Play 3 (1 Point) – Lionel Hollins/Memphis Grizzlies

This play starts with the Memphis Grizzlies bringing the basketball down the court and once Greivis Vasquez gets into position, Darrell Arthur sets a pindown screen for O.J. Mayo.  After Mayo comes off of his pinrown, Arthur comes off of a cross screen set by Marc Gasol.  Arthur comes off the screen open, makes the catch, and knocks down the jumper.

Play 2 (2 Points) – Avery Johnson/New Jersey Nets

Here, Jordan Farmar brings up the basketball and it looks like the Nets are setting up a series of screens for Sasha Vujacic to come off of so he can get a good look off of a catch and shoot situation.  However, instead of coming off of a Humphries pindown screen, Vujacic sets a backscreen for Humphries, who gets a lob at the rim.

Play 1 (3 Points) – Nate McMillan/Portland Trailblazers

Now on Saturday, I talked about how the Spurs’ defensive strategy was the main reason why Portland was able to come away with the game winning lob, but that shouldn’t take away from what the Trailblazers did here.  The fake screen from Batum crosses up the Spurs enough that they are able to get the lob. Also, McMillan was smart enough to send Aldridge to the corner, pulling his man away from the rim and keeping him from helping out on the lob.

Updated Standings (Previous)

1. Doc Rivers – 36 points (1st)
2. Erik Spoelstra – 30 points (2nd)
3. Gregg Popovich – 21 points (3rd)
4. Monty Williams – 18 points (4th)
5. Rick Carlisle – 13 points (5th)
6. Frank Vogel – 12 points (6th)
7. Phil Jackson – 12 points (7th)
8. Alvin Gentry –  11 points (8th)
9. Tom Thibodeau – 10 points (9th)
10. Rick Adelman – 9 points (10th)
11. Nate McMillan – 9 points (11th)
12. Avery Johnson – 8 points (14th)
13. Larry Drew – 6 points (12th)
14. Scott Brooks – 6 points (13th)
15. Jay Triano – 5 points (15th)
16. Jerry Sloan – 4 points (16th)
17. Ty Corbin – 4 points (17th)
18. Lionel Hollins – 4 points (18th)
19. Doug Collins – 3 point (19th)
20. George Karl – 3 points (20th)
21. Scott Skiles – 3 points (21st)
22. Mike D’Antoni – 3 points (22nd)
23. Byron Scott – 2 points (23rd)
24. Stan Van Gundy – 2 points (24th)
25. Flip Saunders – 2 points (25th)
26. Paul Silas – 1 point (26th)
27. John Kuester – 1 point (27th)
28. Keith Smart – 1 point (28th)
29. Vinny Del Negro – 1 point (29th)

Nate McMillan uses his game winning play to tie Rick Adelman for 10th place.  Avery Johnson hops two spots to to 12th while Lionel Hollins stays put at 18.

As the ball goes to the trigger man, Sundiata Gaines, Darren Collison is covering him, playing off with his back towards the baseline.  The reason he is doing this is to prevent any pass to the corner.  The Nets start their play with Jordan Farmer curling to the opposite corner.

As Farmar is in the middle of his curl, Anthony Morrow comes off of a Brook Lopez screen, cutting to the corner.  After Morrow uses Lopez’s screen, Sasha Vujacic uses that same screen to flash to the top of the key.

The screen by Lopez is an effective one, and Brandon Rush, the man covering Vujacic, gets caught up in the screen.  This means that Vujacic has a good chance of being open.  This is because you have Roy Hibbert protecting the paint with the other two defenders chasing shooters.

With Vujacic open, Gaines makes the pass to him.  It looks like Vujacic is going to get a clean look at the game tying three, but Collison has other ideas.  Collison recognizes what is going on, and as soon as the ball is in the air, he jumps Vujacic.

Collison’s quick reaction, which is due to the fact that he was aware of what was going on, allows him to contest Vujacic’s shot, forcing a pretty bad miss.

Collison not only challenges the shot, forcing the miss, but he also tracks the basketball as it is up in the air and grabs the rebound.  Here is the play in real time:

This is a great set by the Nets, using the shooters at their disposal to occupy all of the defenders and then freeing up Vujacic with a screen.  If Collison doesn’t make that play to sink in and contest Vujcic’s shot, who knows what happens.  Vujacic is a very good shooter coming off of screens, and there is a good chance he would have tied the game.  Collison’s play prevented that.

