5 Key Plays with Andre Miller Part 1 of 2: Offensive Sets

What is up buttercups?!!??!?!?!?!?

I'm back from a week of vacation and during the two flights, I decided to write a fanpost on 5 key plays with Andre Miller for the Blazer's upcoming season.  I wasn't aware that while I was gone, the greatest post this summer was created by iverigma2 regarding our plays from last year.  If you haven't read it, you are a total BETH (BlazersEdge Turd Head).  Ok, you are really not but you should., it is quite awesome.  http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/9/1/1001028/anatomy-of-portland-trail-blazers

In regards to this post, it's filled with assumptions, my own experiences, flight attendant interruptions, and a few swirly mai tais. 

The objective is to look at a few key plays, both offensively and defensively, and discuss the merits of expansion by Coach N8, assuming Andre Miller will take the helm as our starting/finishing point guard.  Part 1 will cover only the offensive plays and Part II will cover the key defensive plays all based on my subjective view of course;) 

I watch our beloved Blazers through the eye of a fan and the eye of a Al Bundy type PG. 

A few disclaimers:

   1. I'm not a professional coach.  A lub coach maybe but nothing more.  My experiences draws from years of being taught by some great coaches at various levels, playing PG, and all focusing on the point of view from the PG position.  I'm also the undefeated head coach of a 5th grade girls team for six seasons.  I'm sure I will end up in their Hall of Fame some day, but it has to be shared that this league does not keep score. 

   2. I wrote this on a plane.  Two five hour flights.  It made for a fast trip.  BEdge for the rescue but writing on a plane does have some downfalls.... no access to video, playbooks, etc...just my memory of all the games I watched the last few seasons.   You might wonder why I don't just clean up this puppy?  Everyone wants to remember their first love...AND there are a few pushy BEdgers in the JD....;) 

   3. I tried to key on generic play sets that the Blazers can exploit with Andre at the point. All these plays have many variations.

   4.  Coach N8 and his staff will think this is child's play compare to what they teach...and I wholeheartedly would agree with him.  Please keep this in mind while reading this post. 

Your opinions, discussions, additions, and subtractions are warmly welcomed here.

Peace.  Stay Cool.  Forever.


- BRP

PS.  This took me longer to post than to write...SBN...I'm talking to you!!!

Play #1:  Hi Low

-    We’ve seen this play a few times with LMA and GO in the same set.  It was a new play and it was rare if it was ran with Joel in place of GO.  This play wasn’t run smoothly (I’m not sure of the success percentage but it never got pass the first two options.  It was either a dunk or a broken play.  We all remember the dunks but I’m sure we don’t remember all the times LMA threw up a top of the key jumper against the shot clock instead of exhausting the additional options.  I expect this to change and become a major focus for the upcoming season. 

-    This is a key play because it’s almost unstoppable if executed correctly.  This play works for us because we have two athletic big men and a perennial all-star in the SG position.  Along with Andre on the court, Coach N8 now can execute all the options within this play. 

-    I’m expecting Coach N8 to expand and develop this play even more so this year with GO having another year under his belt, and Andre manning the point position. 

1.    Andre pass the ball right to BRoy

    a.  BRoy will initiate the play by faking a baseline cut and back to get the ball from Andre.  This might be a small move, but it intends to deceive the opponent to think that BRoy is the #1 option in this play.  Deception and variation is the key to executing the same plays flawlessly over and over.  

    b.  LMA would move to screen for GO once the ball leaves Andre’s hand.  Again, the play fake makes LMA’s defender keep an eye on BRoy thinking of a possible side clear out and makes him slowly move in position in case he needs to help  (hence it’s important to have 1:1 isolations before the 4th quarter…and you will see Coach N8 call this a few times)

2.    BRoy with the ball in his hands

    a.      Brandon has two choices here:
        i.    Pass to GO, if GO has position
        ii.    Pass to LMA who will go to the top of the key if GO goes to the opposite post position.  (We always see it this way.  I haven’t seen GO rolled to the top of the key, leaving LMA with inside out position from bouncing inside after the screen.  Eventually, I would like to see GO roll to the top so LMA can side pin his defender for an easy dump from BRoy).  This means LMA must read where the cutter moves
        iii.    GO’s defender should be on his right hip if he is in the right position down at the block

3.    Lets assume GO does not have position or choose not to keep his position to execute on the play (this is up to him to read.  If he has his defender on the right hip instead of the left, he needs to execute the play.  Left hip then he needs to keep his block).  This leaves LMA with the ball in his hand from BRoy

a.    Because the defenders are still assuming the ball will end in BRoy’s hand either from him cutting baseline or around LMA, GO’s defender will lag and keep his eye to defending his position against GO, and watching BRoy.
b.    Once the ball is in LMA hands, Andre and Martell will switch positions.  (this is key for additional options)
c.    With a quick spin roll to the hoop, GO should have a dunk or entry pass from LMA that will lead to an easy two.  Boom Shakalaka !!! 

