DBP Newsletter #8
Virginia Tech Clips
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Cooper Flagg in the Post
Clip #1 shows five variations of how Duke utilized Cooper in the low post to generate good looks on offense.
As Khaman passes it back to Sion on the left wing, Tyrese cuts through and sets a cross-screen for Cooper in the post - the Virginia Tech defender goes over the top of the screen, leaving Coop unguarded on the baseline for the and-1 dunk. If the cross-screen had not been there, the next action was Tyrese coming off a down-screen from Khaman.
Coach Scheyer goes back to the same cross-screen action again, now with Kon as the screener. This time, the defense anticipates another post-up and goes under the screen. Coop reads this well and uses the down-screen from Maliq instead, hitting the open three.
With the ball in the right post, notice how four Virginia Tech defenders focus on Cooper as the clip freezes. Kon is wide open at the top of the key (Sion is pointing to him), and Tyrese is open in the opposite corner. Coop delivers an on-time, on-target diagonal pass to Kon for a triple. If the defense had recovered, the next pass would’ve been to Tyrese to keep the Hokies in rotation.
Maliq has just received a ball reversal from the left wing, with Flagg isolated in right post. Maliq swings to Tyrese, and he immediately feeds Cooper - the decisive ball reversal has enabled a deep post-up with the defender caught behind. Coop uses a quick baseline spin for a layup before the help can arrive.
While the final play is not a true post touch, Duke executes screen-the-screener action on a baseline out of bounds. Coop screens for Maliq, while Tyrese curls to the left wing. With Maliq and Rese cleared out, Kon’s screen frees up Cooper for the lob dunk.
Strong Drives
I loved how the guys took the ball to the basket against Virginia Tech.
Sion’s drive to open the second half looks simple, but notice a couple of things: Kon and Tyrese are spaced in the corners, forcing their defenders to choose between helping on a drive or allowing an open corner three. Meanwhile, Khaman down-screens for Cooper along the left lane. The corner shooters and the screening action leave Sion one-on-one with his man - he drives the right lane and finishes strong.
After Khaman slips out of the ball-screen, Kon makes a strong drive middle and gets to the rim, but his attempt rolls off - Khaman kicks the offensive rebound out to Tyrese. Instead of taking a three, which still would have been a good shot, Rese takes one strong dribble and emphatically punches that thing home.
Finally, Cooper looks for Isaiah on the left wing coming off a pair of screens - the pass is not there, so Coop drives away from the action and gets to the ACC logo. Four defenders converge on the penetration, leaving Khaman open for the alley-oop.
Assists
Duke assisted on 39 of 62 made field goals (62.9%) over the last two games.1 I could include a number of different clips, but these two skip passes from Tyrese on the right wing are excellent. One finds Mason in the corner, the other finds Kon on the left wing - both are early offense, with less than 10 seconds coming off the shot clock, and both guys are shot ready. Mason’s three capped a 17-2 run that took the Blue Devils from a two-point deficit to a 31-18 lead with 4:19 remaining in the first half.
That 17-2 stretch in the first half was obviously a key four minutes for Duke, but another important juncture came early in the second half. After Tyrese’s dunk (see above) put the Blue Devils ahead 45-30, Virginia Tech countered with a 10-4 stretch, cutting the lead back to single digits at 49-40 with 12:55 still remaining. Duke then responded with consecutive three-pointers. First, Isaiah does a nice job driving the closeout in the right corner, before finding Tyrese on the left wing. Then, Cooper draws a second defender after faking a hand-off, leaving Slim open in the left corner. Again, both guys are ready to shoot. Duke now led 55-40, and the Hokies would not get closer than 13 points for the remainder of the game.
Thanks for reading, Go Duke!
at GT: 20 assists/31 made field goals (64.5%)
vs. VT: 19 assists/31 made field goals (61.3%)
Sources