The Maine Red Claws had one of the best offenses in the G-League this past season. They ranked 1st in the Off-Screen Play type with 1.17 Points per possession.
They had 5 players over 1.10 PPP and were a balanced scoring team. One of the things they did really well was use screens to create paint opportunities. A lot of times, we think of off-screen as jump shots but the the Red Claws used these screens to create paint shots.
The away screen is a staple in transition and secondary action for a lot of NBA teams. The Red Claws do a great job of getting their guards downhill on these screens. This happens not only from cutting at a more vertical angle but also from the guard being able to put the ball on the floor.
As talked about before, the screener must be an active screener and read the cutters defender. Being able to adjust at the last second creates the space needed to get a shot or to get downhill.
#21 Carsen Edwards runs the right wing and #1 Yante Maten is in the trail spot. Edwards cuts hard as his defender is settling in and is able to slice off the screen. Because of the timing, angle, and smash on the screen it leads to a 2 vs 1 situation against the dropped defender.
Here we have a similar cut from #00 Bryce Brown off a #3 Vincent Poirer screen. Poirer does a great job of reading the defender trying to get over and can shift his angle to screen him. Brown gets a ton of space to hit the 3.
The Poirer and Brown duo at work again. Brown cuts early and when his defender tries to chase, Poirer is able to force the defender higher. This opens up the pull up for Brown against the deep drop. Once you catch the ball in this situation it is basically like a ball screen with the 2 on 1.
Here we have #99 Tacko Fall running to the rim, which takes out the tight curl option. However Edwards & #10 Justin Bibbs execute the away single. The threat of a 7’6 guy running the lane forces Bibbs defender to run to the paint which opens up a 2 vs 1 screening situation with a ton of space. Edwards cuts early before his defender is able to setup to guard the pin down and Bibbs does a great job of getting a piece of Edwards defender opening up the easy jumper.
#00 Bryce Brown cuts early and his defender tries to shortcut the screen underneath. Brown makes the correct read and stops his cut to get open for the jumper.
Staggers
Building off their single away screens, they do a great job of getting some really good stagger actions for their guards. They can run this out of a secondary break situation, a half court entry in their delay, and they build it into some of their other sets.
Each player in the stagger has a major role. The cutter must try to create separation. One of the best ways to do this is to “leave early” before the defense can get into position to chase. The first screener hunt bodies and get a piece of the cutters defender. The second screener is the clean up guy and must be able to adjust his screen based on the cutters defender.
With Bibbs cutting off the stagger, the Blue Coats try to switch the two guards. Maten is able to smash on the screen and roll hard flattening out the “hedge” defender. This opens up the space for a Bibbs floater inside the paint. If Maten doesn’t roll out as hard, this is probably not open.
Bibbs does a good job of setting up his defender and exploding from 0-100 to get space. The screens aren’t great but the 2nd screener is able to reroute the defender enough to help Bibbs gain space. With the defense not hedging, Bibbs gets downhill for a rim attack.
The Nets try to go under here. The cutter does a great job of stopping his cut and the 2nd screener makes the read to turn his screening angle to open up the cutter.
In this clip, no advantage is gained by the stagger. So the offense goes into its next action of a ballscreen. Maten turns and ball screen for #5 Jaysean Paige. This is similar to a ballscreen rescreen vs an under. Maten rolls and Paige snakes the screen to get to a paint shot.
As the team gets better in the stagger options, a great way to build other actions into it is by rejecting the stagger or doing a twirl off the first screen. This builds variability into the action and makes the defense adjust. This is like rejecting a ball screen because it creates indecision in the defense and forces them to respect that action. Davidson College is one of the best in the world doing this. Their are a ton of great Davidson clips on youtube.
Bibbs rejects the stagger and this opens up the curl for #22 Kaiser Gates. The player guarding Gates, now must go from being the guard two player in the stagger to having to chase Gates. This type of action creates that moment of indecision in the defense which is all someone like Gates needs to get his shot off. #23 John Bohannon is able to reroute the defender enough to open up more space.
The twirl or twist is a really effective action because the bottom defender must help on this screen or the defense needs to switch. #25 Wayne Blackshear cuts hard off Edwards. Edwards sprints off Fall’s screen for a pullup.
The Red Claws build the stagger actions into their horns alignment. This can help disguise what they are trying to do.
In this clip the Magic defender plays in his drop coverage against #51 Tremont Waters. Although he doesn’t stay it still forces him to have to do two things in a row. Maten reads Brown’s defender going over and adjusts to hit him. This opens up Brown to hit the 3.
Similar concept here with the drop defender having to at least respect Waters attacking off the ballscreen. Edwards catches and attacks the drop against the slower defender for his pulp.
Flares
The Red Claws use the flare screen to open up the shooters. Flares are great screens to use because its harder to switch defensively. It can also take advantage of a defender doing the right thing of trying to be in the gaps. Good offense punishes the defense trying to do the right things.
This is just smart players making a play. Maten reads Brown’s defender cheating towards the ball and flares him in. The skip pass is on point and leads to an easy 3.
The Red Claws line up in a horns small alignment. Edwards hits the elbow and sells the backscreen. His defender takes the bait & Waters is able to set the flare. The defense has to emergency switch late and Edwards gets to the rim.
Same concept here with Waters coming off the flare. His defender goes under and gets back into the play. Waters is able to get into his pullup.
The Elevator
The Red Claws ran some good sets to get their shooters open. The first one we look at is the elevator. The Elevator is a good option because if run right, can create a wide open shot for the offense.
The key to a good elevator screen is being able to make the cutters defender get stuck behind. Space is key for all screening actions but for an elevator screen it is vital due to the screeners having to “shut the doors”. This can be done by:
Screening the cutter going into the elevator
Having the cutter screen for another player before going into the elevator.
Having the cutter change speeds.
Here is an elevator look out of horns. Waters hits Maten at the Elbow and goes into a split action with Brown. Brown curls it tight and Waters comes up to get the pass back. Brown does a great job of changing speeds to build up space for the elevator.
Same concept here but this time Edwards rejects the split screen. He does a good job of changing speeds and is able to get an easy 3.
Other Set Plays
Here are two good sets off a similar look.
Although the flex offense isn’t as prevalent as it once was, it can be effective as part of a set. Here they back screen Edwards into the post to show flex. Edwards loses his defender in the first couple steps and is able to catch and attack middle
This is similar to a set that Purdue would run for Edwards. Brown gets the back screen. Edwards comes off a flex screen but twists back and screens for Brown. Brown than flies off a baseline double. Bohannon does a great job of reading the defender trying to cheat high and adjusts his screen to open up Brown in the corner.
For a complete look at the Red Claws off-screen attack here is a youtube video I made.