Euroleague Coaching Tactics: Games 8 & 9

We took a closer look in Baskonia vs Panathinaikos (23-11) and Olympiacos vs Real Madrid (22-11). Home team on Basque country won against coach Pascual's team and a 33 point effort from Keith Langford, having a better team effort overall. Olympiacos defeated Real Madrid (played without Sergio Llull & Gustavo Ayon), with Vassilis Spanoulis as the leading scorer.

Baskonia: Low post play for Shengelia

Coach Perasovic focused inside the paint, with the Georgian power forward being the main target.
In this play, he sets a down screen and gets a post-up position through a baseline screen.

Panathinaikos: Double pin down & Pop out

A commonly used play by coach Pascual this season, this option for Deshaun Thomas popping out after setting a wide pin down screen for Matt Lojeski. Defense chases, so Thomas's defender had to help on the curl, leaving him open for a 3p shot.

Olympiacos: After time-out play

During the second quarter, Real Madrid has tied the game at 35-35, so coach Blatt called for a time-out, in order to disrupt opponents' momentum and design a play to score. Simple box play with a baseline screen for his center Nikola Milutinov and a correct read from Spanoulis on the screen away.

Real Madrid: Miss-match read & trap reaction

After a pick n' pop action in which the defenders switched, coach Laso's players read correctly the miss-match and with two quick passes had Trey Thompinks posted-up against the opposing point guard, Mantzaris. Olympiacos responded by trapping from the strong side and rotating, but Real Madrid's players passed the ball perfectly to reach sharpshooter Jaycee Carroll for the corner 3.

Panathinaikos-Olympiacos 93-80: Video-analysis

Olympiacos' first play of the game starts with a side pick n' roll action and players react correctly against the defensive switch.

Janis Timma scored 5 3point shots, all through Olympiacos' team function: skip pass from low post, drive n' kick & off-ball screening action.

Luka Lekavicius scored all his points off the dribble, since he has the ability to create his own shot through pick n' roll situations & drive opportunities.

Olympiacos' low post actions, mainly targeting Giorgos Printezis.

coach David Blatt's Double rip play for post-up

Thanasis Antetokounmpo's energy & explosive play helped Panathinaikos comeback & get the lead.

Panathinaikos' players react correctly against Olympiacos' switching pick n' roll defense.

Game box score

NBA Coaching Tactics 2018-19 - October

Boston Celtics - Horns set options

During the opening night game vs Sixers, coach Brad Stevens ran some simple yet effective options out of a Horns set, having Hayward & Tatum on top to get a pick n' roll or using wide pin down screens for Brown & Irving.

Boston Celtics - Al Horford 3p shooting

Having Al Horford playing as a stretch big man provides many scoring opportunities for the Celtics, as he can hit the open 3p shot coming as a trailer or after a pop out.

Oklahoma City Thunder - Elbow Split options

The Elbow series is an important part of coach Donovan's playbook, with center Steven Adams as a passing big man and options such as staggered screens, back cut, screen away & pick n' roll.

Golden State Warriors - Misdirection back screen

The classic misdirection play that Warriors use for an easy layup, beginning with a very common zipper down to a pick n' roll action as a decoy. With a cross screen and a quick back screen for Durant, count 2 easy points.

Utah Jazz - Pick n' Roll Spain action

A really effective pick n' roll variation is the Spain action (pick & back screen on big man's defender). In this play, screener block outgoing guard to provide his teammate with an open 3p shot.

Euroleague Coaching Tactics 2018-19 (week 5)

Our focus is on CSKA Moscow vs Olympiacos & Barcelona vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv this week.
In Moscow Arena, the hosted greek side controled the tempo of the game and held to a short lead, ut in the end the russian powerhouse prevailed with a final score of 69-65.
In Palau Blaugrana court, the israelian champions were 1 point up in halftime (33-34), but home team reacted scoring a strong 25-7 in the 3rd quarter en route to a 74-58 win.

CSKA Moscow - Horns set: Guard on Top

A play we've seen the last two seasons from coach Dimitris Itoudis: horns set with a guard instead of a power forward, targeting drive n' kick situations to find an open 3p shot.

Olympiacos - Double Pick n' Roll

Coach David Blatt has shown his preference to pick n' roll variations during past seasons. In Moscow, this double pick n' roll play produced some points for his team.

Olympiacos - Double Rip for post-up

Since the first few games of the current season, this double rip for a post-up play was easily noticeable, in order to get George Printezis (one of the best PFs in Euroleague) space to operate in the block.

Barcelona - Stagger, Exit & Choice play

A multi-option play with a lot of off-ball screens, ending with a choice set for Marcelinho Huertas. Maccabi Tel-Aviv plyers denied the wing pass, so the home team found center Ante Tomic inside.

Maccabi - Ram screen & baseline stagger play

Ram screen action to begin the play, pop out & dribble hand-off to the wing and then a baseline stagger. Opponents prevented the 3p shot, so coach Neven Spahija's players got the ball inside.