Play 3 (1 Point) – Avery Johnson/New Jersey Nets

This is a play that the Nets use coming out of a timeout to set up Brook Lopez in the post.  It starts with Sundiata Gaines getting the basketball on the wing and coming off of a Brook Lopez ball screen.  After setting the screen, Lopez comes off of two backscreens as Gaines takes the ball to the middle of the court, using another ball screen.  Normally, this play is designed for a post up opportunity, but the defense overplays that and both Gaines and Lopez read it, Lopez stays on the opposite side of the rim, waiting for the lob.  Gaines throws it, and Lopez is able to finish.

Play 2 (2 Points) – Avery Johnson/New Jersey Nets

This set from coach Johnson starts with Jordan Farmar bringing the basketball up to the wing.  As this happens, Anthony Morrow sets a cross screen for Lopez, who posts up on the block.  After setting his cross screen, Morrow sets a backscreen for Kris Humphries.  Humphries uses the screen and heads to the rim, looking for the lob.  Farmar throws it, and Humphries is able to finish with the uncontested jam.

Play 1 (3 Points) – Jay Triano/Toronto Raptors

Needing a three point shot to tie their game against Oklahoma City, Jay Triano ran a variation of the pinch screen.  Instead of running it to the corner (which is what we have seen most of the time), Triano decides to set it up for the top of the key.  The play starts with Leandro Barbosa getting in position to set a cross screen for DeMar DeRozan.  DeRozan, who is set up in the corner, fakes towards the screen and then returns to the corner.  Once DeRozan gets back to his original position, Barbosa shoots up to the top of the key, splitting his two teammates.  Once Barbosa clears them, they pinch, screening Barbosa’s man and creating a wide open three that Barbosa knocks down.

Updated Standings (Previous)

1. Doc Rivers – 33 points (1st)
2. Erik Spoelstra – 30 points (2nd)
3. Gregg Popovich – 19 points (3rd)
4. Monty Williams – 18 points (4th)
5. Rick Carlisle – 13 points (5th)
6. Frank Vogel – 12 points (6th)
7. Phil Jackson – 12 points (7th)
8. Alvin Gentry –  10 points (8th)
9. Tom Thibodeau – 7 points (9th)
10. Rick Adelman – 7 points (10th)
11. Nate McMillan – 6 points (11th)
12. Larry Drew – 6 points (12th)
13. Scott Brooks – 6 points (13th)
14. Avery Johnson – 6 points (16th)
15. Jay Triano – 5 points (21st)
16. Jerry Sloan – 4 points (14th)
17. Ty Corbin – 4 points (15th)
18. Lionel Hollins – 3 points (17th)
19. George Karl – 3 points (18th)
20. Scott Skiles – 3 points (19th)
21. Mike D’Antoni – 3 points (20th)
22. Byron Scott – 2 points (22nd)
23. Stan Van Gundy – 2 points (23rd)
24. Flip Saunders – 2 points (24th)
25. Doug Collins – 2 point (25th)
26. Paul Silas – 1 point (26th)
27. John Kuester – 1 point (27th)
28. Keith Smart – 1 point (28th)
29. Vinny Del Negro – 1 point (29th)

Both Avery Johnson and Jay Triano were able to go from the bottom of the pack towards the middle of the pack with their post-timeout playcalling on Sunday, getting to 14th and 15th respectfully, and only a few points outside the top 10.

Towards the end of the third quarter, Avery Johnson threw out his small lineup, featuring Travis Outlaw at the 4 and Anthony Morrow at the 3.  With John Wall at the foul line, Outlaw and Morrow were faced with the challenge of boxing out a bigger Trevor Booker.  Normally when faced with a bigger man in the middle, the side with two players tend to “pinch” the bigger offensive player by having both guys boxing him out.  That is what the Nets do here.

With Morrow and Outlaw pinching Booker and Brook Lopez boxing out JaVale McGee, nobody on the line is responsible for John Wall.  This means that either Sasha Vujacic or Sundiata Gaines are responsible from coming off of the three point lane and getting in front of Wall, boxing him out.  The reason this works is because the defenders behind the three point line (Gaines and Vujacic) can cross the three point line once the ball is release while John Wall needs to wait until the ball hits the rim.

Outlaw and Morrow do a good job of boxing out Booker as Lopez does a decent job of boxing out McGee.  However, instead of busting it and getting in front of Wall, both Gaines and Vujacic go through the motions and walk to the elbow.  With nobody in front of him, boxing him out, Wall has all of this space in front of him to grab the rebound.

Sure enough, the ball takes a hard carom off of the rim, bouncing off of Lopez, and landing right in the hands of John Wall.

