Creighton #1 Ranked Basketball Offense: Screens and Cuts

Written by Coach Peterman

I have coached at the NCAA Division 2 (Southwestern Oklahoma State University), NAIA (USAO), and JUCO Levels (Blinn College and Carl Albert State College) as well as high school. I just felt that fellow coaches especially young coaches need to constantly work on their “game”. Just like the basketball players that we coach. We as coaches need to improve ourselves. That is my story and why I do this blog.

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July 31, 2014

Creighton #1 Ranked Basketball Offense: Screens and Cuts

The whole sports world came to a stand still this summer as we marveled at the San Antonio Spurs and the way they played basketball. En route to the 2014 NBA Championship we were captivated by the way they spaced the floor, passed the ball, made cuts and shot the ball. However, what doesn’t get talked about as much is that what the Spurs did for a 5 game series; the Creighton Blue Jays did for a 35-game college basketball season.

The Creighton Blue Jays finished the 2013-14 College Basketball season with a record of 27-8. To call their basketball offense a juggernaut would be an understatement. If you break down Creighton’s offensive stats for this past season they are simply mind-blowing. For the season, the Creighton Blue Jays shot 49% from the floor (4th in the country), 41% from three-point range (1st in the country) and averaged 17.5 assists per game(4th in the country.)

They had the best offensive efficiency rating in the country averaging an astounding 1.20 points-per-possession. An effective field-goal percentage (eFG%) is a teams’ actual field-goal percentage, but three-point shots are factored in to the equation and given slightly more weight because they are worth more than a regular two-pointer. They finished 1st in the country with an eFG% of 59%. You don’t reach the pinnacle of basketball offense without being able to pass the ball and Creighton was no different. For the season, they assisted on 64% of their made field goals; good for 6th in the country.

Behind every great basketball offense is a great offensive player, and Creighton had one of the best ever last year. Doug McDermott was recently drafted 11th overall in the NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls after winning 6 different player of the year awards including: Wooden, Naismith, AP, NABC, USBWA and the Sporting News. He averaged 27.2 points-per-game while shooting 52% from the floor, 45% from three-point territory and 86% from the free throw line.

With numbers like that it could be assumed that Creighton runs an extremely complicated basketball offense. It is actually quite the opposite. Creighton’s basketball offense is centered around ball movement, player movement, good screens and hard cuts.

Creighton will use back screens, down screens and ball screens to help free teammates for good looks. According to Synergy, Creighton averaged 1.168 PPP on plays labeled “Spot Ups”, good for 3rd in the country. The players getting screened for do a great of reading the way they are being defended and countering with curl cuts, slip cuts, back cuts and pop cuts. On plays labeled “Cuts” by Synergy Creighton scored at an average of 1.375 PPP, good enough for first in the country. The following video and play diagrams detail these various movements and how Creighton sets them up:

In clip # of the Creighton #1 Ranked Basketball Offense, Doug McDermott sets a simple down screen, San Diego State is late to switch, and the Blue Jays get a wide open 3.

In clip #2 of the Creighton #1 Ranked Basketball Offense, Creighton sets a down screen and gets a curl cut to the block. The defender doesn’t trail the cut and beats the offensive player to the block.

In clip #3 of the Creighton #1 Ranked Basketball Offense, the Blue Jays set a back screen which leads to another curl cut. The defender trails the player curling and therefore needs help from the person guarding the screener. The screener “pop cuts” back to ball, which is when the player sets a screen and flashes back to the ball, for an uncontested 3.

Clip #4 shows Creighton setting a stagger back-screen for McDermott to the block. Again the defender doesn’t trail the play and cheats over the top. Seton Hall gets away with this because they have good back side help allowing McDermott’s man to recover.

In clip #5 of the Creighton #1 Ranked Basketball Offense McDermott sets a back screen and then pop cuts to the ball. The original player who was screened gets another back screen, and with Creighton doing a good job emptying the weak side, gets a wide open layup on a great pass from McDermott.

Clip #6 shows a ball reversal and a back screen for McDermott. Again Creighton balances the floor perfectly; no offensive players are below the free throw line area making it impossible to help. Another easy layup for the Blue Jays.

In clip #7 of the Creighton #1 Ranked Basketball Offense, we see a ball reversal lead to a stagger back screen on the perimeter. Villanova does a poor job communicating the switch; both defenders go with the player being screened. The second screener in the stagger pop cuts back to the ball for an open 3.

In clip #8 of the Creighton #1 Ranked Basketball Offense, we are introduced to a Creighton favorite: the double-drag. The double-drag is when the ball handler gets two staggered ball screens on the perimeter and then turns and throws back to a screener, or another player on the opposite side of the floor. In this clip, Creighton runs the double drag, with the first screener flaring and the second one rolling to the rim. Help is given to the roll man and the drag pass goes to a wide open 3 point shooter.

Clip #9 shows another double drag on the same side of the floor. The defender guarding the second screener doesn’t hedge hard enough and the defender guarding the ball-handler isn’t able to square the ball back up. The ball-handler hesitates slightly and accelerates to the rim and draws the foul.

In clip #10 Creighton get’s some interesting movement. The Blue Jays run a double -drag and have both screeners roll to the rim. As the screeners roll, McDermott “replaces” them on the perimeter and flashes to the ball for a roll-and -replace action. Marquette appears to be switching this but does so late resulting in a late close-out. McDermott attacks and the best offensive player in the country get’s all the way to the rim for a layup.

In the 11th and final clip Creighton appears to be setting up another double drag. McDermott is set to be the first screener and his defender takes half a step up the court to hedge the screen. McDermott reads this, slip cuts, and has himself another layup.

John Zall BIO

Coach John Zall just completed his first season as an Assistant Coach at Division II Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, NH. This past season Franklin Pierce University won 20 games and advanced to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. Zall arrived at Franklin Pierce after spending the past 3 seasons as the Associate Head Coach/Head JV Coach at O’Bryant High school in Roxbury, MA. During his tenure at O’Bryant the program improved from 4 wins to 12 wins and qualified for the MIAA State Tournament twice.

Coach Zall also has experience as an AAU Head Coach for the Boston Warriors. As Head Coach for the Warriors his team won the 2011 16U State Title and twice competed in AAU Nationals down in Orlando, FL. On top of being a student at Northeastern University, Zall was named Head Coach of the Men’s Club Basketball team for the 2012-13 season. During his lone season as Head Coach, Northeastern finished second in the Northeast Regional Tournament featuring colleges from throughout the East Coast. Coach Zall has also spent time as a Head Coach in the Bay State Games where his team won the Bronze Medal in 2012 and at various camps including: Five Star, Boston Celtics, NIKE, Franklin Pierce University, Hoop Group and The Elite 75.