In the NBA, it can be hard to score against an opponent’s half court defense. Because of that, teams want to get out and run at just about every opportunity they get. However, if you try to get out on the break no organization, chaos ensues and you end up looking like the Golden State Warriors.
Despite the way the fast break looks, there are a lot of strategy that goes into them and there are a lot of key decisions that need to be made quickly. There are a couple steps that teams need to take to make sure they are effective when running fast breaks:
1) The Outlet Pass
In my opinion, a good outlet pass is the key to a fast break. If the rebounder can get the ball out to the point guard on the run, you got the makings of a fast break because the point guard doesn’t have to slow down to make the catch and he can put pressure on the defense. A bad outlet pass can force a point guard to break his momentum to make the catch, and that allows the defense to get back on defense.
In my opinion, Kevin Love is the best outlet passer in the NBA. He can start a fast break on his own, just by making a terrific pass out to one of his quicker teammates:
If you are a good outside shooter playing in the NBA, you are going to garner attention from opposing defenses. So much so that it may be hard get yourself free for an open look on your own. Your a good shooter though, and your team wants you to shoot the ball, so that is why they send screeners your way.
You can’t just run off the screen. You have to set them up, run off of them correctly, and come off the screen in a way that you can make your catch and get the shot off quickly. There are three guys in the NBA right now who do this really well, and they are J.J. Redick, Kyle Korver, and Ray Allen. We are going to use their video clips to see how to properly set up screens and use them to get open looks.
The Set Up
Defenders know that if they are covering a good shooter, they are going to have to deal with off the ball screens. They are looking for these screens, and if they see them early it is very easy to get around them. That is why the offensive player using the screen needs to set up his defender. There are a few different ways that you can do this.
Walk Defender Down
This is something that Kyle Korver does very well. What he likes to do is walk his defender to the block (lulling him to sleep and putting him in a position that makes the screen easy. Korver quickly changes speeds, and cuts off the screen into a open area for the shot.
If there is one flaw in Derrick Rose’s tremendous game, it is his jump shot. In his first two seasons, Rose’s jumper from the free throw line extended and out was so inconsistent (especially off the dribble), that it never was considered a threat. The reason a jump shot is so important for a player like Rose is because if he has a respectable jumper, defenders can’t just sit back and pack the lane.
By all accounts, Rose has focused on improving his jumper this offseason. Rose showed off the results of his hard work to a number of campers, and Docksquard Sports was able to obtain the video (link via TrueHoop). Here are a couple jumpers off of the dribble:
When looking at his form, a few things really stick out. The first being his wide base when rising up to attempt the jump shot:
Over the past six days, I was able to take a look at six of the ten (the number keeps changing, but I am pretty sure it is set at 10 right now) players that are coming to the NBA from overseas. Here is the list of them in case you missed any:
I hope you guys enjoyed learning about the players coming over as I did writing these reports. In addition to learning about some of the new guys coming to the NBA, I think I developed a respect for European/International basketball that I didn’t have before. From the games that I have seen in a few different leagues shows me that the quality of basketball has gotten very good, so if you get a chance to watch some international basketball, don’t pass it up.
I seriously had a blast doing these scouting reports, but it is probably time to move on and look at some other NBA-related topics. Check back later today for some new content.
By my count, there are eight players coming to the NBA after spending at least a year playing overseas. Throughout the week we are going to look at each player’s individual game one by one, to see what we can expect from them this year in the NBA.
Kevin Seraphin was drafted by the Chicago Bulls with the 17th pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. His rights were immediately traded to the Washington Wizards. The 20 year old Seraphin is making the jump to the NBA this year as the Wizards and his French League team Cholet came to a buyout agreement.
This is a surprising move in my opinion, because I was expecting to see the somewhat raw Seraphin get another year of seasoning with Cholet Basket (Seraphin was starting to see more minutes with the French League winners, even starting a few games towards the end of the season). To me, the reason seems to be that the Wizards want to be the ones developing Seraphin, rather than hoping that he gets minutes with Cholet.
Strengths
Athleticism
Kevin Seraphin is a very athletic big man for his size, and he uses that athleticism pretty well. The two instances where you really see Seraphin’s athleticism stand out is when he runs the floor and when he rebounds. When rebounding, Seraphin covers a lot of ground from when the shot goes up to when the rebound is available. He is usually out of position when the shot goes up, but his athletic ability allows him to “go get it.”
