My Favorite Sets is a weekly series looking at some of my favorite plays from the 2009-2010 and breaking them down using FastModel’s FastDraw program, and then showing you what it looks like live.

Deadball situations  late in games are my favorite to watch, because it is basically a coaching version of 1 on 1.  You got both coaches trying to anticipate what the other is doing and reacting to that.  Watching this battle go down live shows you what a coach is made of (in terms of Xs and Os), and if a coach can get his team an open look, that shows you he knows what he is doing with the clipboard.  Here are a few that I really liked from this past season:

Spurs Free Up Roger Mason

Against the Cavs, the Spurs found themselves down by three points with about nine seconds left.  Needing both a quick hitter and a three pointer the Spurs were able to free up one of their better shooters, Roger Mason:

Box 1 - George Hill gets a brush screen from Roger Mason to get him to the corner, while Manu Ginobili flashes to the midpost, looking for the basketball.  After Hill clears Mason, Mason comes off of a Tim Duncan screen, looking to free him up on the outside.  Jefferson triggers the ball to Ginobili, who is in the midpost area.

Box 2 - Mason looks like he is going to run into the ball-side corner and get the short pass from Manu Ginobili.  However, Mason quickly changes directions and gets a second Tim Duncan screen as he returns to the area he came from.  Ginobili now hits him with the long pass.

Box 3 - Mason gets the ball and he is wide open at the top of the key.  He takes the shot, but misses.

Even though Mason misses, I think this was my favorite dead-ball play of the year.  Here is the play in real time, and pay attention to how Mason’s defender plays him.  He comes over the first screen hard and tries to beat him to the spot, that style just play into the Spurs’ hands.

Grizzlies Start A Late Run

The Memphis Grizzlies were trailing the Toronto Raptors by five points with around 35 seconds left.  They needed to get a quick three with more than 24 seconds left (so they didn’t have to foul on the next defensive position):

Box 1 – With Rudy Gay inbounding the basketball, O.J. Mayo sets a quick downscreen for Zach Randolph.  The purpose of the downscreen is to free up Randolph so he can make the catch.

Box 2 – Randolph takes a quick dribble to the wing, and gives it to Mayo with a dribble handoff.  Right after handing it off, Randolph hits Mayo’s man with a screen. 

Box 3 – Mayo is now wide open for the three point shot, bringing the Grizzlies within two points.

What I liked about this play that the Grizzlies drew up was that they knew they had to go quick, so they didn’t do anything too fancy.  Get the ball into Randolph and run a dribble handoff.  If Mayo misses, so be it, but at least the coaching staff gave the team a chance to succeed by getting a shot at the rim.  Mayo drills the three, and because the Grizzlies got the shot off so quick, they didn’t have to foul at the other end.  After a stop, they tie the game and eventually win in overtime.

The Lakers Get The Ball To Kobe Late

When the Lakers are down or the game is tied it is obvious they want to get the ball in Kobe’s hands.  When play is going on, this is easy because they can just give him the ball and let him bring it up.  In dead-ball situations, it is a lot tougher because teams get to set up their defense to specifically stop Kobe.  Despite this, Phil Jackson is still able to get the ball to Kobe in these situations:

Box 1 - Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol are stacked up on the ball side block with Derek Fisher on the top of the key.  Pau Gasol flashes from the low block position to the three point line to make himself available for the basketball.  After Artest inbounds the basketball, he uses a backscreen from Kobe to get himself to the opposite corner

Box 2 – Gasol makes the catch, and after he does, Lamar Odom sets a back screen for Derek Fisher.  This action keeps the defense honest and forces them to pay attention to someone other than Kobe Bryant.  Gasol pump fakes and gets the ball to Kobe who flashed to the wing after setting a screen for Artest.

Box 3 – Bryant now has the basketball, and look at where the rest of the Lakers are positioned.  That is the beauty of this play, as it turns into an ISO set.  The defense is so far away, they can’t get a double there in time, and it allows Kobe to dribble to the corner and knock down a buzzer beater.

With all eyes on Kobe Bryant late, it really tells you something about Phil Jackson’s coaching ability that he finds a way to ISO Kobe one on one without a double team.  The backscreen for Derek Fisher not only keeps the defense honest, but clears everyone away from Kobe and makes it harder to double team him.  Here is the play in real time (the first 20 or so seconds):

Pistons’ Under The Basket Play

The Nets and the Pistons were tied with about 45 seconds left, and the Pistons found themselves in a strange situation, they were running a play under their own basket.  Usually when you have a late game dead-ball situation, it is from the sideline, however John Kuester was faced with the challenge of getting a basket from underneath it:

Box 1 – The Detroit Pistons line up in a box set and the first thing that you notice is that Ben Wallace is all the way out behind the three point line.  The reason behind it is because it pulls the Nets’ center, Brook Lopez out of the lane, setting up their play.  When Richard Hamilton gets the basketball to inbound it, Jason Maxiell sprints from the opposite block to the corner.  As that happens Rodney Stuckey, comes down from his elbow spot and sets a backscreen for Tayshaun Prince.

Box 2 – Prince uses the backscreen to cut to the basket and get the lob pass from Richard Hamilton. 

Teams don’t really find themselves in a position where they need to get a quick basket from their own baseline, so I am pretty sure Kuester didn’t have this one in his bag of tricks.  That means he probably drew it up on the fly, and it was a successful play.  The thing I like most is that he takes his two big men and puts them out of the paint, this takes the Nets’ big men out of the paint as well, making the lob easier.  In addition to that, he uses a PG to set the screen, allowing Prince to use his height as an advantage at the rim.  Here is the play in real time: