[X's & O's] Compilations of NBA offenses

A compilation of one of the Pacers go-to sets:

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In-game audio was out of sync, so you'll have to endure some of my crappy workout/running music again.
I'll upload a couple more Pacers videos in the next hour or two and add some commentary. Gotta grab dinner first.

Not Pacers related, but I was asked in the youtube comments yesterday if Floppy essentially is the same as a Single-Double, so I uploaded a quick Single-Double compilation. Footage is mostly from last year.

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So, with the Rockets playing the Pacers tonight let's look at a few more things the Pacers do on offense.

It just so happens that the Pacers run some tweaked/trimmed down versions of certain actions the Spurs utilize on offense, including Motion Weak.

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The Pacers primarily use Motion Weak to post up or isolate George, so -- instead of setting a cross screen that initiates the flex action in the middle of the paint -- George usually will just position himself somewhere on or near the block.

Occasionally George will initiate the flex and thus turn this into the Spurs version of Motion Weak (see 0:57). When George can't establish good position, the Pacers will either isolate him or go into a screen&roll with him and the big up top (1:08). Every now and then they'll just stay on the strong-side and simply feed the post (1:20).

As with the Spurs, the Pacers PGs have the option to call their own number, where after passing it to a wing -- instead of cutting to the weak-side -- they'll initiate the flex action (1:28).
(Spurs version of this at the 1:41 mark off the Spurs Motion Weak compilation)
Also as with the Spurs, if the PG gets denied after cutting to the weak-side, the trailer will go into a simple hand-off with the wing who passed him the ball (1:37).
(Spurs version of this from 6:08-6:21)

As you may be able to see, screening for the guy who fed the post is something the Pacers do quite a bit and have had pretty good success with. As a defender you better be aware of what might come and not fall asleep or unnecessarily over-help/dig.

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Here ya go:

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(The Kobe special at 0:41)

Wheel is a set that created a ton of open looks for the Rockets early/earlier in the year, however teams seem to be much better prepared for it by now. I don't have the numbers to back it up, but I'm absolutely positive that the success rate (possession resulting in an open look) of this set has dropped significantly over the course of the season.
I understand why the team is going to it a bunch when they go small -- trying to run bigger guys off screens -- but I think it may be time to use it a little more sporadically.

With the playoffs approaching I probably won't do any other Rockets compilations. Don't wanna run the risk of putting too much Rockets stuff tape out there. Not that it's rockets science to figure out what the Rockets are doing, I just don't want to put the Rockets at a potential disadvantage.

Haha . That's funny. Thanks for passing along.

 

Some more Spurs offense:

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According to my youtube analytics most people are only watching about half of my longer videos, so I kept this one a little shorter, using less clips for each option.

 

Here's a cool play the Hawks utilize -- mostly late in games -- where they'll go to a Josh Smith-Al Horford middle (FT line area) pick&roll, usually out of basic horns formation.

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Awfully tough to guard. Obviously even more so, if the defense isn't ready for it. The success rate of this play has been through the roof. I've only seen it fail twice myself -- a missed layup by Josh Smith and a missed alley-oop layup by Horford.

Imagine Josh Smith and Dwight Howard running this.

Sadly, I cannot. Simply don't have enough tape. Grizzlies, Lakers, Bulls & Celtics are the 4 playoffs teams I don't watch regularly. I've probably watched more Bucks games than games of those four teams combined, in fact, which is totally nuts when I think about it just now.

I'll probably do a few compilations of whoever the Rockets end up meeting in the first round. Possibly some other playoff teams, too.

 

Here's some more Hawks offense:

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Most NBA teams use Pistol on some kind of basis, but the Hawks do so more than just about any (playoff) team. Among the teams that I watch regularly (HOU, SAS, DEN, LAC, GSW, IND, MIA, NY, ATL, BKN, MIL, POR) only the Nuggets might utilize Pistol more.

You're welcome .

EDIT: Saw that the video above got blocked again in Germany. So, for the 2 Germans that might want to watch this, here ya go: http://youtu.be/0DJ6B4YK9vM

 

Here's the Nuggets using Pistol Up.

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Lawson, like Jeff Teague, is very good using his quickness to create angles in Pistol settings and will have occasional highlight moments doing so, but old & slow Andre Miller might be even better. Guy's so smart.

 

Here's one of the Blazers' Post-Up sets. Decent counters/secondary options. Offense runs through Aldridge, doesn't get stagnant a whole lot. Blazers' offense is pretty solid in general.

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Here's one of the Heat's best sets, where they bring Ray Allen off a pindown to set a ball-screen up top, with Allen coming off a flare screen afterwards.

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The Rockets at times will go to a simplified version of this when they go small, with Delfino in the Ray Allen role.

 

Another staple of the Spurs offense:

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Tried to keep it as short as possible again -- the first cut of this was more than twice as long.
Hope you still get the point of how the Spurs will pretty much have a counter to whatever the defense throws at them. Having Parker at PG helps, obviously .

Thunder & Nuggets next. Probably some more Heat, too. More Spurs, if the Rockets end up meeting them in the first round.