Boston Gets Jeff Green Open In The Paint
Doc Rivers is probably one of my favorite after-timeout playcallers in the NBA. Sure, he has great talent to work with, but he knows how to put that talent in the right situation just about every single time. This set is a perfect example of Rivers using his personnel correctly to get a wide open lay-up:
This set starts with a dribble hand-off to Ray Allen, who dribbles the ball out and quickly returns it to Delonte West. After passing it back to West, Ray Allen cuts off of Jermaine O’Neal and heads into the paint.
After cutting through the paint, Allen gets in position to set a screen for Jeff Green. Allen isn’t the only one though, over the top, Glen Davis and O’Neal are getting in position to set a staggered screen off of the basketball. Green is now presented with two options, use Allen’s screen or use the staggered screen. Jeff Green isn’t the one making this decision though, his defender is. Marvin Williams gets over top of Green, in an effort to keep Green from using the staggered screen. Green complies and uses Ray Allen’s screen.
The beauty of having Ray Allen as a screener is that his defender will never hedge off of him, especially if you have Allen coming through one of those pinch type of screens after setting his screen. That happens here, and when it does, Allen’s man (Kirk Hinrich) swings an arm at Jeff Green, then returns to Allen trailing him on the play.
Marvin Williams gets caught on Allen’s screen and with Hinrich not helping, he is able to get open underneath the basket. Delonte West hits him with the pass, and Green is able to finish easily.
Here is the play in real time:
There are a number of factors that make this a pretty incredible play. First, you have Jeff Green getting two screens and letting him read the defense. That automatically puts the defender in a pretty bad position. Second, you not only have Ray Allen setting a screen, but you have him coming off of a screen after setting a screen. All that means that his defender isn’t going to help off of him, and the result is a wide open lay-up for Jeff Green. Now, if Allen’s man does leave him, Ray Allen is going to be wide open behind the three point line, at that point, Boston already won.
No comments:
Post a Comment