If you want to talk about tough rebuilding jobs, look no further than what second-year Hornets head coach Monty Williams has to go through. Not only did he lose one of the best players on the planet this off-season to the Clippers, but injuries have forced him into numerous makeshift lineups to start the year. Despite all this, the Hornets are 3-6 and, despite the dearth of talent on the roster, are definitely not going to be an easy victory.
Paul got most of the credit last season (especially in the Laker series), but what seemingly was missed was the outstanding job Monty Williams did in his first year at the helm. His teams executed extremely well on both ends of the floor and his gameplan allowed the brilliant ballscreen talents of Paul to showcase themselves. This year, with Paul out and Chris Kamen in his stead, the scheme has changed some. However, ballscreen action is still present and even without a true pick and roll savant or explosive dive man, the Hornets still do an exemplary job of executing them.
In last Monday night’s win over Denver, New Orleans’ middle pick and rolls gave the Nuggets plenty of trouble. In particular, it was their post’s circle under action that led to a handful of buckets in a relatively low-scoring affair. The circle under is the non-screening posts move underneath the rim during ballscreen action up high. He (or she) simply moves from block to block or short corner to short corner behind the backboard looking to confuse a rotating defense and find drop-off passes from a penetrating guard.
Our first look at the Monty Williams’ Hornets using this action involves Spanish-league import Gustavo Ayon. In the clip you’ll see Ayon sprint to set a middle pick and roll for Jarrett Jack with about nine seconds on the shot clock. Ayon slips (possibly a planned thing to get to twist action) and Carl Landry quickly comes to ballscreen from the opposite side. Jack drives hard right and eventually works his way back into the paint. Ayon, circling under the backboard, finds himself wide open near the rim as his defender, Danilo Gallinari, steps upt o stop penetration. Ayon drops the pass, but the result doesn’t hide the fact that the action resulted in a great look. Here is the video:
The next edit involves a middle pick and roll between Jack and Landry again. This time, Landry pops near the key and Jack pivots around to hit him with a pass. Landry now is essentially in an iso situation with the Nuggets Nene. Thanks to Ayon circling underneath the rim during the ballscreen, a driving lane opens up for Landry to get a shot off. While the shot selection isn’t ideal, the area to even get it off was created by the off-ball movement. Take a look:
This action also isn’t a strictly interior movement. In the next clip, we see it affect the Hornet’s ‘fill behind’ movement on their ballscreens. Jack and Landry engage in a screen-re-screen action near the right slot. As Jack comes off, Landry makes a delayed roll (or possibly just hesitates on what cut he wanted to make). During this time, Ayon (again) makes a cut toward the weakside. His circle movement to an open spot forces Denver’s Ty Lawson to stay low and prevent an easy drop off pass. Caldrell Johnson’s fill behind now forces Lawson into an impossibly long closeout and the result is a wide open 3-point look that Johnson converts.
The final clip shows off some great interior passing resulting from this type of penetration relocation. Jack and Emeka Okafor engage in a high ballscreen at the top of the key. As Okafor dives, Nene steps up to jam his roll to the basket (in order for the weakside wing defender to stay with the shooter filling behind). Kamen now circles under the rim toward the strongside block, out of sight from Nene and Timofy Mosgov (who possibly may be looking to execute some type of X switch-type coverage). Okafor catches the ball on the roll and rises to shoot a short jumper in the lane. Before releasing, he spots Kamen all alone under the rim and the result is an easy dunk. Check it out:
Monty Williams is making the most of his roster through the execution of some clever off-ball movement. Despite not having the most talented pieces in his arsenal to run it, he has still found ways to make the Hornets pick and roll action a threat. Thanks to Monty Williams, there won’t be too many easy wins coming against New Orleans this season.
0 Comments