By Gibson Pyper
Celtics vs Bucks & Suns Jump Ball Play | NBA Breakdown
In today’s NBA Breakdown we will look at the Celtics vs Bucks, the Suns & other Jump Ball Play’s as well as the best X’s & O’s from a full day of NBA games.
Bucks vs Celtics Film Room
Jump Ball Plays
Jump ball plays are not really applicable for my coaching playbook, considering the only jump ball opportunities for us in high school happens at the beginning of each game. However it is interesting to see the special situations that occur in the NBA and even in college. Today the Suns ran a backscreen off of the Jump Ball that I have seen from several teams throughout the NBA as well as college basketball.
Phoenix Suns Jump Ball Rip
Los Angeles Lakers Jump Ball Rip
Notre Dame Women Jump Ball Rip
Milwaukee Bucks Jump Ball Seal
The Bucks use Jump Ball opportunities to seal and post up for a quick look when going toward their basket:
Boston Celtics Jump Ball Hammer
Perhaps the best special situations coach in the world, Brad Stevens with a Hammer play off a Jump Ball:
New Orleans Pelicans Jump Ball Home Run
New Orleans Pelicans – Jump Ball Home Run: pic.twitter.com/EkVz3B0tni
— Coach Gibson Pyper (@HalfCourtHoops) April 21, 2018
Donovan Mitchell Stealing the Jump Ball
Donovan Mitchell Jump Ball Steals pic.twitter.com/NVxIN466jM
— Coach Gibson Pyper (@HalfCourtHoops) April 10, 2020
I don’t find these useful or applicable for my situation, but my situation might change and I might have the opportunity to use some of these when I need them the most.
Set of the Day
Today’s set comes from the Boston Celtics out of their “5” series. Their 5 series is essentially their basic motion into 5-out and getting the ball moving. The play starts off with Hayward cutting backdoor into the lane and a pass to the wing. Once the guard clear Jaylen Brown swings the ball to Theis in the sweet spot or the middle of the floor. Normally this would be a dribble hand off for Hayward, but since the Bucks tend to deny and pressure off ball cuts, the overplay allows Hayward to go backdoor for an easy layup.
Atlanta Hawks Triple Ballscreen
One of my favorite sets from this year comes from the Atlanta Hawks. It is creative, however it is not a new set by any means. I first saw this from 6 years ago when Mike Prada broke down this play in this great article.
The play is not complex, but difficult to guard. When the play starts the point guard – typically Trae Young – comes off of the ballscreen set by 4/2/5. As the guard attacks off of this, 2 typically slips and sprints to the corner causing some confusion.
After the guard dives to the corner, this basically turns into a spread ballscreen and allows the point guard to make an easier read against the defense. Defending this set gets tricky, depending on the team defending it. We will look at how the 76ers tried two different ways and both ended up not working.
In the first clip above we can see how the 76ers were slightly confused but ended up hedging against it with Redick and Butler. Initially the hedge worked but as Collins rolls both Butler and Redick go with the roller allowing Trae Young to make an open 3 point shot (a deep 3!). The next possession later in the same game the 76ers do a great job defending it with Embiid dropping and forcing a 2-man game and another attack after. As Young comes off the hand off Embiid has to jump switch and guard Trae Young in space. Trae Young tries to give it up and get it back but Embiid denies the pass. As Embiid denies Young, this opens up a driving lane for Prince to drive to the rim with no rim protection.
Here are a couple more examples of a triple ballscreen by the 2012 Knicks.
This set is not exclusive to the NBA, one of my favorite college coaches LeVelle Moton runs this with his team at North Carolina Central.
A quick hitter counter that Scott Brooks ran initially with the Thunder and now with the Wizards is a triple ballscreen with a “Ricky” or a rescreen for both Kevin Durant as well as Bradley Beal.
The triple ballscreen is one of my favorite plays, and something that I have actually run at the high school level after time outs. I think that this creativity is really cool to see and see how other coaches steal from each other and create new plays from different original concepts.
Coach Pyper
2019 NCAA Tournament Best Sets
The 2019 NCAA Tournament was one of the most memorable tournaments, with Virginia capturing the title after being the first one seed to lose to a 16 seed the year before. It is only fair that Virginia has my favorite set from the tournament with their elevator decoy set that was so impressive. In this breakdown, we will look at my favorite sets from the 2019 NCAA Tournament, just from what I watched and remembered. There will be sets that I miss, and concepts that you might like and enjoy more – please let me know what I missed! I watch a ton of basketball so I might have overlooked something and would love to include any that I missed in a future update or video breakdown.
