In studying the film, nearly every single play we run is a pick and roll (not joking). I would like this thread to serve a second purpose. I want to now get a handle on the ball handler half off the pick and roll. This half is much more complicated as compared to the roll man's job. The roll man's half is described at this LINK.
I need to start this off by numbering the defenders to really define their roll in the high pick and roll at the top of the key. A pick and roll designed to let the ball handler free along the baseline does not have this numbering scheme.
1 Defender: The defender on the pick and roll ball handler
2 Defender: The defender on the pick and roll screen setter
3 Defender: The defender responsible for rotating to the front of the rim to stop a roll man dunk. This is usually the power forward's defender, and you can identify them because they will be under the front of the rim usually.
4 Defender: The defender that is guarding the player most often on one of the shoulders. This defender is the first defender that can rotate over to the free throw line to stop a pick and roll ball handler from being let free down the middle of the paint. This defender is usually either the small forward's or shooting guard's initial man to man defender.
5 Defender: The defender that guards the player usually in the corner. This defender is most often ignored and out of the play.
To diagram a typical, no wrinkles high pick and roll, this is what goes through the mind of the ball handler in the form of a check list. Do not worry about understanding either check list initially. I put this at the top to give you something to refer back to after each video if you so choose.
- Screen comes up.
- Use screen to get free into the lane and attack.
- If the 4 defender rotates properly into the middle of the free throw line, either the roll man is open for a pop or the player on the shoulder is open for a 3 point shot.
- If it is possible to get past the 4 defender to the middle of the lane, attack for a layup.
- If the 4 defender is properly under the rim and a layup will be heavily contested, the roll man will be open for a dunk as long as the ball handler properly grabs the 4 defender's attention.
- If the 4 defender is not under the rim, free dunk!
For a complete picture, here is the roll man:
- The roll man simply has to judge the 3 and the 4 defender.
- If the 4 defender properly rotates over, the roll man must find a pop area to shoot.
- If the 4 defender does not get over, the roll man must run at the 3 defender at the rim looking for a roll pass.
- The difference between running a Scenario 1 or 2 pick and roll from the linked thread compared to a scenario 4 or 5 pick and roll is that in Scenarios 1 and 2, there is a 3 and 4 defender. In scenario 4 and 5, the 4 defender is eliminated from the play (you will see why this is a huge difference later).
Game 1 Miami vs Chicago. Beginning of fourth quarter 71-65 MIA leads.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74ifSSjTLAg[/youtube]
In this first play, we initially see Taj come up for a screen to the baseline. Unfortunately, the screen comes out to the three point line. This means that if run, Taj will be open for a pick and pop jump shot; unfortunately Lebron is there to deny that shot to Taj. The mistake here is Rose waiting for the screen to get all the way to the three point line; if he runs Wade into Taj when Taj is about 15 feet deep, they have a wide open roll to the rim for Taj. Notice how Haslem comes up over the top to double before Rose does anything at all; he expected that Rose would attack him, but Rose doesn't. Rose then decides to ignore a Taj pnr for Omer in a pick and roll. Notice how the double team comes, but Rose easily slides around it...and into Lebron (the pesky 4 defender). The first pick and roll gives him an open drive towards the hoop against the baseline with no safety while the second gives him a drive into a congested lane with Lebron playing the 4 defender against the primary pick and roll threat here. If Deng brought Lebron out of the play, this would have been a Taj dunk as Rose was focused on drawing Haslem's attention. The open players made by the pick and roll were Deng and Taj (the shoulder and essentially a pop threat, even though Taj wasn't in the pick and roll). The idea of the second drive was correct, the execution was a little poor because Rose got too deep into Lebron (ya hilarious, I know). Lebron played very far off of Deng.
