X's & O's: Screen + Hand Off

Right before tonight's third game, a quick analysis about one of Olympiacos "go to" sets. 

These are sets every team has and runs for different reasons. They feel comfortable when playing them, they work well for a key player, or they create problems to the defenders...

Olympiacos look for Spanoulis in many different ways, but in the last game this set was extremely productive for the reds. 

A vertical hand off between a big man and the Greek star, that can be followed by a quick ball screen. As a secondary option within the same structure, they can look for the pass to the big man near the basket, but we will focus today on the Spanoulis' option. 

As we will see in the video, Olympiacos scored twelve points when running this set, nine of them coming straight from Spanoulis' hands.

In my humble opinion, FCB's defensive game plan was ready to defend it. My guess is they planned to chase Spanoulis, while the big man defending the passer would make a short hedge, and the defender of the corner would collapse the paint. 

But mistakes happen during a game, and Spanoulis' execution is admirable so he can score even when the defenders perform well. 

For sure tonight we will see this set many times, we will see how it works! Now, let's take a look at the video.

X's & O's: Ball Screen + Back Screen

One interesting offensive situation Fenerbahce is using quite often is this "ball screen - back screen"
set play.

They get some different advantages depending on the reaction of the defense. "Fener" players read well the defensive moves and they find the best way to score.

This is basically a set of two consecutive screens, in which they manage to involve two or even three and four defenders, and that creates a lot of scoring opportunities.

In the first clip of the video, we can see how, after the ball screen, the defender of the screener tries to stop the ball but he gets stuck in the second screen (back screen) and this forces the second screener's defender to try to stop the ball.

Notice how, in the ball screen, the roll man makes it impossible for the "original" defender of the ball handler to recover and even try to stop the ball. He keeps him sealed and he creates an immediate mismatch situation.

Think about it, three different defenders try to stop the ball in this particular play, and finally they miss the last screener, who pops to the three point line where he receives wide open to score an easy shot.

In the second clip, the same situation, with an easier end, an uncontested lay up, as the back screen creates a clear disadvantage for the defense, two players against a single defender unable to react and stop the ball...