To make matters worse, after grabbing the rebound all five New Jersey Nets seem to focus on the basketball and forget about everyone else on the court.  This leaves McGee wide open on the block.

Wall spots McGee and hits him with the pass.  McGee makes the catch and starts towards the rim before anyone can rotate over.

The result is a big dunk for McGee and two points that the Nets could have prevented by showing effort instead of going through the motions.  Here is the play in real time:

Now one can argue that Lopez probably should have grabbed the ball as it came towards him, and there is some merit to that.  However, if either Gaines or Vujacic (without knowing the Nets’ strategy when pinching, we don’t know who is supposed to come down and box out.  My guess would be Vujacic, since he seems to have less ground to cover) would have gotten in front of Wall and boxed him out, Lopez not securing the ball would have been a moot point.

As the basketball gets inbounded to Derrick Rose, we get to see the Nets’ press starting to develop.  The 2-2-1 press consists of 3 different levels with Deron Williams and Sasha Vujacic playing the first level.

As the Chicago Bulls start to advance the basketball, we get to see the second level of the press, with Kris Humphries and Anthony Morrow setting up just behind half court.  Rose passes the ball ahead to Joakim Noah.

This pass to Noah plays right into the Nets’ hands.  Noah makes the catch past the half court line, and once that happens, Vujacic and Morrow trap him.

As Morrow and Vujacic hold their trap on Noah, Brook Lopez and Kris Humphries retreat back to try and take away passing lanes, however there are two defenders and three offensive players (Luol Deng is in the corner, not seen by the camera).  This is where the blown assignment takes place.  Instead of getting back Williams denies Rose, who technically can’t even make the catch because he is behind the half court line..

The Nets’ could have lived with that deny, especially since the trap was so good, Noah couldn’t get the ball to an open Korver.  With the ball now in the air, Williams needs to get back and rotate over to Korver.

Williams doesn’t get back and the Nets are forced to try and stop the Bulls 2 on 3.  Deng makes the catch and quickly sends the ball in Korver’s direction.

Korver makes the catch and knocks down the three, stretching the Bulls’ lead to eight points and effectively ending the game.  Here is the play in real time:

One of the reasons why Williams needed to get back and recover to Korver was because it would have allowed both Lopez and Humphries to complete their rotations.  You can see that Lopez wants to go out and deny the corner pass, but he is afraid to leave the middle open.  Humphries is supposed to deny that pass, but he is afraid of leaving Korver.  Williams rotating to Korver once the trap on Noah takes place would have allowed the rest of the defense to make their rotations and perhaps force a turnover.

Play 3 (1 Point) – Paul Silas/Charlotte Bobcats

This is a baseline set, but the Bobcats quickly get the basketball to D.J. Augustin at the top of the key so they can run their set.  They quickly run Dante Cunningham off of a pindown screen, with Cunningham curling it to the opposite key.  After Cunningham curls off the pindown, Gerald Henderson comes off the same pindown screen.  Henderson makes the catch and knocks down the jumper.  What makes this play work is the double run off of the screen.  The defense is really focusing on Cunningham as he comes off of the screen, not prepared for Henderson to come off of the same screen.

Play 2 (2 Points) – Avery Johnson/New Jersey Nets

Here, the Nets are able to show a set that they like to run a lot and use that to set up a lob to Kris Humphries.  One of the sets that the Nets like to run is sending Sasha Vujacic from one court to the other getting a number of screens.  That is what this play looks like it is going to be since after Vujacic gets the ball to Gaines, he comes off of a screen set by Brook Lopez.  However, instead of coming off of a screen set by Kris Humphries, Vujacic is the one setting a screen, for Humphries.  Humphries cuts backdoor and gets the lob pass.

Play 1 (3 Points) – Doc Rivers/Boston Celtics

With 12.5 seconds left in the game and with the Celtics trailing by 4 points, they simply need a quick score.  Whether it is a three or two doesn’t really matter at this point, it just needs to come quick.  This set that the Celtics ran gave them a chance at a three, but if it wasn’t there, they had a quick two option.  Ray Allen is the trigger man and he enters it to Jeff Green on the wing.  Allen cuts off of Green as if he is getting the ball on a dribble handoff, but it is a fake and Allen eventually sets a screen for Paul Pierce, who also cuts off the ball, not getting it though.  After setting his screen Allen comes off of a Kevin Garnett backscreen.  Allen gets the ball, as both defenders (Allen’s and Garnett’s men) show to him.  This frees up Garnett on the roll for the easy dunk.