2019 NCAA Tournament Best Sets
Virginia Elevator Decoy
By far my favorite and most popular set from this years 2019 NCAA Tournament comes from the champions, Virginia. Virginia ran a gorgeous set that looked like the normal Elevator set they run for Kyle Guy – which Auburn was clearly ready for. Auburn stopped the initial elevator action but this was just a decoy that set up a throwback screen for Jerome for a wide open 3. I love this action but the biggest lesson for me was how to combine two actions and run the one action over and over again and then hit the defense with a surprise counter out of a normal action you already run!
Belmont Backdoor Set
Belmont’s Rick Byrd is one of the best coaches to ever coach the game and he will be missed since he announced his retirement. In my opinion he is the king of the backdoor set and that was clear with my biggest tweet of all time breaking down his “Panic Backdoor” set. Belmont ran a similar backdoor look but it is a little more basic with simple movement but still very effective. One of the keys in this backdoor set is the trigger which is the ball fake that sets up the backdoor for a layup. Another thought I have when looking at film like this is what triggers or signals can I include in my offense that is easy to teach and an automatic.
Ohio State Stagger Back
Chris Holtmann has been a favorite watch of mine since his days at Butler and his playbook is really good. My favorite set from him came out of a 5-out formation to a stagger throwback. The key to this set is to have the player coming off of the throwback screen starts low so his man is the help defender and it is a choice to chase his man or help the drive. This is a great lesson for all coaches – what are you doing offensively to ensure the defense has a choice to make in your flow or your sets?
Virginia Tech Ghost
So much action and movement before a final “Ghost” screen (shoutout to Zak Boisvert for the name!). The set basically has 2-3 actions with hand offs and curls into a spread ballscreen but this is all decoy action. After the initial action happens the main look flows into a ghost screen angled toward half court for a pick and pop.
Wofford (& Others) Zone Reverse Fill
The most common NCAA Tournament set is a zone set that is a ballscreen with 2 players filling behind to create a 2 on 1 against a 2-3 zone. Wofford runs this action really well and the set is designed to get a side ballscreen against the zone, which is one of my favorite actions against any Zone Defense. As the ballscreen occurs two players fill on the wing behind the ballscreen creating a 2 on 1 situation and allows the players to either catch and shoot or make an extra pass. This is one of the best actions against a zone and something all coaches can apply in their zone offense.
If you want more NCAA Tournament X’s & O’s the 2019 NCAA Tournament Playbook with over 850 sets & video playbooks for each team is available here:
If you enjoyed this breakdown or want more X’s & O’s, I have a new weekly breakdown that arrives in your inbox every Saturday morning!
Enjoy & have a great week!
Coach Pyper
Indiana Pacers | Maintaining the Advantage | Member Breakdown
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Breakdown: Denver Nuggets “21 Nash” After Time Out Set
Denver Nuggets “21 Nash”
After time out against the Oklahoma City Thunder the Denver Nuggets ran a ballscreen set to get Plumlee a dunk off single tag action. The set is simple in execution but tough to guard defensively. Jamal Murray passed to Will Barton on the wing and then set a double ballscreen with Plumlee for Barton on the wing. At the same time on the weakside Malik Beasley set a pindown screen for Jokic to pull Steven Adams away from the rim. The read after this is simple, whatever Jamal Murray’s defender does you pass to the opposite – if he helps on Plumlee then you pass to Murray for a 3 or if he stays on Murray then you hit Plumlee on the lob.
Houston Rockets “21 Nash”
Seattle Storm “21 Nash”
-Coach Pyper
Sets Breakdown: Charlotte Hornets vs Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets beat the Charlotte Hornets behind DeAngelo Russel’s 40 point game, including scoring the last 12 points. We will look at my favorite sets and lessons from this game, with the video and the diagram breakdown.
Charlotte Hornets “Chin Screen the Screener”
The Hornets run this Chin action often as a basic ballscreen set for Kemba Walker and Tony Parker. Setting up with a pindown for the guard who will come off the ballscreen, the point guard passes to him on the wing. After the pass the big at the elbow will set a backscreen for the point guard, then chase into a ballscreen for the guard on the wing. As the ballscreen happens the point guard will then set a cross screen for the opposite block and then come off a downscreen toward the top of the key.