4.    Additional Options:  Lets assumes that GO does not have position and the play needs to continue to be executed.  Here is where we failed a few times in my opinion.  What usually happens is LMA will take the top of the key jumper or throw it back to Brandon.  Leaving this a broken play.  I’m assuming Coach N8 showed them the 4th, 5th, and 6th options.  This also depends on how long it takes to get the play going.  24 shot clock can be really short if our PG can’t get the offense called in time, initiated, or is getting a ride from his defender through the cyclops at midcourt (btw, TiH’s favorite saying).  Andre Miller should help us here. 

5.    If LMA doesn’t find GO down low, he will swing the ball to Andre setting up GO again

a.    GO needs to reposition to the opposite block so Andre can feed him the ball for the first option after the reset.
b.    GO because of his movement on the baseline, should be able to get really low post position.  Boom!  Two points.
c.    If that doesn’t happen, he should look for a cutter or return the ball to Andre or Broy as shown below

6.    If Andre can’t find GO (or GO doesn’t get position).  Andre has a few options here.

a.    Find a cutting Martell
b.    Return the ball to BRoy who will then break down his man or find a cutting LMA after he gets through the back screen as shown below

    c.   BRoy has the option of sending it to a rolling LMA off the screen or pass it to Martell sitting in corner for a 3 knowing that his trailing defender is lagging to watch for the cutting LMA.
    d.  BRoy also has the option to break down his man for a mid range jump shot, knowing that both LMA and GO are back to the block to rebound if necessary.

7.   Here is where it gets interesting with Andre Miller in the house.  Lets assume the ball doesn’t go back to BRoy.  Andre has a few options at his disposal.  Last year, we would have settle for a jump shot. 
    a.  The first option is to break down his man to the middle.  This is where we will see him excel.  With a simple power drive to the middle, Andre has a chance to go in and score with the main resistance being only his defender.  GO’s defender will most likely stay as well BRoy’s defender.  If they don’t, easy bucket for GO or BRoy with a simple dime. 
    b.  The second option is for him to go towards the middle, and BRoy rolls to the left, for  a catch and shoot, playing into BRoy’s strength. 
    c.  The third option in this reset is to pass to Martell for a 3!!!!    

Play #2 - Pick and Roll:

Obviously, we all know this is a staple of any NBA offense.  The options are many, including pop outs for perimeter shots, rotate to the top of the key for another drive and dish, or causing mis-match for isolations.  However, it all changes for the Blazers with Andre Miller.  Many times last year, we were ineffective because Blake or Sergio didn’t have the "threat" to finish.  Threat can be a perception or reality…it doesn’t matter, without it, a pick and roll play is less effective.  An effective pick and roll is all about the PG.  I’m a bit harsh on Blake and Sergio here but Coach N8’s PNR plays were built to maximize his player’s skills while minimizing their deficiencies.  Most of our PNR sets were based on "High PNRs."  It was more to create spacing for a wide open three or perimeter shot.  The downside of a High PNR is that we should expect the defending bigs to jump out on the PG/SG then roll back to the defender.  (I’ll do an analysis of the PNR defense in part 2).  This year, I expect us to use it to attack the hoop.  One simple way to tell if a pick and roll is used for spacing for a perimeter shot or attacking the hoop is the point of engagement of the PNR.  If the PNR starts at the 3 point line, expect it to create spacing for a perimeter shot…If it’s initiated towards the free throw line, expect it to go towards the hoop or the rolling bigs.  Coach N8 used the PNR to help free the PG while initiating spacing in his offense because most times, our PG can’t initiate spacing with dribble penetration.  With a more physical attacking PG like Andre, I would expect Coach N8 to change the plays to initiate it towards the hoop, giving us more easy baskets and FT opportunities. 

