Digital Chalkboard: Ohio beats the halftime buzzer

Ohio ran a nice set from a baseline out of bounds set with one second left on the clock before halftime. It was not perfectly executed but it was effective in freeing up Nick Kellog for a three point shot just before the haltime buzzer.

The play begins with TyQuane Goard (#32) cutting toward the corner, as he pretends that he is the first option for the set. As he comes around a screen by Kellog, he circles back around to set a screen for Kellog, who is the actual option for the set.

Digital Chalkboard: Wake Forest Inbounds Play

Last season, in Jeff Bzdelik’s first season as coach of Wake Forest, there was not much positive to say about the offense. They sputtered to 97.6 offensive efficiency and rarely looked fluid as a team offense. This season, they are showing some nice signs of improvement and have raised their efficiency to one point per possession so far this season. They still have a long way to go but there have been more nice things to say about the offensive side of the ball this season.

This baseline out of bounds play midway through the second half against Maryland demonstrates the increased ability to execute on the offensive end by the Deacs. This is a nicely designed play that the three primary players run well to get an open three point shot for Chase Fischer.

Ty Walker sets the screen for Fischer and starts by cutting to the corner to act like he is the intended target on the inbounds pass. This forces Ashton Pankey to overcommit to deny the pass, taking him out of position once Walker turns to set the screen for Fischer. Travis McKie makes the first cut, coming from the left elbow all the way around the perimeter who will then be followed by Fischer using the screen from Walker.

Digital Chalkboard: Vanderbilt baseline inbounds play

This breakdown looks at one of the few positives from Vanderbilt down the stretch in their loss to Xavier, featuring a perfectly executed baseline out of bounds play to get an easy layup for Josh Henderson.

Vanderbilt lines up in the classic 4 across set and they can run a variety of sets out of this alignment. In this play, Jeffrey Taylor will fade to the elbow and catch the entry pass from Brad Tinsley, after which Henderson will come set a ball screen for Taylor.

Digital Chalkboard: Connecticut inbounds play

UConn showed that they can execute inbounds plays to get open baskets, as we saw several times in their postseason run from last season. In their game against Wagner, they showed a different inbounds play from the two highlighted above and were able to get a layup for Alex Oriakhi.

The Huskies are aligned in a three player stack on the right elbow, with Jeremy Lamb taking the ball out. After an initial cut by DeAndre Daniels, Oriakhi flashes to receive the entry pass from Lamb. Shabazz Napier then makes himself open so that Oriakhi can reverse the ball to the top of the key.

Season leftovers: Two inbounds plays from Connecticut’s NCAA tournament run

In our last look back at set plays used during the 2010-11 season, we are going to look at two different inbounds plays that UConn ran for Jeremy Lamb. One play comes from the Arizona game with the second coming from the Kentucky game in the NCAA tournament.

Inbounds Play #1

In the first half of their game against Arizona, UConn has the ball underneath the basket with Kemba Walker inbounding. UConn lines up in a stack set with Alex Oriakhi at the top and Donnell Beverly and Roscoe Smith behind him on the right side of the lane. Jeremy Lamb is at the high post on the opposite side of the lane.

Oriakhi dives to the rim and Beverly cuts to the corner. This clears out their defenders and leaves the right side of the key open. Smith sets a cross screen for Lamb who curls to the rim.

 

 

Dusting off the archives: George Mason Inbounds Play

We go back to the 2006 George Mason and Wichita State Sweet Sixteen game for today’s inbounds play breakdown. This is a simple play with 2 screens but it requires perfect timing to free the shooter for an open jump shot in the corner.

Mason opens the play in a box format with Lamar Butler, the eventual shooter, on the right block. He is going to set a diagonal screen for a teammate and immediately receives a screen from Will Thomas. Butler will come off the screen and flash to the corner in front of the player inbounding the ball to receive the pass.

The screens develop so quickly that the defense has no time to react which eventually one of the main reasons Butler gets open in the corner. Butler sets a screen for his teammate at the left wing but he barely slows down to set a solid screen, as this screen is only meant to make the defense react to the screening action.

The Wichita State player defending the screen has to defend the cut off the screen, so he is taken out of the play, although he does a good job of defending the initial cut. Butler doesn’t slow down when setting the first screen and goes directly into his cut off the screen from Thomas. Thomas slides to his right so quickly to set the screen that the defender runs right into him.

Thomas’ defender is caught flat-footed under the basket. As you can see, the defender guarding the inbounds man has his back to the ball and is in charge of taking away anyone cutting to the rim. This leaves Thomas’ defender (boxed in red) to hedge on the screen.

