X's and O's: An Ongoing Discussion of the Exquisite Art of Basketball

[DanSchwartzgan]

This year it has felt like the balance swung heavy towards Luka just matchup hunting but this video gives me a lot of hope in the sense that it's less Luka matchup hunting to score and more Luka finding his best post up matchup to initiate this new offense.  I always felt it was just Luka getting to a spot and 4 guys then clustered on the weakside but now I realize it's more about using a Luka post up to put a lot of pressure on the defense AND our other four players running off the ball action to put additional things the defense needs to account for while also putting people in places for Luka to find them, which is honestly super clever. 

Note that this is one of the ways a non-shooting big can contribute.  There are plenty of examples in the video where the off-ball action includes a non-shooting big setting up shooters.  There is a prevalent narrative that says Luka/Wood has to have floor spacers around them in order for the PnR to work.  As the video illustrates, NBA offenses are much more dynamic than the idea that the only way to use a non-shooting big is as the pick setter up top or standing stationary in the dunkers spot.

Something else to note.  We’ve seen both Powell and Wood have nice success on short roll passes when Luka is doubled.  Lately they’ve been bringing Green up to set the pick with Wood in the corner even though he was the only big on the floor at the time.  Wood got a nice corner 3 out of the action against Denver Friday.  I hope we see more of this going forward.  Green should excel at this and the more things we can get him doing well, the more dynamic the offense can become.  DFS and Bullock don’t have the handles to run that action.  THJ probably can, but the word pass is not in his vocabulary.