Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach @iuindy_mbb / Formerly @osceolamagic & @wlu_hoops / X’s & O’s Content For Coaches
Indianapolis, IN
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Creighton 19-20: Horns ES Shallow
Great high single tag set here playing off the threat of an elite shooter
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Nice Spanoulis set here from the Spurs Summer League squad out of 5 out. Counter that they ran after running the middle Spain P&R off the Wide Pindown Reject.
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New Zealand National Team: Ghost Flare Slip
Combining two switch attacks here starting with the on ball switch attack with the ghost screen then going to the flare slip (an off ball switch attack staple). Really good stuff.
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Pretty creative set from Michigan. Starts out with a chin to step up, but then goes into a backdoor from single side corner to an empty side ghost.
With the popularity of the ghost screen now it's important to find ways to mask & create pace into the action like this.
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Beautiful ATO just ran by the Spurs tonight. Great misdirection from the stagger to get a wide open 3 off the middle flare to the empty side.
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The Heat with a subtle but phenomenal tweak to the Bilabo action. Flipping the angle of the first split screen into a backscreen setting up an easy look at the rim on an isolated side. High-Level stuff.
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Penn State: Iverson Out Spanoulis
Another high-level set from PSU
One of my favorite current actions in basketball is a backscreen slip from the shooter as a screener. Covered extensively in my handoff series from the Miami Heat on my newsletter. Penn State likes them as well.
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Creighton: Horns Veer
A set that Creighton went to multiple times against Seton Hall.
Starts as a common Horns Step Up with the ball handler keeping, but Creighton clears out the corner into a single side veer. The veer is always a great option for a shooter vs drop coverage
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Interesting wrinkle from the Timberwolves.
Going to the ever-popular zoom action, instead of the ball being centered with the big, it's hit ahead to the player who will be receiving the last handoff.
This could benefit the timing & pace of your 5 out zooms if that's a concern
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Penn State: Horns Out Grenade
Another set that I really like from Penn State. Great way to create the 2 on the ball advantage. Lots of options and creative things you can do off the split game after the fake handoff.
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Utah Jazz: Horns Out Corner Get
Great set here working in the get off the ball rather than from the passer catches ballside corner defender sleeping. Creates a 2v1 at the rim with a high level rim runner in Gobert.
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Appreciate the share again my man!
Ridiculous set by Creighton out of Horns
Moving and confusing the defense, while creating a driving gap
🔥🔥🔥
(Via @HarrConnor 🎥)
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Milano: UCLA Ricky
Great way to create a double gap drive for a guard. Also great setup into a reject off a middle P&R.
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2 great sets from Northern Iowa
1- Typical Horns ball screen the diagonal cut from opp side big creates a HUGE 2v1 numerical advantage off hedge
2- 5 out look into reverse angle screen. The 2 side baseline cut makes this play, turning into an extremely difficult single tag
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Nice Set here from the Sacramento Kings
Utilizing the Away Split Game off the Elbow Catch into the Baseline Exit Screen for 3
The Exit Screen is a great way to attack switching D off the ball as it places the screener in a perfect position to "Screen His Own"
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Another high level set from Penn State
Still utilizing a backscreen slip from the shooter as a screener for 3. Rather than ending with the inside handoff (posted yesterday), screener slips the post rip off the cross screen into a downscreen from the 5 man entering into post.
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With the first NBA Summer League Games starting tomorrow... Here's a thread of some the better sets I saw last year
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Nice inverted ball screen set here from Penn State. Utilizing the opposite side stagger to occupy help.
Ran a counter shortly after where they go DHO with big to guard, big skipped opposite out of short roll for an open look.
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Ghost Flare is 1 of the more common actions (usually out of Horns) with ghost screener coming from a horizontal angle
An impressive wrinkle following the middle ball screen with the ghost from a vertical angle clearing out the entire side with a baseline exit screen
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Creighton: Hi-Lo
Nice way to steal a layup attacking a mismatch. Easy plug in if you have some diamond or box alignments or some floppy sets.
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Kansas has been enjoyable to watch. Running some very modern concepts/actions. Here's one of my favorite sets they've utilized so far with a ton of motion into a shallow cut then step up P&R on the flip. Great stuff, more coming on them throughout the week. Very refreshing.