He is too slow getting out to the corner and with Butler’s defender getting caught in the screen by Thomas, Butler has a wide open jump shot from the corner. Again, since there is a defender taking away any possible roll to the rim by Thomas, Thomas’ defender needs to a better job of helping on the screen since he has no responsibility to defend the rim.

This play works because of the timing of the screen set by Thomas. With Butler moving quickly through the paint, Thomas disguises his action long enough before he quickly moves up the lane to set the screen. This puts the defender several steps behind Butler and catches Thomas’ defender off guard, not allowing him to react to the play. In the end, this frees Butler up for a corner jump shot.

Dusting off the archives: Pittsburgh baseline out of bounds play

In continuing the theme of looking at sets and out of bounds plays from archived games, we are next going to look at an out of bounds play executed by Pittsburgh in 2003. This is a typical out of bounds play with one twist that allows the play to be successful. Let’s take a look at this play.

When you look at how Pitt is aligned to start the play, it looks like Donatas Zavackas, the player on the far side of the line, will rub off the two players on the right block for a baseline jump shot. Marquette is packing the lane to try to block Zavackas from getting free.

However, this alignment is set up for Marquette to assume they know where the play is designed to go, when in fact it is designed for Zavackas to get his shot on the wing. Immediately after Brevin Knight starts the play, Chevon Troutman spins and meets Julius Page at the elbow to set the double screen.

Zavackas comes around Page to attempt to catch the ball on the wing. Travis Diener attempts to switch onto Zavackas but Troutman is there to screen him and slow him down. Dwyane Wade switched onto Page off the screenso it is up to Diener to defend Zavackas. Troutman sets an effective screen though (likely a moving screen) and Zavackas is able to get open on the wing.

You can see that Robert Jackson (#55), who was guarding Troutman at the start of the play, is still standing in the paint. He made no reaction to Troutman setting the screen which was part of the reason that Zavackas was able to get so open. Jackson should have made an attempt to hedge on Zavackas and make the entry pass more difficult. Instead, the assist from Knight was rather easy, especially with the defender responsible for Knight guarding the rim.

This is a somewhat simple out of bounds play but I like how Pitt disguised the play at the start. With Troutman starting on the block before setting the double screen on the elbow, Marquette seems a bit confused on how the play is designed. With Zavackas moving quickly off the screens, this allows Pitt to free him up on the wing for the jump shot.

Marquette could have defended this play better if Jackson had reacted better to the action. Instead, he was rooted in the paint and did not make any effort to help Diener when he was caught in the screen. This allowed Knight to make the simple entry pass to Zavackas for the jump shot.

Dusting off the archives: Hampton inbounds set

In their 2001 first round NCAA tournament upset win against Iowa State, the Hampton Pirates ran a baseline inbounds play that got their leading scorer in this game, Tarvis Williams, isolated on the block. It does not lead directly to an easy basket but the Pirates showed a unique series of screens to get Williams in an advantageous position against Paul Shirley in the post.

While a little dummy action goes on before this, the crucial part of the play commences when Williams moves across the paint to set a screen for Marseilles Brown. Shirley is concerned about letting Jamaal Tinsley go under the screen, so he gives him plenty of space, rendering this first screen ineffective. However, it sets Shirley up to be screened at the end of the play, allowing the play to be successful in the end.

There are two reasons that Shirley got screened on this play, allowing Williams to establish position on the block. The first was described above, which is that Shirley is playing far off of Williams to let Tinsley go under the screen and not let Brown find space from the first screen. The second is that the screener, Tommy Adams, starts from slightly behind Shirley before he sets the screen. Shirley does not see the screen until it is too late and is caught in the screen when Williams cuts to the block off the screen.

With Shirley being screened, Williams is able to cut to the left block and receive the inbounds pass.

The effective screen set for Williams allows him to get position on the block. As you can see, the pass is not the best, as Williams has to leap to catch it, but it puts him in an isolated position against Shirley. This allows him to make a move and take a high percentage shot in the lane.

The final key to this play is the spacing the Pirates use to give Williams room in the post. The play is designed to clear the lane through screens and cuts and allow Williams the room to operate. Iowa State chooses not to double in the post but if they did, Williams has outlet options if he does not have a good look at the basket.

Notice also how Hampton has an offensive rebounder positioned on the opposite side of the rim, in case the shot is missed. The inbounder made a cut to the opposite side of the rim after feeding Williams the entry pass and is available to grab any missed shot that goes long.