1.     The simplest set is to actually execute the pick and roll between the point guard and the PF/C, with the number one option being the PG attacking the rim.  Because we didn’t have a penetrating point guard, our pick and roll sets were focused on freeing BRoy or getting an open 3 pointer from our wings.  The main cause of this is that we execute our pick and roll from the 3pt line instead of pushing the PG defender toward the free throw line to execute from there.

2.     Andre’s option here is to take it to the rim or feed it to LMA/GO.  Many times it stops here or our PG don’t get far enough towards the free throw line, making our bigs move the pick out to the 3pt line, making it far less effective.  What happens next is Coach N8’s plays will call for us to use the pick to rotate the basketball twice toward the opposing side wing for an open three.  The failure of not executing is that we either force the pass, brick a layup, or the PG dribble around the baseline to find the opposing wing player for a 3, which did work more times than the PG laying it in. 

3.    Additional Options with Andre

a.     First and foremost, I expect Andre to execute this play a lot better.  He’s a finisher.  He’s also an above average passer so he won’t be dropping passes to the bigs’ ankles.  Because he is known as a finisher, this will help BRoy tremendously.  Lets assume in the above diagram that Andre does go through the pick.  Because of his reputation and threat of finishing, BRoy’s defender will more than likely sag on him to help on Andre.  This leaves a catch and shoot for BRoy (keep working on that BRoy!).  BRoy will see A LOT of these this upcoming season.  If he doesn’t see that, then opposing teams are taking the risk of Andre’s penetration.  I don’t think this will happen.  It will be more often than not that they will try to stop the dribble penetration, something they haven’t had to worry with Sergio and Steve. 

In this scenario, because Andre doesn’t have a 3pt threat, he will have to initiate his PNR towards the free throw line.  We should expect the defending C/PF to sag to wait for the defending PG to go over the top to defend, leaving Andre with an open FT line shot or the C/PF will switch but take the chance of him making a jump shot rather than attacking the hoop.  The good thing is that Andre is physical enough to attack the C/PF regardless of how far they sag, giving us another weapon in creating more fouls on opposing bigs. 

b.    Lets assume the defenders do switch:

4.    If a switch does occur, the first look would be to a rolling LMA.  If this does not happen, here is where it gets interesting with Andre at the point. 

a.    Andre now has an isolation against the defending big.  Who was the only other player that we could trust in an isolation to get to the FT line?  BRoy.  Now we have two players who are physical enough to attack the rim and get an opposing big in foul trouble. 

b.    Before Andre attacks, he has a great option here if he doesn’t get in the initial dime on the roll.  LMA rolling to the post with a guard defending him.  LMA can either pin the defending guard under the hoop or quickly set a pick for GO.  Why set the pick?  Well, with GO rolling towards the hoop, his defending big will assume that since LMA is making the weak side pick, it’s safe to call a switch and the defending center will guard LMA.  Most bigs will switch if they are getting screened by another big from a weak side.

c.     Now lets assume that option did not work.  The key here is now we have BRoy on the wings waiting…nicely energized without doing all the initiating that Andre has shoulder for him. 

d.    If we get to this point in the play options, it would be fantastic.  Lets assume Andre decides against attacking, passing or taking the jump shot even if his defending big is sagging.  Instead, his option would to pass it to BRoy on the wing, and set a sideline screen for BRoy.  The key here is that BRoy’s defender will likely fight through the pick by going over the top since he sees a 4 on Andre.  (If he doesn’t, it leaves a 4 on BRoy which is worst than leaving him on Andre).  What we seen so many times here is that once you get a pick on the sideline, it’s very hard for the defender to go over the top or the big to jump out at the PNR.  There’s just not enough spacing to make that happen.  If they do jump out on the screen, a simple bounce pass to Andre will leave him wide open to do what he pleases with a empty sideline and a rolling GO (as long as GO knows to roll towards the hoop if a free Andre gets the ball).  99% of the time, we see BRoy attacking the middle of the key regardless of how they defend him if he gets a pick on the wing. 

e.    This move will lead to a basket toward the hoop, a pass to Martell for a 3, or a dump off to one of the bigs. 

This all points to why the defense is to never switch.  It creates too many mis-matches and spacing scenarios that are almost impossible to defend.  With Andre’s physical ability to get the play initiated closer to the rim (Low PNR), and his threat of attacking the hoop, makes this scenario possible for the Blazers. 

