Sean Miller Arizona Wildcat Back-Screen Play by Wes Kosel

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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December 2, 2013

Sean Miller Arizona Wildcat Back-Screen Play by Wes Kosel

Here is a play used by Coach Sean Miller in Arizona’s win over Duke last week. Coach Miller is in his 5th year as Head Coach of the Arizona Wildcats. He has won over 70% of his games as a Head Coach at Xavier (2004 – 2009) and Arizona (2009 – present), and he has won over 200 games in that time.
Arizona beat Duke 72-66 on November 29th, giving Duke just their second loss of the season. In the game, Arizona shot 11 fewer shots from the field than Duke, but shot 49% while holding Duke to 43%. Good shot selection and executing the offense to create open shots were important factors in the win for the Wildcats over the Blue Devils.

In this play, Arizona gets a wide open lay-up for point guard T.J. McConnell off of a back-screen from Brandon Ashley. To set the play up, Aaron Gordon and Nick Johnson line up on opposite wings, Kaleb Tarczewski moves to the low block, and Ashley sets up at the elbow. Johnson, Gordon, and Tarczewski walk their defenders into the lane almost lulling the Blue Devils to sleep. Then, Johnson cuts hard to the opposite wing off of a screen from Tarczewski and Gordon moves across the lane then cuts to the corner off of the same screen. McConnell passes to Johnson on the wing, and Johnson has the option to penetrate to the basket, pass to Gordon in the corner for a shot, or pass to Tarczewski in the post. If none of these options are open, Johnson will hold the ball and look for McConnell off of the back screen cut. On this cut, Ashley steps up and sets the back screen on McConnell’s man at the 3-point line. This creates the space for McConnell to cut and receive a pass from Johnson for an easy lay-up.

I hope you enjoy this play.

Coach Wes Kosel

Wes Kosel is an assistant coach for men’s basketball under Head Coach Tommy Jones at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin, TX. 2013-2014 marks the second year for Kosel at TLU. Prior to arriving at TLU, Kosel served as a student assistant coach under Head Coach Chad Killscrow at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, KS. Kosel has an undergraduate degree in Exercise Science from the University of Kansas, and is pursuing a Master’s degree in Physical Education from the University of Houston. The Bartlesville, OK native is also a NSCA Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), and teaches weight training and aerobic fitness courses at Texas Lutheran. He has coached AAU programs, volunteered with elementary and middle school basketball teams, and has worked basketball camps for various programs including the Houston Rockets, University of Houston, Texas State, and Texas A&M Corpus Christi.

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