Hoops Beyond the Huddle Vol. 09

Welcome to the ninth issue of Hoops Beyond the Huddle!

This week we are taking a look at a common set with a variation for a 3-pointer from Anadolu Efes of Istanbul, Turkey. This clip comes from Euroleague round 14 action against Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel.

Watch the clip and we will break it down below.

There are definitions for all the actions explained in this newsletter, at the bottom. All words that are bolded in black can be found.

This set is called Diamond Hammer.

Hoops Beyond the Huddle Volume 06 states that Diamond is a common set in both European and North American basketball. Here we are only a few weeks later, looking at this set with a wrinkle in it. Anadolu Efes starts the second half with this look by utilizing the ball handler to draw defenders and get weak side off ball action for an open shot.

The set starts off with the 1 dribbling the ball over half to initiate the play. The rest of the players are in a typical diamond position (diamond starting position) - the 2 and 3 under the rim and at the foul line, and the 4 and 5 on the low blocks.

The first action is the 4 setting a screen to free up the 2. In this clip, the 2 goes over the screen due to his defender’s position, but could just as easily go under the screen. The 1 passes to the 2 on the wing. The 3 pops out to the other wing (action 1).

After the 1 enters to the wing, he spaces to the top of the key. The 5 sprints up from the weak side low block to set an empty wing PnR. The 4 loops under the basket and stays a few steps past the low block (action 2).

The 2 rejects the screen and penetrates baseline. As soon as the 2 starts penetrating, the 4 sets a hammer screen for the 3. The 2 for Anadolu Efes, Shane Larkin, former NBA player and one of Euroleague’s most prolific scorers, draws weakside rotations consistently. When the low defender commits, he passes the ball to the corner for the shot (action 3).

Hammer Reads/Scoring Options

When the low defender commits to Larkin, it makes the hammer screen even more open because that defender cannot help on the hammer screen. If the hammer screen was set a second earlier, the screener could have slipped for a drop off from Larkin.

Larkin rejected the screen in this clip. If the coach drew that up or not, we’ll never know. However, this shot would have still been open if he used the screen. If he went over the screen, reads could have been:

• make the pass to the corner from the top (tough pass)

• swing the ball to the 1 who can make the pass to the corner

That’s this week’s playbook breakdown! Additionally, this will be the final newsletter of the 2023 year. Next week I will be away with family and friends celebrating the holidays. Thank you everyone for coming along this journey and growing your basketball IQ with me. See you on January 3rd in your inbox!

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Cheers,

Keevan

Founder of Hoops Beyond the Huddle