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The Wizards have been the team I have enjoyed the most recently going through Summer League games. Here's an ATO from them flaring the help off an elbow drive.
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Brooklyn Nets: Spain Exit
Nice wrinkle out of the Spain P&R from the Nets back in 19-20. Slipping the second screener out of the stack early for an exit screen.
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Nice set that the Jazz have been going to a lot recently.
21 look with an inverted uphill handoff (small to big)
Great action to utilize against a slow footed big or a switch with a dynamic downhill driver with size.
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I've covered the concept of Ghosting the Switch & putting opposing big in a ghost screen once switch occurs.
Penn State takes it a step further combining the ghost with the boomerang pass back to the ball handler & the 45 cut to free up space for action
HIGH level stuff
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Out of all the Offenses in D1, SMU is my favorite so far. Why? 36.3 PPG in Transition
-Advance on pass
-Look Early & Opposite
-Great races up the floor
-No holds (key to keeping advantage)
D is most vulnerable in transition & long closeouts this allows you to attack both
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My last offseason film binge is the Miami Heat.
Going back all the way to the bubble for this. Opening ATO playing out of the Pop off the step up picking on Jokic to get Duncan Robinson an open 3.
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The Utah Jazz utilizes one of my favorite concepts for a shooter to attack a switch.
As Wiseman loads up to the roll off the switch. His man (Utah's 5) flashes from opp corner to elbow. As the shooter high on 2 side sprints into the pitch while ball is in the air.
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Nice decoy here from the San Antonio Spurs in last years play in game in order to set up the ES Flare.
Love the Empty Side Flare especially when countering teams that play with a less mobile big or a way to utilize a non shooter offensively. Tons of versatility with that action
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Thread of some random offensive ideas I liked from the beginning of the NBA Season / Preseason this year
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Utah Jazz: Skips to Non Shooting Bigs on the Perimeter
One of my favorite things to watch this year was how the Jazz leveraged non shooters in their offense.
Punishing the defense's gameplan by sinking/not matching & using the early skip to initiate action
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Nice opening ATO from the Brisbane Bullets
Utilizing the decoy ES Spain P&R to set up the lob on the second side.
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X's & O's Thread of what has been catching my eye recently (international + NBA preseason edition)
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Another thread of some offensive ideas from the NBA mostly in the beginning of the regular season.
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Nothern Iowa: Horns Flare Ricky
A subtle tweak on a very common action across all levels setting up a guard to get downhill & potential numerical advantage off the roll or pop. Great stuff.
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One of my favorites from the Thunder this preseason.
Playing out of Horns Out (Cut Clip a little late) go to the common backscreen to wide pin off it.
ES Get, big keeps as they pin in for guard coming out of the initial backscreen.
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From someone that eats, sleeps, & breathes hoops, West Liberty is the place to be. The basketball experience is 2nd to none.
Excited to call the hilltop my permanent home.
Grateful for the opportunity. Wouldn’t happen without all the hardwork success & from our players & staff!
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Nice opening ATO here from Penn State. Utilizing this STS action. Great for a downhill driver vs non switching D. Have a variety of interesting sets that they run.
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I’m very excited to announce that I will be embarking on the next step of my coaching journey. I will be moving to West Liberty University as a student assistant! Big thanks to @mlamberti24 & Coach Howlett for the opportunity! Very excited to become a Topper & be in Wheeling!
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Misdirection set out of Horns from Northeastern that I liked to set up an empty side flare. Like the rub look & how the flare screener is involved in multiple actions before ending action.
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Fired up to be a Jag & in the basketball state!
Even more excited to be working with all these players & my friend/mentor Coach Howlett!
Nothing beats playing/coaching in the system! Going to be a fun season!
Incredibly grateful for this opportunity!
.@IUIndy_MBB announced the additions of 2⃣ staff members on Thursday.
Welcome aboard @HarrConnor and @Dan_Monteroso.
#HLMBB #LetsGoJags
Story---> bit.ly/4kWCIIa
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Drexel: Shallow Cut Rejects
Pretty creative action. Utilizing this wing to wing shallow cut to attack a double gap off a designed reject. Utilizing this action out of a slot to slot flip and wide screen away out of 5 out.
