The Santa Cruz Warriors were 2nd in the G-League in pick & roll including passes. They scored at .93 PPP and had the 3rd most possessions in the G-League.They mixed in some good concepts and a group of attacking guards that led to a ton of success.
In this blog post we are going to look at a couple of their sets/concepts that they ran the most. One of the things that they did really well was get to a ball screen off movement, usually in the middle of the floor. Here is the rundown:
Angle
Middle Tracer
Motion Weak
UCLA Middle PNR
Zipper Middle PNR
Angle
We talked about getting to the Angle screen off movement in the Erie Bayhawks post. It is a great way to get some early movement into a 2nd or 3rd side angle ballscreen.
Santa Cruz gets to the angle screen a lot in their offense but they do a good job of running different scoring actions to get into it. They also vary the angle of their screeners. The variety of the screens makes it tougher for the defense to game plan to stop it.
#25 Moute A Bidais ghost cuts to catch and dribble handoffs with the corner player while #0 Jones works under the defense. The ball gets swung back to #33 Harrison. On the catch, Jones comes up out of the dunker to set the angle. The threat of the screen opens up the middle of the floor and the Warriors have great spacing.
Here they run a 21 action and get the ball swung. On the dribble handoff #92 Zeisloft gets the ball and swings it back to the original side. #10 Norvell ( I think) gets the ball back on the original side and gets the switch against the bigger defender for the drive.
Harrison brings the ball up and gets the early ball screen. On his pass to the other big, he gets it back and Jones sprints up into the angle ballscreen. Harrison snake dribbles and gets the roller the ball under the basket.
Here #12 Bowman comes off the early ball scree from #95 Toscano Anderson. He swings it to the opposite big and they run some flow. The ball gets swung back to Bowman at the top and Toscano Anderson sprints into the angle screen. You can see that the spacing here makes it tough for the defense to tag the roller.
Here they run the early PNR and 2nd side flow. What changes is that #6 Smailagic goes to the wing after his initial ballscreen. So when Harrison gets it back up top, Smailagic sprints from the wing area. This opens up a ton of space to the one side for Harrison to drive.
Middle Tracer
The tracer action (Handoff into a ballscreen) is an effective action to add to your ballscreen offense. Most tracer actions happen on the wing but I really like how they use it at the top of the key. This turns the ballscreen into an angle type screen and is really effective for their guards turning the corner. When the Warriors run it with pace, the defense must navigate the handoff and the ballscreen. This can be tough for them to execute coverages especially if they have multiple coverages (IE switch guard to guard and hedge the ballscreen).
Sometimes they run it into an open side and sometimes into the single side. Compressing parts of the floor opens up other parts of the floor. The open side attack makes it tough for the defense to effectively show and get the tag into place.
#21 Davis sets the Pindowns for Zeisloft. Zeisloft touches it back to #31 Reese. Davis sets the ballscreen for Reese going to the open corner. Davis does a great job of getting width on his roll, which helps open up the pocket pass and finish.
#20 Pargo hands off to Reese (creatively) and Jones comes in to screen for Reese. Jones rolls hard and Reese is able to hold off his defender to get to the bank shot.
This clip looks like they are trying to set up the hammer for Reese, however he makes a great read and curls it back to the paint for an easy shot. I just thought this clip was too good not to share.
Motion Weak Middle PNR
Motion weak is a common NBA and G-League action. Here Santa Cruz uses it as a way to move the ball and move some players before getting into their ballscreen. Ball and player movement spreads out the defense and puts them in a more vulnerable position to be attacked.
Bowman hits the wing and makes his cut. Pargo sets the cross screen for the big and comes off the down screen to the top. This triggers the middle ballscreen from #15 Marble. They get the switch and Pargo is able to score.
Pargo hits the wing and cuts thru. Harrison sets the cross screen and comes off the down screen. The Warriors now have great spacing. Toscano Anderson sets the ballscreen and when he reads switch, he prescreens to open up space for Harrison to get his shot.
#20 Pargo hits the wing and makes his through cut. This one is a little different because they hand off from the trail and have the big underneath sprint up to the middle ballscreen. Now that they have the floor spread, Davis sets the screen which opens up the easy midrange for Pargo.
UCLA Middle PNR
This concept shows the guard setting a screen for a cutter and then coming off the ballscreen. Even if the guard doesn’t set the screen it still causes a lot of confusion for the defense. It softens up the on-ball defender and gives the ball handler a step advantage coming off the ballscreen. This would allow the screener to sprint out early.
Pargo sets the rub screen for Toscano Anderson. Pargo now has an advantage on his defender and when Davis screens, he sprints out early. The high single tag defender cannot get back in the play to help.
Bowman is now the one in the screen, he gets the advantage and Smailigic can sprint out early. In this clip you see the cutter stop in the dunker spot. This puts his defender in a tough spot of tagging the roller and guarding his man. The top 2-side defender must come down and they get the easy 3.
Harrison is unable to get the advantage on his defender and when Smailigic comes to screen, the defender gets under. Harrison creates the drive and gets to the rim.
Zipper Middle PNR
The zipper cut or deep sweep is usually aided with the screen at the block. When timed right, it can create a similar advantage as the UCLA Screen. This is another effective way for the Warriors to create a single tag situation.
Reese comes off the zipper type screen from Toscano Anderson. Davis reads the on-ball defender trying to sneak under and adjusts the screen to open up the 3.
This clip they don’t even need the zipper screen to get into it. Reese cuts hard and opens up the space to his defender. Toscano Anderson reads that he can sprint out early. With the high single tag they get the lob.
This one is more of a deep sweep with Bowman setting up the corner cut and then coming off the screen to the top. The on-ball defender does a good job of staying attached and Davis reads that he needs to smash on the screen. The hard roll against the drop opens up the floater for Bowman.