Good defending teams will have their bigs jump out to defend the pick and roll.  It’s easier to do that against a team that doesn’t have a quick, physical, and penetrating PG  (You won’t see teams doing much of this against Tony Parker, Chauncey Billups or Chris Paul…these PGs will quickly attack the bigs, raise their arm to tell the ref that their limb is about to fall off due to a moving pick, and they get a nice whistle).  They also have a nice cross over, stutter step, or spin move that can neutralize a jump out defender.  One team that does a good job of this is surprisingly Denver and not surprisingly the Celtics.  Nene and Garnett will jump out of the screen to create a mini trap of the PG.  Nene and Garnett also do a dirty little trick where they will shove the screener in the back to push them out towards the 3pt line…This leaves Pryz/GO/LMA a longer route to the basket…And that little nudge creates a huge disparity in the passing angle.  Take notice of this the next time you see a PNR defense, it’s a simple veteran move that makes a big difference.

So what are the options if this happens?  Last year, once LMA rolled to the hoop, we would have Pryz/GO move to the top of the key to grab the pass or a quick rotation to give Rudy/Travis a three since their defender will sag to help on the rolling LMA. 

Our options with Andre:

a.    Andre has three key moves that can neutralize the jump out.  The first one would be a cross over against the screen.  This means he won’t use the screen and attack the defending PG that is out of position to guard him.  It’s nearly impossible to guard a cross over if you are not center to the opposing PG.  The defending PG is at an angle this is not advantageous and Andre has a killer cross over that will exploit that.  We will see him do this quite a bit early in the game to neutralize the bigs from jumping out on the screen. 

His second move is to do a quick step back, allowing LMA to roll (he will get picked up by GO’s defender), then do a quick split of the defenders.  A move we see CP3 do quite often but Andre does it quite a bit too because he has the quickness and ball handling skills to pull it off. 

This will leave Andre open to attack the hoop,  pass it to a rolling GO or Martell in the corner for a three. 

Andre’s third move is his spin move.  He spins both left and right so he can attack the pop out defender by using a spin move to create the same mis-match and spacing as above.  We see Tony Parker do this quite a bit…again Andre does it too but we just haven’t notice as much. 

Obviously, it’s up to Andre to make the call on what he wants to do but lets assume he doesn’t and will need to execute the additional options.  The most interesting one is a simple swing to the right to BRoy. 

a.    The play will continue with LMA will heading towards GO to give him a screen.  GO will roll towards free throw line.  Right now, Andre can swing it to Martell for 3 since Martell’s defender will sag towards the middle to help.  Andre can also give it to GO which then can execute the Hi LO play describe above or bounce pass it to a streaking Martell on the baseline for another boomshakalaka.  But the option being discuss here is a simple pass to BRoy.

Here’s what BRoy will see:  One on one isolation, with no bigs defending the rim.  I take my chances on BRoy with this setup every time.  

Once the ball is successfully thrown to BRoy, the #4 defender will sag to guard GO, and GO’s defender will move back to Martell.  Because of the spacing created, BRoy should be able to do quick cross over and dunk it on his defender.  It’s so easy, I expect him to dunk it with his eyes closed.  If he’s getting denied the ball, a simple cut to the hoop will teach the defender a lesson in not doing that again. 

Obviously, with both Andre and Steve Blake as our other PG, we will still have the arsenal of swinging it for an open perimeter shot but getting easier points and attacking the rim will help us tremendously.  Many times last year, our PGs got stuck in this trap and we ended up with a perimeter shot against the shot clock.  Having two attacking guards will open up our offense even more, taking more advantages created by the PNR sets and of course, setting up BRoy for easier points. 

Play #3:  Fast Breaks   

This is not really a set of plays, but there are certain keys to a successful fast break. 
-    Quick outlet by the rebounder
-    Filling the lanes
-    PG control and recognition

I’m figuring we see more fast break this season with Andre at the helm.  I’m assuming that we all know the basic principles. 

GO will get the rebound and look for our PG, which should grab it at the opponent’s FT line and head towards the middle of the court.  Running a fast break in the middle of the court provides the best angles and options.  