Updated Standings (Previous)

1. Doc Rivers – 25 points (2nd)
2. Erik Spoelstra – 22 points (1st)
3. Monty Williams – 16 points (3rd)
4. Gregg Popovich – 16 points (4th)
5. Frank Vogel – 12 points (5th)
6. Phil Jackson – 12 points (6th)
7. Alvin Gentry –  10 points (7th)
8. Rick Carlisle – 8 points (8th)
9. Tom Thibodeau – 7 points (9th)
10. Rick Adelman – 6 points (10th)
11. Scott Brooks – 5 points (11th)
12. Nate McMillan – 5 points (12th)
13. Larry Drew – 4 points (13th)
14. Jerry Sloan – 4 Points (14th)
15. Avery Johnson – 3 points (22nd)
16. Lionel Hollins – 3 points (15th)
17. George Karl – 3 points (16th)
18. Scott Skiles – 2 points (17th)
19. Jay Triano – 2 points (18th)
20. Byron Scott – 2 points (19th)
21. Stan Van Gundy – 2 points (20th)
22. Flip Saunders – 2 points (21st)
23. Paul Silas – 1 point (NR)
24. Doug Collins – 1 point (23rd)
25. John Kuester – 1 point (24th)
26. Keith Smart – 1 point (25th)
27. Ty Corbin – 1 point (26th)
28. Vinny Del Negro – 1 point (27th)

Avery Johnson cracks the top 15 on the strength of two straight Clipboard Award appearances.  Also, Paul Silas is the newest coach to make their way onto the rankings.  The real news however, is up on top of the leaderboad.  After spending a lot of time chasing Erik Spoelstra, Doc Rivers finally has first place all to himself, now leading by three points.

Here, Blake Griffin gets a cross-screen set for him and he gets the ball on the block straight from the inbounds pass.  After making the pass, Mo Williams cuts off of him on the outside.  Griffin does a fantastic job of showing the basketball, and that show of the ball gets Kris Humphries (his defender) leaning ever so slightly.  That slight lean/Humphries moving up on his toes, allows Griffin to quickly turn to the middle of the floor, where he uses that space to make a hook shot.

The next time down the court the Clippers decided to run something similar, though there was a few differences.  First, Griffin makes the catch on the pinch-post rather than the low post.  Second, the passer cuts off of Griffin through the middle rather than the baseline.  The effectiveness of it was still the same:

Again, Griffin does a great job of showing the basketball, making the handoff a legitimate threat rather than it being an obvious fake.  This threat means that Lopez has to respect the handoff and pay attention to the man cutting off of Griffin.  This allows Griffin to make a quick move towards the baseline and attack the rim, drawing a foul.

So with the Nets trailing the Los Angeles Clippers by one point with 12.4 seconds left, coach Johnson went to Lopez again.  And while the play Johnson drew up was great, Lopez’s move was even better:

As the ball goes to the trigger-man, Lopez sets a screen for Travis Outlaw, who uses it to flash to the ball side corner.

After setting his screen, Lopez joins Kris Humphries and becomes involved in a staggered pindown for Jordan Farmar.

As soon as Farmar gets the basketball, Lopez sits in the middle of the lane and turns towards the basketball with fantastic position as Kris Humphries cuts off of him, clearing out the side of the court.  Farmar can’t get the pass to Lopez in the middle so he takes it to the wing.  As Farmar dribbles to the wing, Lopez goes from the middle of the paint to the block.  This is important for two reasons, first it creates a good passing angle for Farmar, and second, it allows Lopez to avoid an offensive three second call.

Farmar is able to get the ball into Lopez with only three seconds off the clock.  This gives Lopez 9 seconds to show why Avery Johnson has faith in him late in games:

Lopez gets the ball with DeAndre Jordan up on him.  After securing the catch, Lopez turns his back to Jordan and backs him into the middle of the paint, using his size.

Once Lopez gets to the middle of the lane, he executes a reverse pivot, pivoting back around towards the direction he came from.

Once Lopez comes out of his pivot, he brings the basketball up high and shows it to Jordan.  Jordan thinks that Lopez is going up for the shot, so he gets up on his toes getting prepared to challenge the shot.  However, Lopez isn’t going up for the shot, he is just executing the second part of his double move, an up-and-under.  After showing the ball, Lopez brings the ball back down and steps through Jordan, bringing his left leg across Jordan’s body.

With his pivot foot still attached to the floor, Lopez now has the basketball protected from Jordan by his body.  With Lopez’s leg/body between Jordan and the basketball, the only way Jordan can challenge the shot is to foul.

