Spacing. Playing Against Trap

A mismatch situation is often considered a very good option to score. Teams work on the mismatch defense more and more, knowing that it could be the difference between winning or losing a close game. The "inches".

In the F4 semifinal between Maccabi and CSKA we saw how the Israeli team faced a different kind of mismatch, as it wasn't the typical small against big / big against small but instead, an action between two perimeter players, in which one of them has an advantage in the 1x1 situation. 

As we see in the video, Ingles is guarding Weems at the end of the first quarter, and Maccabi's reaction is to send David Blu to trap and force a bad decision from CSKA's player. The Russian team seems to be prepared to attack this kind of defense. They spread the court to give room for that one on one, and once Maccabii's player jumps to the trap, they are ready to punish the defense. Khryapa cuts hard to the basket, attracting Pnini's attention, and the ball goes quick to the corner (although it could have been much faster without Weems' last dribble) where Jackson beats the defender's close out. He has a good option to finish or to kick the pass out for a wide open shot. 

Great team basketball, game preparation and defense reading for a nice action from CSKA.

Let's see the video.

Real Quick: Shot Creation - Kyle Hines

Kyle Hines is becoming a regular around here... Today I want to show you how a big guy can be really good at shot creation. We don't call a PF / C a "playmaker" very often, but CSKA's player is a really good one.

Hines is known for his energetic style on the court. He should be recognized, too, for his game knowledge and space awareness. 

Here you can see how, in the last quarter of the CSKA - F.C. Barcelona game, he rolls after setting a ball screen, to receive the pass and find the wide open teammate. It is said that the "x" marks the spot. And there goes Hines again and again. Even in the second clip when the defender touches the ball and is close to steal it, he keeps calm and delivers the pass for the easy three.

Of course, let's not forget about the great spacing shown by the Russian team, which makes much harder for the defense to stop the offense.

Here is the video:

Fastbreak (I): Using The Side Lane

Last season I worked quite often fastbreak rules in my team. The truth is our players were not used to keep very good spacing or the right order when running the break and I thought we needed to improve that aspect of our game.

I'll show you in the next series of posts some of the rules we followed, I think we ended up being quite a good team if we talk about how to run the fastbreak. 

Let's start with the use of the side lanes. Even if it's not forbidden for my players to use the middle of the court, I really think that running the fastbreak with the ball close to the sideline is a good idea, being the main reason that the defensive balance tends to place a lot of players in the mentioned area.

I worked a lot in the first pass after rebounding. I like this pass to go to the free throw line extended area:

And also in the spacing of the players who run in front of the ball. The bigger the space to cover by the defense, the better for our options to score. This was one of the most difficult things for my players to learn, and we really had to put a lot of work on it. Finally, as I said, they get used to run as close to the line as posible.

Let's take a look at one example. First pass, run near the sideline... and of course, unselfishness to give the second pass, strong quick passing and aggressive finish towards the basket. Notice how the defenders colapse the central area and how we manage to "beat the crowd" by following our simple fastbreak rules:

Preseason: High / Low

I want to show today a high - low play from Obradoiro. A very well coached team which always shows interesting situations.

They start with "2" and "3" crisscrossing in baseline. Then "5" sets a screen for "2" (who receives the pass from the pointguard) and pops to the three point line. At the same time "3" sets a baseline screen for "4" who can either receive the pass straight from "2" or, as he actually does, establish his position inside for the high-low. It's a good self-pick move that allows the pass from "5"

We see in the second clip how they run the same situation even if "3" doesn't set the off ball screen. The selfpick, the high low pass... Nice spacing and nice passing skills are mandatory. "4's" cut towards the ball combined with the pass to "5" is a difficult situation to defend. The focus of the cutter is on one side, while the ball is going towards the opposite side.

Let's watch it...

SF Advantage. South America 2012

I'm watching the South American Championship these days. There are very good teams and very good players and coaches.

Here I bring a nice situation Argentina started playing against Venezuela to get an advantage for their small forward Marcos Mata (he'll be well known soon) who is much bigger and stronger than his defender Jose Vargas.

Argentina place their "4" at the corner (Leo Gutierrez, a hell of a shooter) and are supposed to look for their "3" inside. You can even hear how they tell Vargas to fight against Mata's posting up from the Venezuela's bench.

Instead, in the first play, Mata will surprise the defenders by faking the hand off pass but driving hard towards the basket. As we said, Leo Gutierrez is right in the corner so his defender can't take the risk of a long help.

In the next offense, they run the same situation, but this time they do look for Mata inside. He gives the hand off pass, and then they run a pick and roll situation. As we can see, their "5" (Leiva) clears out the low post so Mata can go to work against Vargas. Right spacing, and Mata scores again.

LEB Gold: Post Player's Game

The Spanish second division (LEB Gold) is a really competitive league. Some of the best Spanish basketball projects as well as veteran players make it an amazing and strong competition. One of the latter is Darryl Middleton, who at age 45 still can show the way to the league’s younger players (that’s to say, to any other player)

What I bring today are some basic but important concepts to play as a center.

- When you are in the weak side’s low post, you shouldn’t stay in the same imaginary line as your teammate when he gets the ball. One step closer to baseline would be fine in order to be able to move properly when he plays his one on one. Helps are quite more complicated, and you will find good passing and rebounding options moving when the ball moves.

- When a teammate drives to the basket, move to create space for him. Your defender will probably try to help and stop the penetration, giving you the time to receive and have an easy shot.

- Against aggresive defenders who try to play defense in front in low – mid post, use your body to roll over them, and with a self screen, get the position to receive a pass from high post.

- After setting an off ball screen, go against your defender, to get a good position to receive. Most of the times, the screener defender will relax, and you’ll be able to place him behind your back and make it easy to get the ball.

Middleton knows well all these concepts, and his love for the game brings him again to the league, so we can keep enjoying his performances.

Thank you!

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LEB Gold: Spacing

Spanish second division, LEB Gold, has just started. From now on, I’ll show you some details of this interesting league.

To begin with, a topic I’m really interested in, spacing.

Alex Navajas, from Breogan, scored 5 out of 5 threes in the league’s first thriller (Breogan 87-Menorca 86 in the overtime) And he did it by making a great use of the space.

As we see in the video, he picks and pops, he creates space when the ball handler goes hard to the rim, he pops when his teammate curls... Many different ways to punish helps and and to achieve an astounding 5/5...




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