The key to all fast break is to fill the lanes as deep as possible to the rim before passing it.  The PG fills the middle, the wings the sides, our PF as the trailer and the center in a "prevent" position.  Here is where we had many miss opportunities last year for fast break points.  The key reason is that the main lane was never filled or a threat to be filled.  This was either by design or a deficiency of our PGs…or both.  If our PGs can’t finish at the rim or have the threat to finish, it becomes difficult for them to be the key lane operator in a fast break.  The difference with Andre is that he will be the primary threat to score on a fast break.  (Defenders will always key on stopping the ball).  He will fill the main lane.  This will leave our wings and even LMA with an advantage if they do get the ball.  Expect to see more fast break points due to the fact that Andre just knows how to fill the lanes. 

Secondary Fast Break Play:  Pin the defender

The idea of a secondary fast break is to push the ball up the floor before a defense can get set.    If I don’t see a secondary fast break play involving GO/LMA  at least 4 times a game, I’m gonna speed dial Coach N8 and have a sit down.  This is basically utilizing GO’s natural abilities.  This was also a staple of Shaq’s career. 

The key here is for LMA to improve his rebounding.  GO always blocks out…and maybe too much.  There are times where I just want him to forget about turning around/finding someone to block out, and just go up and get the dang rebound ala Dwight Howard…but that’s for another discussion.  If LMA improves his rebounding, the secondary fast break play involving GO will make much more sense.

The key is for LMA to get the rebound and outlet to Andre.  While this is happening, GO and the 2/3, sprint up the court. 

GO, regardless if his defender his running with him, will go all the way under the hoop, and "pin" the defender.  Andre can choose to dump it in immediately or swing it to a wing for a better angle.  Because of his quickness and size, Andre can get deep enough to create this secondary attack.

Because GO’s defender is running with him, it is easy for GO to pin him under the hoop due to his size/strength.  We’ve seen Shaq do this a million times.  Because of the momentum of a big, it is easy for the offensive player to setup shop right underneath the hoop for a dunk or personal foul. 

Another reason this changes with Andre is that he is an above average rebounder for his position.  So if LMA does not get the rebound, there’s a chance Andre will get the rebound and start the secondary attack by himself.  Doing this a few time will surely get GO some easy dunks or his defender in foul trouble. 

Having two bigs capable of running the floor should be an advantage I expect Coach N8 to execute against utilizing different options in a secondary fast break format.

Play #4  PG/SG Post Play

We haven’t seen BRoy post up too many times but with the addition of Andre, I expect us to incorporate more PG/SG Post Plays when the matchup dictates it.  With Andre’s physical ability to overpower small PGs, we should expect to see this happen:

a.    Andre will initiate the offense in a similar fashion.  His first pass will be to BRoy on the right side.

b.    Andre will move toward the low post position near BRoy.  LMA will shift to weak side wing position and Martell will rotate to the top.

This set is interesting in many ways.  First, you have BRoy with the ball in his hands.  Andre is now at the post position.  Imagine if he was playing against Derek Fisher, Aaron Brooks or Jordan Farmar.  Andre will be a tough task if he gets a deep post position.  Because BRoy has the ball in his hands with the threat to score, expect both GO and Martell’s defenders to sag off.  This leaves BRoy with an excellent opportunity to drive and dish if he doesn’t dump it to Andre. 

If he does feed it to Andre down low, the first option is for Andre to attack.  His key move is to spin baseline or face up and attack the middle area to drag in GO’s defender, giving him the option to lob it to GO if his lane clogs up. 

If Martell’s defender doesn’t sag, I would expect him to cut to the middle lane then roll back to the right side 3pt perimeter if he doesn’t receive the ball. 

This play can be executed with BRoy being in the post position.  I think we might see more of that this year.  This play is not only setup to get a basket…It’s also intended to make the defense work especially small PGs who are not use to defending the post (we looking at you Mr. A. Brooks).  

Play #5  The 6-5

This magical play is my all time favorite and it works 100% of the time it is tried.  I like to call this play the 6-5 or “Making whiners whine.”  The key is to initiate this play at home when the crowd is going insane after a run so we can sneak in #6.... 

What happens here is that Andre will either find GO for an easy dunk or GO can pass it off to LMA if his LMA’s defender decides to collapse on GO.  Dunks either way. 

And the best part of this play is seeing the opponents freak out and the fans aka JDers go wild!!!

Here are the links to these images...I'm sure SBN will cut off the greatness...And if you got down this far...you can probably tell I hit the wall;)  Part 2 coming later....or not...if this was a disaster:) 

http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv164/broyposse/32.jpg

http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv164/broyposse/30.jpg

The end?