Play Summary: 1 missed attack opportunity, 1 clogged lane
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eb_HKygqf7A[/youtube]
I wan't you guys to watch Omer off of this initial pick and roll. You HAVE to pass to Omer here. A pass to Omer leaves Udonis Haslem to defend both Taj and Omer for a 2 on 1. The other feature of this play shows why Ronnie Brewer hurt the Bulls offense. Ronnie's defender (the pesky 4 defender, Mike Miller) would have played the role of Lebron from 1_1 (what happens if the 4 defender was out of the play out of the lane is seen in 1_7. Watch 1_7 now to see the play run correctly where Deng distracts Lebron the 4 defender). Ronnie's 4 defender doesn't even have to rotate to stop the pick and roll; he's standing there initially leaving Brewer WIDE open. Now the second pick and roll, again with Asik: Asik once again comes up wide open on the back side, but I understand Rose not passing on this one as it would not lead to a 2 on 1. Rose then passes to an open Ronnie Brewer. In these first two plays, we see Rose trying to get free into the lane to draw the third defender for a pass off for a dunk, but the 4 defender is preventing this. The correct play here is to hit the roll man on the baseline without a drive to force a 2 on 1. This is something we are doing A LOT this year, and has been a huge improvement. We have fixed this this year and even put Boozer as the roll man to slide into the corner.
Play Summary: 1 missed roll man, 1 clogged lane, 1 correct pass to a shooter
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhsB4h3Zn10[/youtube]
On the next play, we see yet another Rose and Omer pick and roll. This time Rose attacks, draws Taj's defender, and then kicks it for a perfect play. This play was not designed for the roll man or the ball handler because Lebron (the pesky 4th defender), met him on the Bulls logo. THis play is a little different than the first two because the pick and roll was run towards a wing instead of towards the middle of the lane. When I indicate a direction of the pick and roll, it stands for the location of the ball handler's driving lane.
Play Summary: 1 correct pass to a shooter
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8W7y6qH7mM[/youtube]
Just to give you perspective, this is the first 4 plays of the fourth quarter of the 2nd game; we ran a lot of pick and roll so far. This play showcases another pick and roll; this time it is with Ronnie Brewer. Again, Rose misses a WIDE open Brewer (this is what we fixed for this year: passing to the wide open roll man on the wing). The entire play is designed for Brewer to get the ball out on the wing; you can even see the preemptive clear out by Deng. If Rose passes to Brewer as he crosses the three point line here, Brewer and Taj have a 2 on 1 against Haslem again. Rose does do a great job of getting by Wade to draw the foul, but again another missed opportunity on the pick and roll. If Rose doesn't trust the roll men because of limited offense, bad hands, or whatever why do we keep running it if Rose is going to ignore the roll man to the wing in this game?
Play Summary: 1 missed roll man
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuL2I-IJfPo[/youtube]
Finally an adjustment on the fly in this video. The Bulls now send Korver over to screen for Rose. This makes the roll man a deadly pop shooter. With the way that the Heat are double teaming and leaving the roll man to wander, they can no longer truly send a double team and ignore the wing roll man. One problem I see with a lot of these pick and rolls is that the 2 defender beats the roll man to Rose!!! Clearly the pick and roll can be run a lot more efficiently by setting a better screen. Running the screener off of screens should have cleared this up. Back to the play, Rose finally adjusts to the doubling by faking Wade out of his shoes for a perfect decision to drive to the hole for a foul. The way the offense is set up, the pesky 4 defender is literally on top of the 3 defender and the 4 defender can't even get far enough out of the circle to stop Rose. This was a beautiful job by Rose and a little wrinkle to the play.
Play Summary: 1 correct ball handler drive to the hole.