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Fenerbache: Stagger Ghost Follow
Great set to attack a single tag really puts the tagger in a bind by forcing him to defend a ghost screen then immediately having to tag an aggressive roll to the rim. Pace is everything in this action.
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Pair of sets from the Houston Rockets to set up an empty side flare. ES flares are a great way to attack non switching D off Ball
1. Elbow 45 Wheel - The blocker-mover staple and is still popular in many sets today
2. Iverson Rip Flare - Great extension to a very popular set
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Wrapping up Yr. 3 on the Hilltop. 33-4 National Runner Up, Conference & Regional Champions.
This group was truly special & I’m honored to get the opportunity to work with them everyday.
The basketball experience & support at West Liberty is rare to find.
Thank you!
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Death, Taxes, and continuing to find creative ways to skip into Blind Handoffs with shooters from Walker Kessler
The Utah Jazz Offense
And I love every second of it
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Zalgiris with a great aggressive coverage attack combining a shallow cut from an elite shooter with this empty side step up to free up a roll to the rim with no help.
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Creighton Early O: Ghost Screens with Shooters
One thing Creighton does that I’ve always thought you should incorporate especially at collegiate level, if you are using ghost screens is to play around with cutting automatics. Easiest one to implement would be cut 1 pass away
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Been a few months since I threw some X's & O's on Twitter
Random Thread of Kenny Atkinson Nets Offensive Notes of things that intrigued me
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Another set that I liked from OKC Thunder in Preseason.
Playing off the Middle Ghost + 45 and Flashing into ES Get.
This is great to run for an elite shooter & their gravity could potentially open up a short roll game. Something to think about for EOQ/EOG too.
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Nice action to incorporate for a shooter from Marquette 3 years ago. From a motion week setup but could be utilized in any cross screen set.
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Nice Double Gap Set off the Chicago action from Barcelona here, set up nicely with the fake ball screen in order to move the 5 into a great spot for the dump down. Great way to attack a team with two bigs if you have a skilled 4-5.
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Charlotte Hornets: Chicago Ghost Flare
I have covered the ES Flare Action pretty extensively over the past couple of weeks and how it can be a great way to attack non switching defenses especially out of this delay catch.
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The Touch Screen
- Early O Attack (Corner to Wing)
- Switch attack to get great position
- Opens up short roll to create numerical adv or a switch for a size adv
- Easy flow into next action (Hi-Lo, Gets, Opp side splits)
-Counters neutral O state late clock (middle touches)
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Rawle Alkins & Elie Okobo. Alkins was absolutely phenomenal today in drills. Looked quicker than he was in college & slimmer as well. Fantastic defensively.
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Olympiacos: Stagger Touch Series
-Touch-Step Up
- Touch-Veer
- Touch-Veer-ES Get
High-level stuff from one of the best offenses in the EuroLeague and my personal favorite to watch. Will have a ton more coming on them very soon.
Love the Concept of Veering off the touch
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Ghost Flare Variations: Fort Wayne Mad Ants
A common linked action you see out Horns
Here FW changes that alignment for both the ghost & flare screener.
Great tweak in 1st clip side clears early & in 2nd, PG drives middle attacking rim-protecting big as corner clears late
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I'm always a sucker for a well executed Hi-Lo or Duck in set. Here's a couple from Creighton in their Big East Tournament game versus Marquette. (Creighton will always be on the shortlist of great offensive studies in D1 basketball)
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Great set from the Sydney Kings. Combining the 45 cut with an uphill ghost screen from shooter in the corner. High level stuff.
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Drexel: Shuffle Chicago Flare
Another creative action here from Drexel to a very common staple in college basketball. The shuffle series commonly ending in a STS or Stagger. Nice way to create a single tag and punish nail help in the gap.
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Sets from Purdue last night playing off some unique concepts
1:Playing off the Chicago action off the elbow catch going directly into another of the same
2: Diagonal cut from opp elbow creating single tag from horns out of weave
3: Gut pin freeing up space with 1st cutter
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An absolute killer set from Maccabi Tel Aviv here.
Elite floor balance attacking the ICE in order to set up the high single side tag with the ball handler attacking short side of the floor off angle flip.
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Barcelona: Iverson UCLA RIP STS
Great execution on this quick hitter from Barcelona. Probably a nice add if you have some Iverson sets or are looking for new ways to score off a post touch.