Although it did not lead directly to a layup or open jump shot, this play put Williams in a beneficial position, which allowed him to make a move in the post and get an early basket for the Pirates in their upset win.

Season leftovers: Butler inbounds play

We continue our look back at the 2010-2011 season with an inbounds play from the Butler Bulldogs, which they successfully executed in the second half of the National Championship game. It is different from any other inbounds play that has been diagrammed on here before, so I have to give credit to Brad Stevens for the originality.

Butler lines up in a diamond set, centered around the free throw line. Matt Howard, at the top of the diamond, is going to open the action by flashing to the near corner, in front of the ball handler, before pivoting and setting the screen for Shawn Vanzant.

As you can see from the frame below, the cut by Howard was not designed to get him the ball but rather to set up the screen. He is not looking for the ball and is not ready to catch an inbounds pass. The purpose of this is to get the defense moving and to give Howard a good angle to set the screen for Vanzant.

With the lane now cleared, Khyle Marshall cuts from the top of the three point line to the rim, with the hopes of catching the defense out of position to give him an easy layup. Alex Oriakhi sees the cut from the beginning, though, and stays between Marshall and the basket, taking away any pass.

Meanwhile, Howard goes to set the screen for Vanzant. Vanzant is going to rub off Howard and flash to the corner, to look for a midrange jump shot.

Jeremy Lamb is not playing poor defense initially, but the play is designed so that without help from Roscoe Smith, Howard’s man, Lamb will not be able to defend the play. Lamb is playing in Vanzant’s chest to take away any cuts to the rim. However, this leaves him vulnerable to a screen, as you will see.

Smith does not hedge on the screen, as he does not realize Howard is setting one until it is too late. This allows Vanzant to run free to his spot and catch and release before Lamb can recover. Lamb has to go over the screen and with no help from Smith below the screen, Vanzant is able to get his shot off easily.

This is a nice play by Butler. It starts with a cut by Howard that is solely intended to set up the screen for Vanzant. This cut allows him to get a good angle on the screen, allowing Vanzant to get open.

UConn could have defended this play if Smith had hedged on the screen and slowed down Vanzant while Lamb was fighting over the screen. This may have bought Lamb just enough time to bother the shot.

Howard could have combated that defense by rolling to the basket after setting the screen. As you can see in the above shot, that would not have worked, as Marshall had not cleared out from the paint after his cut. If he does, Howard has the option to roll to the rim and Butler has a counter for almost any defense UConn chooses to play.

Season leftovers: Miami inbounds play

This late basket helped Miami in their incredible comeback win against Virginia in the ACC tournament. It is a fairly common inbounds play, with screening the screener action but Miami runs it a bit differently than normal.

Notice how Miami is not set up on the blocks and the elbows, as is standard for a box set on an under the basket inbounds play. You can see that Miami is still in a box set, just off-center a bit, so I don’t think Virginia is confused by the alignment. However, it does give Miami some different angels with the screens and cuts, which I think helps them.

Reggie Johnson sets the first screen for Rion Brown, who is going to curl off the screen and cut to the rim. This is one of the main variations on this set. Usually, the player using the first screen is cutting to the baseline or corner for a jumpshot. Here, it gives Miami a possible look at a layup if Brown can get open.

Julian Gamble is then going to screen the screener, Johnson. Johnson is going to be the player who is going to use the screen to look to get open in the corner, which is not one of his hotspots, to put it lightly. It is clear that Brown is the first option, with Gamble being the second option on the slip.

Brown is open on his cut to the rim, as he has Sammy Zeglinski behind him but Malcolm Grant does not get him the ball. Meanwhile, Gamble is setting the screen for Johnson. His defender, Assane Sene, has no reason to leave Gamble and hedge on Johnson. Even though he is the more dangerous offensive player, he will not be a serious threat to score from the corner.

With Sene stepping out to the three point line to cut off Johnson, Gamble slips the screen and cuts right to the rim. Grant fees him the ball and Gamble has the easy dunk to fuel the comeback. If the Virginia player (Jontel Evans) guarding the inbounder turns and faces the play, he can cut off Gamble. He chooses to guard the ball but he does not make the entry pass difficult enough, as Grant is easily able to throw it in, as Evans’ hands are at his side, not tracing the ball to try to get a deflection. This allows Grant to make the pass into Gamble with little deterrence.

I think the key to this play is the unnecessary hedge by Sene on Johnson. Johnson is not a threat if he catches the ball in the corner, so Sene should have just let him go and stayed in the paint, to cut off Gamble. By stepping toward the corner, he left the paint wide open and Gamble took advantage of that.