Movement Away From The Ball Frees Up Space For Lithuania’s Roll Man | NBA Playbook

Movement Away From The Ball Frees Up Space For Lithuania’s Roll Man

We already know that Lithuania loves their pick and rolls, as they ran it 30+ times in at least two (and quite possibly a few more) of their games in this EuroBasket.  Fighting for seeding, Lithuania needed a win and late in the game they found themselves trying to pull away from Germany.  To do that, they used the pick and roll.  However, it was some movement away from the pick and roll that freed up Jonas Valanciunas for his two big dunks on the roll to the rim:

We pick up this possession as Jonas Valanciunas gets in position to set a ball screen for his teammate.  Valanciunas’ defender, Chris Kaman, is going to step up and hedge on the screen, relying on his teammate’s help defense in the corner to try and stop Valanciunas as he rolls to the rim.

The German defender in the corner is in good position to get in Valanciunas’ way and keep him from catching a lob.  However, because his man moves from the corner to the wing (essentially spotting up for a three point shot), he has to follow him.

That flash from the corner to the wing from Lithuania is enough to get the defender in the corner providing help out of position and give Valanciunas enough space to load up and jump for the lob.

With nobody in front of him, Valanciunas is able to get to the rim, make the catch, and flush home the lob.  Here is the play in real time:

This little movement from the corner to the wing is all about timing.  If that player flashes too late, he doesn’t draw the help out in time.  As you can see, he doesn’t need to chase the corner player all the way out to the wing, he just has to move him a little bit, and that is exactly what happens.  This wasn’t the only time Lithuania ran this little movement, proving this was an adjustment more than it was a random happening.  Here is another look:

The fact that the defender has to watch the man in the corner and try to keep him from getting a wide open look as the roll man heads to the rim freezes him just enough.  Remember, this is coming on the heels of France absolutely destroying their pick and roll offense with strong, effective, and quick rotations.  This movement from the corner to the wing as the roll man heads to the rim is a nice adjustment that seems to be made with the semifinals, or even finals, in mind (where they could play Spain or France).

12
Sep 2011
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