steal the ball. He's the first running and for the rival team bigs it's really hard to follow him.

Let's talk about their half court offense. They have a clear tendency to play ball screen situations. Having such a talented group of players, both bigs and smalls, they find many options to score.

One of the situations they have been running more often is this down screen followed by a ball screen. They create a triangle between the ball handler, the screener (again, Mensah Bonsu with his athleticism is really dangerous rolling towards the basket) and the other big (Zoran Erceg is allways a threat from the three point line) and they are patient enough to look for the best possible advantage. Sometimes it will be the roll man (their fans love when they finish this action with an alley hoop) sometimes they will read the defensive helps and find a wide open shot, or if the defensive rotation works well and avoids that shot, they'll give an extra pass to the corner, looking for the inside pass from there.

Let's not stop talking about ball screens but let's make a stop now to talk about two of their key players, Carlos Arroyo and Zoran Erceg. Arroyo is so good playing these situations... Whenever they are in trouble, or if they need a safe play (end of the shotclock, end of quarter...) or they feel like scoring quickly in transition, they will look for him and he'll "make it happen" And I've already talked about him, but let's stress Zoran Erceg's role and his biggest threat. Pick and pop situations. Really dangerous. He forces the defense to take some risks and decide what they want to defend first. Stop the ball handler, avoid Erceg's shot, leave a third player wide open... He's a deadly shooter and has one of the quickest releases in European basketball.

They have many different sets to pass the ball inside, but I've chosen this one as they seem to feel really comfortable running it. I've seen them start some games with this one, and that means they're sure it is a very good option to score the first basket of the game. Two off ball screens for the wing and a baseline "small - big" screen to receive near the basket.

As usual, most of the time, the simpler the better. They run many times this simple diamond situation (most of the top level teams use it quite frequently) to let their players read the defense and find the best option. It could be a wide open shot coming off the mid post screen. It could be a strong curl to finish with a short shot or an extra pass for the screener. It could be a drive and kick for the opposite side post or the shooter beyond the three point line. If the defense manages to stop the first options, they will run a side screen. And again, the sign of being a great team, they are patient enough to keep playing, and find different options, for example the wing giving the ball back to the point guard and a back screen followed by the screener's mid range shot, or to swing the ball and looking for the inside pass.

Finally, I'd like to show you how well they play against zone defenses. They play easy, they fill the right spots (high post) they keep the right spacing and find the right pass or the best shot. High - low action and high post threat are the keys for them to beat the zone.