My Favorite Sets: Backdoor Lob Plays
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.
Today we are going to look at some of my favorite lob plays that took place over the past season. Lob plays are important, because baskets are really hard to come by in the NBA, so if you can get a backdoor lob at the rim, you take advantage of it. Not only that, but a perfectly run lob play can get the crowd going or take a crowd out of it, depending on where you are playing.
Setting Up Rodrigue Beaubois For A Lob
This might be my favorite play out of them all. Here, you have Jason Kidd bringing the basketball up with the rest of the Mavericks’ players in a box set. Dirk Nowitzki sets a down screen for Rodrigue Beaubois who flashes to the top of the key to receive the basketball. After making the pass, Jason Kidd runs the baseline coming off of two screens, one set by Dirk and one set by Caron Butler. Finally Jason Kidd comes off of a screen set by Shawn Marion, and gets the ball on the wing. After passing it, Beaubois uses a Dirk Nowitzki backscreen to get to the rim and receive the pass from Kidd. Beaubois makes the catch and finishes strong with the dunk.
The beauty of this play is that it is Dirk Nowitzki setting the final back screen for Beaubois. That means the Dallas Mavericks are guaranteeing that there will not be any backside help coming from the screener’s man. Because if the defender comes off of Dirk and hedges on the backdoor cut, Dirk simply pops open at the three point line. Here is the play in real time:
This is a great play for Dallas to run at home. As you can see, it is the first possession of the second half, and the goal of the play is to get the crowd going again by seeing a lob to the smallest guy on the court.
Outside Threat Frees Up Dwight
A lot of what the Orlando Magic run is based off of an inside-outside type of game. Surround Dwight with four shooters, give it inside, wait for the double, and let him kick it out. Here, you see the exact opposite. You have the Magic using their outside threat to free up a lob on the inside.
This play comes off of an offensive rebound, and things are a little scattered, but you can still see the basis of it. The two Orlando Magic players on Dwight Howard’s side flash to the other side. This allows Vince Carter to come from the weakside and use Dwight Howard as a screen. Carter flashes hard to the basketball, forcing his defender to respect it and deny. The lane is now clear, and Dwight Howard receives a lob from Jameer Nelson. Here is the play in real time:
This play relies on the fact that the Orlando Magic know that defenders won’t come off of their shooters. This means there is a lot less weakside help than you would normally see defenses use, and the Magic are able to take advantage of this.
Richard Jefferson Lob
In the past, we talked about how much more successful Richard Jefferson was when cutting to the basket last season. This is one of the ways that the San Antonio Spurs were able to achieve that. Here, Tony Parker uses a screen from Tim Duncan and executes a dribble hand off with George Hill. After handing it off to Hill, Parker cuts all the way to the weakside of the court. As this happens, Antonio McDyess and Tim Duncan switch places and McDyess sets a screen for Hill. Hill uses the screen and quickly gets the ball to Richard Jefferson.
Jefferson receives the pass and quickly gets it to Parker who is now on the wing. After making the pass, Jefferson starts to flash as if he was going to the corner, to set up his man and the screen. Jefferson quickly changes direction and uses the screen to cut back door. Tony Parker throws him the lob, and Jefferson finishes with the dunk. Here is the play in real time:
Despite the age and the injuries, Richard Jefferson can still get up and finish strong. Jefferson was very successful cutting off of the basketball, and plays like these are just one reason why.
Rondo’s Buzzer Beater
Here, the Boston Celtics trail by 2 points with 0.6 seconds left. There is enough time for a catch and shoot, but that is tough, so you want to try and get something going towards the rim, and that is exactly what the Celtics do. This play is a quick hitter that works because the Celtics use the threat of Ray Allen knocking down a catch and shoot three to clear the backside for a lob. Here, Ray Allen flashes out to the three point line. As that happens, Rajon Rondo gets a Kendrick Perkins screen and curls it right to the basket. He gets the pass and finishes at the rim. Here is the play in real time:
You are never going to leave Ray Allen open here, so his man has to follow him out on his flash. Again, the offense knows this is going to happen, and they basically set up their play as a counter off of it.