--skip play, no real Rose positive or negatives. Rose and Omer run a pick and roll that neither do anything on; the play wasn't there to be made. I will add video in a later Version.--
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZgN-B3VuIQ[/youtube]
Here is another pick and roll between Deng and Rose. Like the skipped play, it is like Rose doesn't even see it. Deng sets an excellent pick that surprises both defenders. Wade jumps up a step leaving the drive to the center of the lane to attack open. Rose would have driven right into Lebron if he has done this. After that drive, Deng would have received the pass from Rose for a spot up jump shot/drive on the wing after Deng pops. However, it seems like that pick and roll was a decoy for a Korver coming off of screen. Korver dun messed the timing of the play here. Korver essentially runs a pick and roll without the ball and misses a wide open Omer because he can't get a pass off. This entire play works if Rose simply attacks the center of the lane. If he attacks, Deng is wide open for a pop jump shot and Bosh is not available to run out to the three point line to stop Korver's wide open three. However, Rose has to pass to an early Korver and the play is dead. Running Korver up to the top is a wrinkle because Korver would have had the 5 defender in the traditional pick and roll.
Play Summary: 1 Ashton Kutcher fail, 1 missed wing roll man
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdEozzZL0IE[/youtube]
Finally, a beautiful pick and roll; this is literally the definition of perfect. Rose begins the play by clearing out Korver from the left wing. Then, Rose gets a horrible screen from Taj. Haslem did not hedge high enough here to force Rose back into Wade. Rose then drives off of the mistake, draws the 3 defender, and passes off to Taj. Rose did a beautiful job here. The difference here is that the 4 defender normally in the middle of the lane to stop Rose (Lebron) didn't see the drive until too late to cause the pass.
Play Summary: 1 correct drive, 1 correct pass for dunk
--Skip play. Features Korver running around a simple screen and missing an open 3. Haslem doesn't step up to prevent the shot.--
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwMcwH5hCB8[/youtube]
Rose brings the ball up and gets it poked away just to recover. He then clears Taj out from the elbow. As he calls over Deng for the screen, he simply does nothing because Lebron literally had to barely move to put up a ridiculously early hedge. Deng then slips the screen half-assedly as Rose picks up his dribble. He then passes over to Taj for a pseudo "give and go" for a horrible 3 point shot. This entire possession looked like Rose had no idea what he wanted to do. He clears out the rotation for rejecting the screen, yet never even tries to go at it. I think this play was broken when Lebron came out to hedge before Rose even had a chance to attack. When this happened, Rose could not even run a regular pick and roll. Remember, a pick and roll is useless when the ball handler does not attack the 2 defender initially. Since Lebron ruins the pick and roll, the next play would have been immediately attacking Wade as the 1 defender to get a 2 on 1 with Rose and Deng vs Wade. Most of the time, Wade will stay home on Rose and Deng will slip the screen to receive the pass (we did exactly this with Boozer vs Memphis). Lebron hedged out SO far that he actually removed himself from the play. Rose waits far too long to attempt any pass. It seemed to me that Rose was not looking to pass like he has been lately and didn't know what to do when the initial pick and roll failed.
Play Summary: 1 missed attack opportunity.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAkhZCCde0k[/youtube]
Well, here we are; Lebron is on Rose. Rose isolates on the wing vs Lebron. Deng runs over to screen Lebron and the super hedge double comes again. Rose passes to the open Deng on the wing! Miami does an excellent job rotating to meet Deng, and Wade comes from behind to tip the ball. Deng finally gets a pass to Taj for an open jumper and he misses it. If Wade doesn't tip the ball, Taj has a poster on Bosh. This was run to perfection by Rose; Wade made a nice defensive tip, and Taj missed the jumper.
Play Summary: 1 correct roll man pass, 1 fail by Taj.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0OhL2c3RY4[/youtube]
On this next play, the Bulls run the same start to the play, except they throw in the wrinkle of faking a Noah screen and follow it up with a Taj screen. This prevents the super hedge/double, and it is a good adjustment. Rose blows by Lebron and Bosh, and gets all the way to the three defender under the rim. While the idea of the drive was correct, Rose did not finish off his drive. The 3 defender jumps from inside the circle; if Rose bulldozes into him, he more than likely draws the foul. Going to score was not the wrong option, but Taj and Korver were both open for passes. Bosh's poor defense on the pick and roll as the 2 defender killed the whole defense.
