Quick Hitter Sets Up Dudley For Three | NBA Playbook

Quick Hitter Sets Up Dudley For Three

With the game tied at 80 (and before the Suns threw their small ball lineup out there), the Suns were inbounding the ball out of the corner, on the sideline.  This is a pretty tough place to get a play run from, but the Suns get a pretty good look by giving Jared Dudley some options:

After making the inbound pass, Dudley looks as if he is going to come off of an Amar’e screen and make a cut to the middle of the paint.  Richard Jefferson sees this and he decides to go over the top of the screen to try and beat him to the middle.  Now is this the right move?  I don’t know, to me it seems like he didn’t want to fight through the screen.

Dudley recognizes what Jefferson is doing and immediately counters by just popping out to the three point line, making himself available for the pass.  This is another problem with how Jefferson played this, Dudley is a very good three point shooter.  If you got a guy who can’t shoot, I can live with going over the screen, but here Richard Jefferson is basically giving Dudley a free pass to pop out beyond the three point line.

He makes the catch and knocks down the three.  Here it is in real time from a pretty cool angle.

06
May 2010
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POSTED IN 2010 Playoffs 4th Quarters Phoenix Suns
DISCUSSION 6 Comments
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  • Marquez

    That’s just a good read by Dudley. He read how Jefferson tried to defend the screen and made the right cut … pop out for the three. If Jefferson had tried to fight through the screen, Dudley could have curled around and been wide open at the free throw line giving him an easy look or forcing the weak side defenders to help, leaving the other shooters wide open. Great spacing and great execution by Los Suns. Great work on the blog, it’s one of my favorites!

  • malamegio12

    this is a bad play from jefferson cause the suns player with the ball has no one to pass to at the middle from where dudley could get a pass right under the basket.
    if that was the case you would understand why jefferson chose to go under (well its ‘over’) the screen in this case.

  • nikko

    looks complex but for an NBA player this is (or should be) an easy read. jefferson had to make a choice. i would definitely let someone take a three rather than a layup i had a hunch there would be bad help defense. then again, i would have to trust my help too. depends on your confidence in your teammates

  • wldct1323

    how about Jefferson play some real defense and not turn his head to his man? Then he could’ve staid with Dudley wherever he went. That’s terrible D.

  • Marquez

    Looking at the video again, Dudley could have split the two defenders who tried to contest his shot with a bounce pass to Stoudemire who was wide open with no one between him and the basket.

  • Sebastian Pruiti

    You are right, most teams would hit the big man there, but the Suns game is to take a three point shot in that spot. They way the Suns think about it is, if Dudley misses, then Stoudemire is right there to grab the uncontested rebound. Good point though, and thanks for the comment.