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One of my favorite sets from the Spanish NT team I have seen twice now this summer. Stagger away to get into this isolated side backscreen for the passer from the elbow.
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Heck of an opening ATO from the Hornets in their last game vs the Knicks. Backscreen into the ram, Washington does a great job sprinting into the screen arriving alone. Tight downscreen off the ram to occupy the tag. Good stuff.
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Last year, Ulm was one of my favorite teams to watch. Here's a look at one of their elbow actions they ran heavily in their preseason game against Efes
A few elbow actions from Ratiopharm Ulm. I'll be looking at some of their actions in greater detail within my newsletter this Saturday. Lots of great stuff in their offense.
- Elbow Away
-Elbow Stagger
- Elbow Fake HO Over
-Elbow Backdoor
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Really nice set from the Wizards SL team to open up the second half utilizing this ball side shallow cut after the 2 side backdoor creating the 2 on the ball advantage in order to open up a wide open 3
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Many teams are playing out of a flip from a trailer to a dynamic downhill driver with size as an early O option.
Great read/wrinkle to add from the Sydney Kings. Take the next handoff & covert it into an inverted ball screen with a single side perimeter player off the overplay
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Another look at one of my favorite sets from Zalgiris this year. This time hitting the single side tag who gets downhill for a floater.
Zalgiris UCLA Spanoulis
Zalgiris opened the quarter in their last game with this. The Spanoulis action can be extremely hard to guard and can create easy advantages. With many colleges using the 1-4 high alignment, this is an action to add for a downhill driver and rim runner
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Love this one from Barcelona combining the shallow cut + flare out of the zoom to create a single tag vs aggressive coverage on the rescreen. Really good stuff.
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High level Hammer Set from the Memphis Grizzlies
Combining the ES Flare for a Shooter (Very Effective Action) & pairing the hammer with a 45 cut.
Great Stuff
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Ghost screen to step up is a very common linked action.
Personally like it a lot vs aggressive ball screen coverages.
That's what Gran Canaria does here vs the show twirling the stagger into the ghost, immediately followed by a slipped step up screen for an easy finish
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Interesting set here from the Hornets for a shooter. Starts like your basic shuffle off the wing entry, as ball is entered to post the setup appears to be the popular short corner pin. Utilized as a decoy, as shooter pops back through the middle. Good stuff.
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Beautiful opening ATO from the Memphis Grizzlies to set up a speed roll to attack Utah's Drop Coverage.
Memphis always does a great job with their floor balance on ATO's to attack coverages. Especially with single tag scenarios like this.
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One of my favorites from an earlier Weekly X's & O"S Video.
18-19 Hornets combining this middle ghost screen with a shallow cut from the corner. A creative way to create a double, but can also set up a hammer on the drive for the ghost screener.
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Polish National team with a very nice stagger flare set here. Identical to the ASVEL set @SlappinGlass posted a while back just with a little more false motion. Love the idea that both teams utilize of hitting that opposite side flare off the drive to the nail
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Going to be sharing some old sets that I’ve liked in years past over the next couple weeks.
Here’s a great double gap set off a stagger away from the NZ Breakers
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Houston Rockets SL: Ghost Follow ES Step
Heck of an Opening ATO from the Rockets last night. Great job by using Jabari Smith to attack the tag with the shallow cut right through the middle of the floor freeing up the lob. High level stuff.
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Indiana Pacers: Ghost Ram Touch
Do not convert on the layup here but still a great way to attack a switching defense.
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One of my favorites from the 21-22 Minnesota Timberwolves.
Great way to get a dynamic driver going downhill.
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MEC regular season and conference tournament champs! Incredibly proud of our guys! Regionals here we come!
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Sydney Kings with a great counter to the ever popular Iverson RIP set. After hitting the opposite side elbow AI cutter pins in the big looking to protect the curl to the rim.
This game was one of the better games I watched this year at any level. Would highly recommend watching
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Heck of an opening ATO from 16-17 Clippers.
Not only a great set for a shooter but a great way to attack the hedge on Paul-DJ step up.
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Ohio State scored 31 points off ballscreen possessions yesterday vs Ill. St. & really picked on their hedge.
One of my favorite sets OSU has is this pitch set looking for a swing back into a step up. Great way to get ball handler downhill. Really extends 2 side vs hedge.
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