This play is initially run to either get Cartier Martin an open shot on the curl off of a Javale McGee brush screen (he doesn’t really get set for the screen, they just rub off of each other) or to hit McGee on a backdoor lob.

The first two options for the Wizards are well defended by the Hornets.  Both Martin or McGee are well covered, and the Wizards needed to move on to the second option.

That option is a downscreen for Lester Hudson to receive the ball at the top of the key.  While the simple downscreen won’t get Hudson a wide open look, it does provide a safety valve for John Wall (the man inbounding the basketball).

Wall hits Hudson with the pass, and since he has a big man covering him (the defense was forced to switch the downscreen) he was able to take a dribble to create some separation.

That is just enough room for Hudson to rise up and take the jumper.  He knocks it down, winning the game for the Wizards.  Here is the play in real time:

If the added option of hitting Lester Hudson coming off the downscreen wasn’t drawn up in the play, Wall would have had to either force it to Cartier Martin or Javale McGee for a low percentage shot (or even a turnover).  Instead, the Wizards were able to get the win because they had multiple options late.

As the ball gets handed to Stephen Jackson, Boris Diaw quickly turns and puts his defender on his back to receive the basketball.  This is the second time in two days we have seen this, and I think we are going to be seeing this more often, especially if you are confident with how your PF handles the basketball.  Why risk a 5 second violation running a play when you can quickly get it to your PF and run a play from there (its a given that you are talking about a situation where there is time on the clock.  If there is 1 or 2 seconds left, teams won’t be doing this).

As Diaw makes his catch, Raymond Felton comes across the lane and gets a screen from Gerald Wallace.  His defender (Marcus Thornton) actually goes the wrong way around the screen and Felton is wide open.  Instead of being baited into taking the shot, Felton runs through the play as drawn.  I think this is the doing of Larry Brown.  He has everyone knowing their jobs and doing what they are supposed to do out there.

As Felton makes his catch, D.J. Augustin sets a backscreen for Stephen Jackson.

We saw a variation of the pick the picker play yesterday, and here is another one.  As Jackson comes off of Augustin’s screen, Augustin’s defender (Darren Collison) has to stay for a split second to make sure James Posey is still with Jackson.  This split second pause is what allows Diaw to set up a screen and get a good one in there.  Augustin does a great job coming off of it, and he is wide open.

D.J. Augustin knocks down the wide open three.  What I wanted to direct your attention to is the clock.  You already know my opinion on fouling and extending the game, so I absolutely love the fact that the Bobcats went quick.  If they miss here, there is still plenty of time to foul, and they will be at most down 3 with around 10 seconds left.

Going quick also allows Larry Brown to show faith in his defense.  He is basically saying, “We are going quick, and if we score I know we are going to get the stop to win.”  And that is exactly what happens here.  The Bobcats get the stop, the win, and they clinch their first ever playoff berth.   Here is the play in real time:

As the ball gets handed to Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph is going to set a downscreen to free up Mike Conley.

Conley makes the catch, and as he dribbles to the top of the three point line, he receives a screen from Marc Gasol.

David West is going to hedge out on this screen very hard, as Collison goes underneath the screen.  I think New Orleans decided to defend the screen like this because Conley isn’t the best defender and can be forced into turnovers at time.  Another possibility for New Orleans was that they were looking to trap the screen and Collison screwed up by going under it.

Conley makes a smart decision here as he sees Collison go under the screen.  He takes a dribble backwards, forcing West in a decision.  Does he return to Gasol, or does he stay with Conley?

West decides to stay with Conley, deciding that a switch was too hard to pull off.  However, as Conley took his dribble backwards, Marc Gasol turned himself around and set a screen on the other side.  Look what we have here now.  The Hornets have both defenders involved in the screen and roll on the wrong side of the screen, with nobody in an area to hedge or help.

As Conley comes off the screen, there is nobody to direct him away from the paint.  With Peja forced to stay close to Rudy Gay he can’t get too deep in the paint.

This gives Conley enough space to hit a runner in the lane.

Now lets compare that to what the Hornets did on the very next possession:

This thing is a mess from the start.  First, Marcus Thornton takes off way too early (before Peja even gets the ball), so early that he doesn’t even have a screen to run off of.  This kind of throws everything off.  Darius Songaila now has nobody to screen, and he pops out way too high and sets an awful screen while trying to free up Collison.  The ball finally gets inbounded and swung around to the wing, but by the time that does happen there is such poor floor spacing.  So when Collison drives the lane, Marc Gasol only needs to take one step to be in possession to get the block.  Gasol does block it (off of Collison’s head in fact) and clinches the game.

After getting blown out in two straight games, the Nets found themselves in a close battle against the New Orleans Hornets Friday night.  The Nets made a big-time comeback to take a 1 point lead with about 11 seconds left.  The Hornets had the ball, let’s see what happened from there:

After getting the ball inbounds (which they failed at doing their last possession), the Hornets quickly go into a pick and roll.  David West comes up and sets the screen, and Chris Paul uses it.

Late in games, teams usually switch every screen.  The Hornets know this, so the purpose of the screen was to get the switch.  Chris Paul takes a dribble or two to isolate the mismatch.

He then attacks.  He quickly gets Jarvis Hayes on his hip, and he has a lane to the basket.  You would like it if Devin Harris was closer to the middle of the lane, but that is the beauty of how the Hornets set this up.  They put Peja (a knockdown shooter that you need to stay with) on the side Chris Paul was going to drive to.  This means that Devin can’t help.

Paul finishes the lay-up, and gets fouled, clinching the win for the Hornets.

It was a slowish night in the NBA last night (just 4 games), but there was some good action.  I got two plays I wanted to look at this morning.  Chris Paul’s steal to clinch the game, and Juwan Howard’s dunk.

Chris Paul’s Steal

Chris Paul’s steal was great, don’t get me wrong, but the Jazz did play a part in this.  The way they ran the court, allowed for Chris Paul to be in position to make the steal.

The first thing that you notice is that even though this is a 3 on 1 fast break, the Jazz are too bunched together.  All three Jazz players are on the same side, and this allows Chris Paul to cheat over, knowing that the ball is going to end up on his right side, because that is where all the players are.  In a perfect world, you would hope that Deron Williams would be able to dribble the ball to his right a bit so he can force Paul into a tough spot.

The second mistake is where Deron Williams commits to make the pass from.  That’s like 35 feet away from the basket.  I can understand why he wasn’t really able to dribble out to his right (he is unsure who is behind him), but at least make Chris Paul make a decision.  Dribble at him until he stops you, and when he does, then make a pass.  If he doesn’t stop you, go in for the lay-up.  Here Chris Paul is still in the middle of the court, and that makes it easier (still a great display of athleticism to make the steal) to make the play on the ball.

Juwan Howard’s Dunk

This play starts with a pick and roll, and Chris Kamen is trying to hedge the screen (help, and then quickly return to his man).

Roy does a good job of forcing the action though, and this prevents Kamen from getting back to his man, and forcing him to cover Roy.

Roy gets to the baseline.  Notice how all 5 Clippers are just kind of staring at him.  This allows is what allows Juwan Howard to sneak in the middle unguarded.

Howard flashes to the middle and gets the ball.  Kamen does a decent job of recovering, but since nobody is in front of him, it allows him to load up and go up for the jam…