University of Rhode Island Elevator Screen Quick Hitter for 3

University of Rhode Island Head Coach Danny Hurley’s last name already qualifies him for basketball royalty. He is the son of famed St. Anthony High School Head Coach Bob Hurley and the brother of former Duke All-American and two-time national champion Bobby Hurley. With the URI Rams winning 22 games and having established their place as an annual contender in the Atlantic 10 conference Danny has added another chapter to that legacy.

On Saturday afternoon in a back and forth affair against Dayton in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 the URI Rams found themselves trailing by 1 with just under 40 seconds left in the first half. Coach Hurley had just called his “use it or lose it” timeout and drew up a set to get leading scorer EC Matthews an open 3 point shot.

The play started with a dribble handoff between point guard Jarvis Garrett and Matthews as Garrett circled back through to the perimeter. Garrett received the ball back on the perimeter and reversed it to the other side of the floor. The ball was then dragged back to the middle of the floor to freshman standout Jarred Terrell. EC Matthews had just set a down screen for one of his eventual screeners and his defender ended up on the low side of him. Once Terrell caught the ball Matthews changed direction and cut right in between Hassan Martin and Earl Watson who set what is known as an “elevator screen” for him. An elevator screen is essentially a double screen but instead of going over the top or underneath it, the cutter goes directly in between both screeners who then close the space for the defender trailing the play. The timing of these screens has to be perfect and the cutter has to get some separation or else run the risk of getting called for a moving screen. Dayton had no “extender” on the play; in other words the defender guarding the top screener or the screener closest to the ball usually should step up and show preventing a shot.

Terrell delivered a perfect pass and Matthews, a 32% 3 point shooter on the year who averaged close to 17 points per game, knocked down the open shot to give URI the lead heading into the break.

Follow Coach John Zall on Twitter!!!

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.

Click on the pdf link to download the University of Rhode Island Elevator Screen Quick Hitter for 3:

University of Rhode Island Elevator Screen Quick Hitter for 3