Wizards Chalkboard is a semi-regular series in which we look at the X's and O's of basketball and some of the key sets and plays from recent Wizards games. Today we look at a few plays from the Wizards first road trip of the season, a pair of games against the Idaho Stampede. Dakota went 1-1 on the trip, but ran a few sets that did a good job of creating space for scoring chances, we'll take a look at one of those now.
So much of scoring in basketball is about spacing, particularly at the pro level where defenders are so long and so athletic. This can mean different things though. There's the definition understood by most, which is creating space between the ball-handler and defender in order to make it easier to get a shot off. Then there's creating space in a specific area which can then allow an individual to cut through and receive a pass. Teams like to create areas of space right around the rim because it creates easy scoring chances or can lead to desperate retreats by the defense, leading to shooting fouls. This example is one in which the Wizards create space near the rim. Let's take a look.
So much of scoring in basketball is about spacing, particularly at the pro level where defenders are so long and so athletic. This can mean different things though. There's the definition understood by most, which is creating space between the ball-handler and defender in order to make it easier to get a shot off. Then there's creating space in a specific area which can then allow an individual to cut through and receive a pass. Teams like to create areas of space right around the rim because it creates easy scoring chances or can lead to desperate retreats by the defense, leading to shooting fouls. This example is one in which the Wizards create space near the rim. Let's take a look.
We pick up the action early in the second quarter of Thursday night's game - a contest the Wizards won 120-77. Mo Baker dishes to Edwin Ubiles on the far wing and proceeds to cut down the middle of the lane. As this happens, Mike Anderson rotates up to the top of the key from his starting point near the right block.
Now the action starts to pick up a little bit. Ubiles hits Anderson at the top of the key as Baker rotates back out towards the near wing. Meanwhile, on the far side of the court, Curtis Withers starts creeping up towards the perimeter to set a back screen for Ubiles cutting down towards the lane.
Anderson swings the ball to Baker on the near wing but the bulk of the action remains centered around the paint. Ubiles, after cutting down to the lane, turns and retreats back towards the far side as Withers sets another screen. After setting the down screen, the Wizards forward then cuts across the lane and posts up on the near side block.
This last action is what opens up space in front of the rim. As Ubiles clears the second screen, both his man and Withers' defender follow for a brief moment to prevent the talented rookie from getting open. This moment of hesitation leaves the area around the rim on the far side of the paint wide open. Both Mike Anderson and Shy Ely (camping out in the corner) fly to the basket and Withers delivers a pass to the wide open Ely who is fouled on the shot. As Nate Bjorkgren said during Sunday's Wizards Watch, a big part of the reason Dakota was able to put up 120 points in this particular game was the aggressive nature in which the offense operated. This is a prime example. The Wizards created an opening, hit the gap hard and it results in free throws.
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