The Stretch-Four Playbook by Adam Spinella
The modern-day NBA has seen nearly every team gain an NBA player in their frontcourt that can shoot lights out. Teams and coaches are smart enough defensively to gimmick and scheme their way around a weaker defender on the block. Gone are the days where each team plays two true big men at all times. Spacing the floor is the new flavor of a game where athletes are bigger, stronger and faster than ever before. With that spacing comes the need for a big man to shoot the ball.
Of the 30 teams in the NBA, only the Pistons, Grizzlies, Lakers, Knicks, Sixers and Wizards don’t currently have a power forward or center shooting 30% from three on at least one attempt a game. Of the teams that don’t, the Pistons, Sixers and Wizards often play “small ball” by putting a small forward at the 4 and being an ultra mobile club. The Knicks have an injured Andrea Bargnani, the Lakers and injured Ryan Kelly, and the Grizzlies the seldom-used Jon Leuer, who was target to fill that role. Bottom line: no matter what your offensive scheme is, every team has some use for a stretch-four.
It isn’t just an NBA phenomenon. It starts at the AAU levels, where big men are taught to shoot and shoot consistently from downtown.
The Pick-and-Pop:
The first and most basic existence of the stretch-shooting big man comes in the pick-and-pop game. Kevin Love is the best in the league at this. He’s a wide body who makes contact in a screen and then quickly relocates himself to find the three point line. It doesn’t matter where the point guard comes off or how his defender reacts – Love can find a shot. Stay low on the screen and Love will fill behind where the ball handler has vacated. Hard hedge and Love sprints away from his defender to the arc. A good ball handler just needs to attack the screener’s defender to get an open three for the ball screener.
But this isn’t just an open shot for the big. It spaces the floor and opens up a lane to the rim. For a point guard like Ricky Rubio who cannot shoot reliably from the perimeter, it will produce more open looks at the rim or easier drive-and-kick opportunities. I mean think about it… there is one less help defender to read at the rim if the screener’s defender somehow manages to recover. The pick-and-pop is nothing new, but with big men adding range beyond the three point line it is getting more difficult to cover.
The Trailer Three:
Defenses in transition have been taught to do essentially a checklist of covers: first, sprint back to the rim and make sure nobody beats you to it. Second, find the ball and settle it from attacking north-south with a lane to the rim. Third, find shooters and match up from there. Often there is a lot of communication and confusion in this process. A patient big man who outlets the ball will let the play develop in transition in front of him, stay behind it at the three point line, and capitalize with an open three as the defense fails to correctly align to him.
The Trailer Pitch:
Under the same principle, the trailer’s defender will usually run back to the paint, anticipating picking up his opponent there. The Celtics have done a great job taking advantage of this poor habit that defenders have. Point guards will simple drive at that man at the nail hole and pitch the ball back to the trailer, ending in an open shot or a poor closeout for an attack.
The Raise:
Sometimes it is as simple as a big man just moving to the perimeter when a basket drive takes place. Big men are taught from such a young age that they need to be primary help defenders at the basket; on defense it is where they feel most comfortable. They can serve the dual purpose of resting and protecting the rim. When a drive occurs, most post players will gravitate towards it and be in help – and then be slow to recover if the ball finds their man. Watch Dirk move to the three point line once his defender turns his head. The defense is poor, as Nerlens Noel simply stands and points as Dirk moves to the perimeter, but the concept is the same. Bigs just cheat to give help.
The Disengage:
This is, in essence, the same concept as the raise or as a pick-and-pop, simply coming from a post-up situation. As the player posts up on an empty side of the court and the ball is driven, his man will have to stay in help. The post should simply disengage from his defender and leave to the perimeter. His defender cannot leave the rim, so that will result in an open shot for the big. It’s a subtle concept and difficult to teach it the right way, but it will result in a ton of 18-20 foot jumpers for a big man.
The Pindown Twirl:
Who’s the screener? Who’s coming off the screen? A guard coming off the screen curls and seeks out the defender of the screener. Then the screener pops out and should be pretty open. It’s a quick-hitting action and requires a guard willing to push back on a larger defender, but it produces a lot of open outside looks for a big man.
The Pindown Fade:
Teams start to adjust. As a shooting big man sets a downscreen, his defender first stops the curl, but then tries to quickly get back to his man. Watch how Sullinger rises from the block to flare for Kelly Olynyk. This screen-the-screener action works because they know exactly how Olynyk’s defender must defend the action. If Tobias Harris, the man defending Jeff Green coming off the screen, tries to cut underneath the screening action, then Green knows he can seek out Vucevic and screen him in so Olynyk can pop. It’s a no-win scenario.
The Stagger Pin
Staggered screens have been run so frequently by basketball teams that often the defense is rehearsed and robotic positionally. The first screener’s defender is the help defender, dropping away from the screening action so that: A. the defender guarding the man running off the screens can “get through”; B. so that there is help if the ball quickly gets driven to the rim and nobody is “hugging” the screening action; and C. to prevent any slips to the rim from the men setting the screens.
The man defending the second screener tries to extend the second screen and discourage a curl, just like a simple pin down. The Wolves, with Kevin Love in their arsenal, would cause chaos by curling the man off the stagger, which drags the second screener’s defender towards the middle. Then the down screen coming for Love is lethal – the defense has two defenders worried about the rim and not in position to hedge a second screen. It’s the same concept as the Pindown Fade, just after a stagger.
Staggered Ballscreen Flare:
Staggered ballscreens once again are difficult in the exact same way, just at a different angle. The second screener on the ball will flare off the first screener after the ball has cleared the action. He should be wide open on the throwback.
Elevator Screens
Simply put, big men who don’t shoot from the outside are horrible at chasing defenders through and around screens. The Elevator Screen is a particularly effective method to target that defender. Watch Serge Ibaka here: he stands on the ball-side at first, and his defender must treat it as a post-up opportunity. As soon as he leaves to the weak side, the defender is weary of a drive to the rim and of being in help. But Ibaka zips through the Elevator, and once the doors close, he has a wide open shot. Even Jamal Crawford, guarding one of the screeners, is out of position – guards are seldom used to set this type of action, and with a stretch-four it forces them to defend it.
SPACING:
The most important element of a shooting big man is spacing. This clip from the Spurs comes to mind first. Watch how the Spurs run a simple pick-and-roll, and because Boris Diaw has range to the corner, the floor opens up and becomes easier to read off the screen. Diaw can then take the shot from deep on the kickout. Spacing, spacing, spacing. It’s the name of the modern game on offense, making things simpler for high-speed decisions. Kickouts to the perimeter yield high-reward shots on the three.
Isn’t basketball just a beautiful game?
Coach Adam Spinella is entering his first season as an Assistant Coach at Culver Acadelinmies in Culver, IN. Spinella spent the three years prior as a Student Assistant Coach at Division III Dickinson College. The Dickinson Men’s Team advanced to two NCAA Tournaments and accumulated an overall record of 59-26 (.694) during the three-year span, with the 2013-2014 season ending in the Division III Elite Eight. A native of Bow, New Hampshire, Spinella has a keen interest in X’s and O’s, particularly in professional basketball, and skill development.
0 Comments