Basketball: Analyzing Possessions

The perfect game never happens. And still, critique a game using rigid standards from the opening tap.

Coach and play the game possession by possession. Winning sums positive possessions. The more possessions we 'win', the better our overall performance. I've always felt that allowing a hoop on the opening possession was a small yet important defeat. Scoring on the tap is a small victory. 

Positive possessions get scores and stops. Less positive possessions get quality shots. I can't view an opponent scoring as a positive possession even if we made them 'work' for "one bad shot." 

How would we grade an individual offensive possession? 

• Initial spacing / "the set up"
• Creating an edge / "player and ball movement"
• Exploiting the edge / "the scoring moment" 

Let's analyze an individual possession. White has just scored and green looks to run off the score. Green trails by 10 with 5:04 remaining. They are strategically playing at a higher tempo to try to lengthen the game.

 

• In 0:04 they advance the ball to the left wing.
• The defense has four players back and the basket is protected.
• Green throws the ball out and they're in a spread offense. 
• There's an exchange on the outside, ? for a better matchup. 
• The offense creates a slight edge with a hard crossover... leading to a basket attack. The finish is not high probability but the official calls a foul. 

I'd call that a successful offensive possession as they get ball penetration with a scoring chance somewhat early in the shot clock, and stop the clock. Defensively, they couldn't contain the ball leading to a negative result. 

How the ball bounces matters, too. A longer rebound sends green off to the races for an easy layup. We always had a goal of allowing no more than three transition baskets. The "initial setup" favored green and they capitalized. 

"Great offense is multiple actions." Green reverse the ball and gets a baseline drive with a nice hesitation dribble to keep the dribble alive. The defense could have trapped but elected not to. Excellent alertness leads to a diagonal pass off the "draw 2" and an open three. 

Lagniappe. Study the game. Pick-and-roll review.  

As I watch high school film, things I often see:

• Teams don't use the PnR enough.
• Players seldom reject ball screens.
• Ballhandlers often come off the screen poorly.
• Rollers don't see the ball well.
• Screeners rarely slip the screen.