Charlotte Hornets “Horns Twist”
Perhaps the most common set in the NBA, this is a set out of the Horns formation that is a designed ballscreen set. The point guard comes off the first big at the elbow who sets a ballscreen then clears opposite, sometimes with a flare screen. Opposite of this ballscreen the big chases into a ballscreen for the point guard and rolls to the rim, creating “Shale” or “Single Tag” action.
Charlotte Hornets Rim Run – Draws 2
One of the simplest things in basketball to do is to sprint. Most players and teams don’t do it enough especially at the NBA level, but here we can see how this can impact the game. Cody Zeller sprints down the middle of the floor to the opposite basket and doing this draws in DeAngelo Rusell, leaving Batum open on the wing for a shot.
Brooklyn Nets Opening Set “Leak”
Opening up the game with this “Leak” set, designed to get Joe Harris an open shot. The set starts off with a pindown for Lavert to catch the ball at the top of the key then Joe Harris and Graham set a double flare screen for DeAngelo Russell. As the double flare screen occurs, Joe Harris sprints and leaks out to run off an opposite screen from Jarrett Allen for a shot. Great design after time out from Kenny Atkinson.
Brooklyn Nets “Fist Up Split Knicks”
Another great after time out from Atkinson, this is a common action they run after a time out with a little wrinkle. The set starts off normally with a ballscreen slip and a pass from the point guard to the big who pops. After the pass to the big, the big goes into a dribble hand off on the wing and then normally a pass back to the point guard for a ballscreen. In this set Russell will set and slip a pindown screen for Napier who then catches it for a step up screen.
Brooklyn Nets “Virginia Clear”
This action is straight out of the Mover Blocker playbook – hence the name Virginia in the title. After a down screen the guard will continue opposite off a flare screen toward the basket looking for a lob or layup, with an opposite pindown. If no option is open, it flows into a high ballscreen.
I hope you guys enjoyed this breakdown, I will have more to come!
-Coach Pyper
Breakdown: Milwaukee Bucks vs Boston Celtics
The Bucks and Celtics faced off after the All Star break, and the game was a great example of how defense can remain even though both teams were pretty rusty. I really likes what the Bucks tried to do against Kyrie and Horford, but the Celtics defense vs Giannis really stood out to me. In this breakdown we will look at the last 3 minutes, thoughts on both teams execution as well as playcalls, sets and skills from this game.
Bucks Offense
The Milwaukee Bucks run a 5-Out offense with Giannis attacking at the center of it. One of the biggest keys that allowed them to win this game was their defense fueling their offense and allowing Giannis to get out in transition. The Celtics tried to defend the 3 point line, but the Bucks spacing allowed for them to counter with multiple drives to score layups.
Bucks Defense
One of the most interesting things I took away from this game was the Bucks Drop coverage in the pick and roll and dribble hand offs. When the Celtics go to any ballscreen the bigs of the Bucks will drop into the lane and only allow mid range jumpers – at the same time the guards defending the ballscreen will trail and force the ball into that mid range area. The Celtics hurt them by popping Horford, Morris and allowing them to either shoot open jump shots or attack off the dribble. Going forward it will interesting to see if they do the same thing if the time comes into the playoffs.
Celtics Defense
When playing the Bucks the number one objective should be to slow down Giannis in transition, and I LOVED how the Celtics really loaded to the ball and shrunk the floor by showing their hands and making the floor seem smaller.
Horford and Smart are the two key players in the Celtics defense, and they really make it work because of their effort and intelligence. I love Marcus Smart and how he give 100% effort every play and the ability to know when to attack and when not to, and Horford really unlocks their ability to switch and be able to prevent some of the 3’s the Bucks normally get.
Celtics Offense
The Celtics offense looked much better in terms of movement, sharing the ball, and the ability to get others involved. Attacking the Bucks drop coverage with Horford pick and pops was key, but also Kyrie really struggled to make them pay for it when they allowed him to take a mid range jumper. Although Kyrie struggled he really came up down the stretch run with big, timely shots. I expect Boston to rattle off a couple of big games with the way their offense flowed and was able to look really good at times.
Below are some of my favorite sets from the game, as well as playcalls and skills I took away when watching this game.
Sets & Specials
Playcalls
Skills
Hope you guys enjoyed this breakdown, I look forward to doing more.
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Enjoy!
Coach Pyper