Play Summary: 1 correct drive to score but failed to draw a foul
--Play Skipped. Mike Bibby blocks Luol Deng in transition. That's all you need to know
----Play Skipped. Bulls run Korver around screens beautifully for a WIDE open three that goes half way down and out.--
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWEgRL6tA80[/youtube]
In this play, the Bulls set up a middle pick and roll with Noah as the screener. Rose rejects the screen and drives baseline on Lebron. One problem I have right there is that Rose doesn't even use the screen to make Lebron take a step in and give Rose an extra step to the basket. However, Rose's drive to the rim draws a double team under the basket. Mike Bibby is now in a 2 on 1 between Korver and Taj. Bibby chooses to stop Korver, and leaves Taj for a WIDE open dunk. Taj smashes and gets an and-1. It took me four replays pausing along the way to see all of this; Rose saw it mid air. This is truly an amazing point guard play by Rose.
Play Summary: 1 perfect pass.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2cWfv3cDvE[/youtube]
This play starts off with a horrible camera angle for analyzing
. Anyway, Korver comes up and sets a screen for Rose and promptly clears out to the other side of the floor. Taj then runs a screen and roll with Rose. I want you guys to pause this video at 6 seconds. This is a huge missed opportunity by Rose for tossing a pass to Taj for a perfect pick and roll. Again, it is the missed pass out to the wing for the roll man that kills us. If that pass was made, it becomes a two on one between Taj/Noah and the grainy 3 defender under the rim (Haslem?). Either way, the pass is instead given to Deng where he does what he does best in this fourth quarter; Deng makes a poor drive for a turnover.Play Summary: 1 missed pass to roll man, 1 Deng turnover
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x_v_k9sRF0[/youtube]
This play is a bonafide fuster-cluck. The play begins with what is most likely a fake pick and roll between Rose and Korver. This is done so that Korver's defender goes for the super hedge leaving him with massive ground to cover to catch up to Korver. However, because of the poor place to run this play, a pass to Korver is impossible. This play has to be run at the top of the key initially to even have a prayer. The other option is for Rose to drive into the lane off of the pick and roll (essentially follow Korver, but on a "delay") and hit Korver in the corner for a super wide open shot. Naturally, neither of these happen. Deng then sets a terrible screen where he almost falls down. If Deng sets the screen here, Rose is free to abuse Wade who is left hopelessly in the lane by himself. But, because of the terrible screen, Rose cannot cut back to the middle of the lane for a jail break drive. At this point the play is broken. Wade is now isolated on Rose. Rose then chucks the ball at Deng (in what I like to pretend is anger). Rose is now isolated on Wade who blocks a bail out shot. I would have liked to see Rose wait for a Taj screen to give him some room to shoot. The Bulls have been showing some surprising creativity by using the super hedge against the Heat and using wrinkles on the screen to surprise the defense. We just cannot capitalize on these.
Play Summary: Deng failed screen led to broken play.
--Skipped Plays. At this point we are down 9 and Deng isolates a three on Lebron. Final play is a desperation drive by Korver.--
Game 1 Conclusions
We lost this game in two ways. First and foremost, we simply did not finish the open shots that were given to us. We were getting open shot after open shot, but we simply could not finish off the shots. Taj, Korver, and Deng all missed open opportunities down the stretch and choked. Korver's shots looked good, but they simply did not go down. The second way we lost game 2 was not hitting the roll man in the wing of the defense off of the Rose super hedge. The one time Rose hit this roll man in the fourth, it resulted in an and-1 poster over three Miami defenders. While I blame the choking first and foremost, this missing of the wing roll man could have opened up the floor considerably for the entire offense. If we hit our shots, this is a close game. If we hit the roll man in the wing, there is a high probability that we win this game. We showed excellent use of the super hedge to break the defense and use it as a poison pill against Miami; this is a great sign going forward for us. We have also seen this roll man to the wing this year, and we have spammed it constantly to give the defense massive problems.
Now, on to game 2 to see adjustments made (if any)!
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