Quick Hitter – Bibby’s Game Clinching Three | NBA Playbook

Quick Hitter – Bibby’s Game Clinching Three

With the Hawks holding a three point lead with forty seconds left, the Hawks were looking for a game clinching bucket.  The possession before, the Hawks ran an ISO for Jamal Crawford and came away with nothing.  So coming out of a timeout, you were hoping the Hawks wouldn’t have settled for another ISO.  At first, it looked like they were going to.  Josh Smith got the ball on the wing and it looked like the Hawks were just going to let him work, but that isn’t what happened:

1

We pick up the play eight seconds in, and by this time Mike Bibby has already worked his way to the block.  Josh Smith has had the ball for most of these eight seconds, and it looks like it is going to be another ISO.  However, the difference is the movement off of the basketball.  When Bibby gets to the block, he stops to set a screen for Jamal Crawford who is on his way to the corner.

2

Once Crawford clears Bibby, Bibby quickly shoots out on a straight line from the rim to the top of the key.  What really makes this play work is the fact that Bibby gets two down screens from both Hawks’ bigs at the elbow.

3

Once Bibby makes it through the two Hawk bigs, they pinch.  This forces Chris Duhon, the man covering Bibby, to go curl around both screens.

4

Duhon’s curl is the reason why he is slightly late on his closeout of Bibby.  That lateness is what allows Bibby to get off and knock down a clean look from three.  Here is the play in real time:

The key here is the pinch from the bigs. If they don’t pinch, Duhon could easily trail Bibby through the screens. Because they pinch, Duhon is forced to go around them, and that is what allows Bibby to get off a clean look.

07
Dec 2010
POSTED BY Sebastian Pruiti
POSTED IN Atlanta Hawks Quick Hitter
DISCUSSION 9 Comments
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  • Handel13

    That's just bad defense by Duhon. If he had stayed in Bibby's back pocket then the screeners would probably have picked up a blocking foul. At least, Bibby would not have gotten such a clean look.

  • Handel13

    That’s just bad defense by Duhon. If he had stayed in Bibby’s back pocket then the screeners would probably have picked up a blocking foul. At least, Bibby would not have gotten such a clean look.

  • JW

    in the nba this is called “america's play”…nice execution

  • JW

    in the nba this is called “america’s play”…nice execution

  • http://twitter.com/heyjoe_ Yijiao Fan

    maybe if it was a 1 man screen. the hawks bigs didn't have to move their feet to “pinch” and the refs would've had a real hard time calling that an illegal screen. i think duhon would've gotten there later than he did had he tried to fight through the gap. maybe if an orlando big cleared some room he'd have made it out faster or drawn a foul by forcing the screener to move laterally.

  • http://twitter.com/heyjoe_ Yijiao Fan

    maybe if it was a 1 man screen. the hawks bigs didn’t have to move their feet to “pinch” and the refs would’ve had a real hard time calling that an illegal screen. i think duhon would’ve gotten there later than he did had he tried to fight through the gap. maybe if an orlando big cleared some room he’d have made it out faster or drawn a foul by forcing the screener to move laterally.

  • Handel13

    perhaps, but i really think that if Duhon had reacted better and trailed closely he would have made it through the double screen.

  • Handel13

    perhaps, but i really think that if Duhon had reacted better and trailed closely he would have made it through the double screen.

  • Handel13

    perhaps, but i really think that if Duhon had reacted better and trailed closely he would have made it through the double screen.