Sebastian Pruiti

One of my favorite college basketball blogs is a site called The Mikan Drill, a site that looks at the Xs and Os of the college game. Something that they have been over there since the season has ended was Season Leftovers, looking at some great sets over the course of the college season. An idea so good, that I decided to bring it over here during the NBA offseason.

After taking a break to look at some of the best and worst plays of EuroBasket, we are back to looking at some of last season’s best plays. Today we’ll be tackling after timeout plays, where you see some of the most creative Xs and Os plays in a game. This is our third installation, check here for parts one and two.

Portland Frees Up Rudy Fernandez for a Three

Coming out of a timeout, Portland found themselves up by 11 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves early in the second quarter. Looking to put the game out of reach quickly and take the Timberwolves out of it, the Blazers ran a quick hitting play designed to get Rudy Fernandez a wide-open three-point shot.

The ball comes in from the sideline, with Nicolas Batum inbounding the ball to Patty Mills. After making the inbounds pass, Batum goes to the rim, positioning himself in the paint. He continues, flashing up to the top of the key after going between Rudy Fernandez and LaMarcus Aldridge, who are setting screens for him.

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One of my favorite college basketball blogs is a site called The Mikan Drill, a site that looks at the Xs and Os of the college game. Something that they have been over there since the season has ended was Season Leftovers, looking at some great sets over the course of the college season. An idea so good, that I decided to bring it over here during the NBA offseason.

We are now entering the third round of posts looking at my favorite sets from this past season, so we are back at the beginning, looking at two more baseline out of bounds sets (click for part 1 and part 2).

Lakers Get a Baseline Bucket

On this particular set, the Lakers were able to use both of their bigs to get an open look along the baseline.

As soon as the trigger man (Matt Barnes) gets the basketball, Shannon Brown comes off of a double screen set by both Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

After running off of Bynum’s screen, Brown heads towards the corner, taking his man with him. After setting his screen for Brown, Bynum comes over and sets another screen, this time for Pau Gasol.

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One of my favorite college basketball blogs is a site called The Mikan Drill, a site that looks at the Xs and Os of the college game. Something that they have been doing over there since the season has ended was Season Leftovers, looking at some great sets over the course of the college season. An idea so good, that I decided to bring it over here during the NBA offseason.

As I mentioned in the introduction to part one, defensive strategy late in games is just as important as offensive strategy. That being said, it is something that is often overlooked. When a late game possession doesn’t result in a score, everyone is usually looking at why the offense didn’t score. Sometimes, it is just as simple as there was really good defense being played.

Suns Get the Stop They Need with Smart Rotations

Playing the Suns on the road and trailing by two points, the Jazz came out of a timeout looking to at least tie the game. What coach Tyrone Corbin came up with was a pretty solid quick hitter (with just seven seconds left, it needed to be quick-hitting), and at first, it looked like it was going to result in a wide open layup or dunk.

However, a great heads-up play and rotation by the Suns’ two weakside defenders prevented the Jazz from getting the game-tying basket and helped secure the win.

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One of my favorite college basketball blogs is a site called The Mikan Drill, a site that looks at the Xs and Os of the college game. Something that they have been doing over there since the season has ended was Season Leftovers, looking at some great sets over the course of the college season. An idea so good, that I decided to bring it over here during the NBA offseason.

Despite being put in a position to win a game with a playcall just a few times a season, a lot of coaches get their reputation as a Xs and Os guy from how they perform late with the game on the line. If you run a solid set and get the basket, you are a genius. If you isolate your best player and he misses, or worse, you don’t get a shot off, you’re a fool. That’s a lot of pressure on one play.

Spurs Get Ginobili in Space to Win the Game

During their wild game against the Denver Nuggets, the Spurs found themselves trailing by one point with 7.1 seconds left. Here, Gregg Popovich used a little misdirection to get the ball to one of his best players in space, allowing him to create.

The first thing you need to notice about this play is that George Hill is standing at half court. He probably won’t get the basketball, but there is enough time on the clock (7.1 seconds) where he is at least a threat, and this forces the defense to keep someone on him, even though he won’t get the basketball. As the ball goes to the trigger man, Tim Duncan, Richard Jefferson turns around and sets a screen for Manu Ginobili who uses the screen and flashes towards the basketball.

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