Lopez leaves his feet and gets the basketball up at the rim, knocking the shot down and giving his team a one point lead.  This is perfect execution by the Nets, coach Avery Johnson draws up a great play, the Nets run it through and get Lopez the ball on the block, and Lopez finishes things off by scoring on Jordan using fantastic double move.  Here is the play in real time:

The up and under move, especially late in the game like this, is so vicious because bigs always seem to react when the ball is shown to them.  Lopez does a great job of bringing the ball up high, showing it, and then stepping through, that finishing is the easy part.

Play 3 (1 Point) – Avery Johnson/New Jersey Nets

This play starts with Jordan Farmar bringing the ball up for the Nets and quickly getting the ball in Anthony Morrow’s hands.  Movement off of the ball results in both bigs on the strong side with Brandon Wright getting the ball on the wing and entering it to Brook Lopez.  It looks like the Nets are setting up Lopez for the post up, but at the last second, Wright sets a screen for Morrow, setting him up for the wide open jumper.

Play 2 (2 Points) – Doc Rivers/Boston Celtics

The set the Celtics run here is a nice misdirection set up by Ray Allen’s ability to move without the basketball.  Allen starts at the strong side elbow, and he starts to move away from the basketball heading towards the opposite block as if he is going to set a screen for Paul Pierce.  However, at the last second, Allen quickly changes directions and comes off of a screen set by Kevin Garnett.  Allen pops out to the corner and knocks the shot down.

Play 1 (3 Points) – Gregg Popovich/San Antonio Spurs

Here, the ball gets brought up by George Hill, who enters the ball to Matt Bonner on the elbow.  After making the pass, Hill cuts off of Bonner as if he is going to get a dribble handoff.  He doesn’t get it though, and Bonner instead passes it to Gary Neal coming off of a staggered screen on the opposite side of the basketball.

Updated Standings (Previous)

1. Erik Spoelstra – 22 points (1st)
2. Doc Rivers – 22 points (2nd)
3. Monty Williams – 16 points (3rd)
4. Gregg Popovich – 16 points (4th)
5. Frank Vogel – 12 points (5th)
6. Phil Jackson – 12 points (6th)
7. Alvin Gentry –  10 points (7th)
8. Rick Carlisle – 8 points (8th)
9. Tom Thibodeau – 7 points (9th)
10. Rick Adelman – 6 points (10th)
11. Scott Brooks – 5 points (11th)
12. Nate McMillan – 5 points (12th)
13. Larry Drew – 4 points (13th)
14. Jerry Sloan – 4 Points (14th)
15. Lionel Hollins – 3 points (15th)
16. George Karl – 3 points (16th)
17. Scott Skiles – 2 points (7R)
18. Jay Triano – 2 points (18th)
19. Byron Scott – 2 points (19th)
20. Stan Van Gundy – 2 points (20th)
21. Flip Saunders – 2 points (21st)
22. Avery Johnson – 1 point (NR)
23. Doug Collins – 1 point (22nd)
24. John Kuester – 1 point (23rd)
25. Keith Smart – 1 point (24th)
26. Ty Corbin – 1 point (25th)
27. Vinny Del Negro – 1 point (26th)

With his #2 play, Doc Rivers is now tied for first with Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.  Also, we have another newcomer, Avery Johnson coach of the New Jersey Nets.

As soon as the ball goes to the trigger man, Grant Hill, Aaron Brooks dives to the corner.  As soon as Brooks clears the area, Steve Nash comes off of a screen set by Channing Frye.

As Nash continues towards the basketball, Marcin Gortat sneaks in and sets a screen for Frye, who pops out behind the three point line.

Before Frye even finishes his cut, Grant Hill has gotten the ball out of his hands, making the pass to where he knows Frye will be.

Frye makes the catch, squares up, and knocks down the three.  As I mentioned above, this is a good playcall from Alvin Gentry late in the game.  However, there is a mistake as well and it comes from Kris Humphries and his decision when it came to playing the off ball screen.

As Gortat gets in position to set his screen, Humphries tries to shoot the gap to make a play on Hill’s pass instead of staying attached to Frye.

Because of the solid screen, Humphries was unable to get in the way of Hill’s pass, and that is what lead to an open Frye behind the three point line.

Humphries shows great effort changing directions and getting through the screen, but it is too late to have an effect on the shot.  Here is the play in real time:

I don’t know why Kris Humphries decided to try and shoot the gap here (maybe he didn’t see the screen coming and he thought he could make a play on the ball), but he needed to stay attached to Frye and run him off of the three point line.  Instead, he got caught up in the screen and gave up a wide open three point shot that cost New Jersey the game.