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The drive and kick

DC Cats

Well-Known Member
Aug 1, 2012
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One of the things that struck me last season was that the Cats don't make much use of the drive and kick as part of their regular offense.

That seems a bit strange to me, given that we've lacked guys who can get to the rim easily, but have had several players who can knock down open threes the past few seasons. I'm a Celtics fan, so I've spent a lot of time watching Brad Stevens' offense execute this play incredibly well.

Anyway, I wanted to make sure I was remembering correctly, so I found some tape to review from the Brown game last season.



This isn't a full game, but during the video the team only runs one successful drive and kick play (at 5:08), and it doesn't look designed. There are a couple others (at 2:50 and 4:05) that both lead to turnovers. In all three plays, the kick is more of just a bail out, dumping the ball back to the top of the key rather than dishing it to an open player for a corner 3.

Has anyone else noticed the absence of this play, or seen any more use of it later in the season that I missed? Any thoughts on why the coaches might not want to run it? I'm wondering if they'd need Pardon to be able to hit threes to be able to run it effectively. Seems like he could just swing it if that were the main problem, though.
 
One of the things that struck me last season was that the Cats don't make much use of the drive and kick as part of their regular offense.

That seems a bit strange to me, given that we've lacked guys who can get to the rim easily, but have had several players who can knock down open threes the past few seasons. I'm a Celtics fan, so I've spent a lot of time watching Brad Stevens' offense execute this play incredibly well.

Anyway, I wanted to make sure I was remembering correctly, so I found some tape to review from the Brown game last season.



This isn't a full game, but during the video the team only runs one successful drive and kick play (at 5:08), and it doesn't look designed. There are a couple others (at 2:50 and 4:05) that both lead to turnovers. In all three plays, the kick is more of just a bail out, dumping the ball back to the top of the key rather than dishing it to an open player for a corner 3.

Has anyone else noticed the absence of this play, or seen any more use of it later in the season that I missed? Any thoughts on why the coaches might not want to run it? I'm wondering if they'd need Pardon to be able to hit threes to be able to run it effectively. Seems like he could just swing it if that were the main problem, though.

Need guys who can break down defenders off the dribble. Don't have many of those guys.
 
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Need guys who can break down defenders off the dribble. Don't have many of those guys.

I'm not sure that's entirely true. If you watch the clip starting at 0:43, you'll see that Gaines would have a clear path for a baseline pass to Ash if he had drifted to the corner. Ash would have been wide open for a corner three. Good off-ball movement and recognition of where teammates are/will be can lead to these kinds of plays without a ton of penetration into the lane.
 
I'm not sure that's entirely true. If you watch the clip starting at 0:43, you'll see that Gaines would have a clear path for a baseline pass to Ash if he had drifted to the corner. Ash would have been wide open for a corner three. Good off-ball movement and recognition of where teammates are/will be can lead to these kinds of plays without a ton of penetration into the lane.

Ash is a limited offensive player? Never heard that before.
 
Ash is a limited offensive player? Never heard that before.

The team doesn't appear to work on this play. How is it a fault of Ash for not knowing he'd need to get to a spot if the team never practices it? He was the guy in the first example I found, but I'm betting I can find other examples on tape.

I get that you're trying to make snarky comments for that sweet, sweet internet karma, but it'd be nice to actually have some more in-depth gameplay analysis on this forum for a change.
 
One of the things that struck me last season was that the Cats don't make much use of the drive and kick as part of their regular offense.

That seems a bit strange to me, given that we've lacked guys who can get to the rim easily, but have had several players who can knock down open threes the past few seasons. I'm a Celtics fan, so I've spent a lot of time watching Brad Stevens' offense execute this play incredibly well.

Anyway, I wanted to make sure I was remembering correctly, so I found some tape to review from the Brown game last season.



This isn't a full game, but during the video the team only runs one successful drive and kick play (at 5:08), and it doesn't look designed. There are a couple others (at 2:50 and 4:05) that both lead to turnovers. In all three plays, the kick is more of just a bail out, dumping the ball back to the top of the key rather than dishing it to an open player for a corner 3.

Has anyone else noticed the absence of this play, or seen any more use of it later in the season that I missed? Any thoughts on why the coaches might not want to run it? I'm wondering if they'd need Pardon to be able to hit threes to be able to run it effectively. Seems like he could just swing it if that were the main problem, though.
I cannot bear watching the Brown game. The season pretty much went down the toilet with BMac's injury.
 
I cannot bear watching the Brown game. The season pretty much went down the toilet with BMac's injury.

Heh, that's fair. Probably a good idea to only break down film from games where we win and no one gets hurt in the future.
 
The drive and kick works when the guy with the ball breaks down the defense by requiring a double team because he can finish at the hoop , hit the 3 when defender sags to defend interior pass and can successfully pass to open man when double teamed. Not sure but think NU tried to run the 4 out 1 in offense a lot last year. Every team puts their own special sauce on this but here is a little instructional video on it. If you notice 4 of the 5 players are required to attack the elbow of the free throw lane. Lots of vids on this . I also think Villanova ran this with what looks similar to the type of players NU is bringing in (tall lanky 3 pt shooters)
 
I'm not sure that's entirely true. If you watch the clip starting at 0:43, you'll see that Gaines would have a clear path for a baseline pass to Ash if he had drifted to the corner. Ash would have been wide open for a corner three. Good off-ball movement and recognition of where teammates are/will be can lead to these kinds of plays without a ton of penetration into the lane.
Good off-ball movement. I think you hit it on the head. This team really seemed to move poorly without the ball last year and it caused the offense to become stagnant.
 
Good off-ball movement. I think you hit it on the head. This team really seemed to move poorly without the ball last year and it caused the offense to become stagnant.
Yeah - re the point of off ball movement, and the potential "drift" move to the corner - these are types of plays that sophisticated basketball offenses run all the time. Watch GSW. When someone drives and draws attention, theoretically the other team tries to help. They do so off one of the less good 3pt shooters on GSW (Draymond, Iggy, Livingston, or for sure Looney if he's in the game). These guys, rather than drifting away to spot up themselves, will actually do something like go screen for Curry / Klay / KD or maybe a backside dive cut to get to the most efficient scoring area.

I don't cheer for GSW because they've made the NBA less competitive, but their offensive movement, talent, and execution is impressive and almost beautiful to watch, both within their sets and even more so when they improvise. I'm sure other coaches try to emulate it and there are many good reasons they don't succeed (not having that level and depth of talent being a major one of them), but it's still very good coaching.
 
@ricko654321 I cheer for GSW because true excellence is so rare, and those guys are a thing of beauty. Durant will exceed Pippen as the greatest second banana of all time, which is either a great accomplishment or a sign of a lack of ambition.

As for drive and kick, it wasn’t in Mc’s playbook, and he’s the only guy who drove. Also, NU actually didn’t have many shooters, and had an altogether stagnant offense.

I am very concerned about point guard play next year, though I think Kopp, Turner, Taylor will help get NU closer to the bombs away approach Collins wants to emulate. In the belief without evidence department, I also believe that Falzon will contribute.

So, more targets in 2019.
Whether there will be a distributor is a more open question.
 
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@ricko654321 I cheer for GSW because true excellence is so rare, and those guys are a thing of beauty. Durant will exceed Pippen as the greatest second banana of all time, which is either a great accomplishment or a sign of a lack of ambition.

Not a major issue, but Durant a second banana?? Did you watch the Finals last year?
 
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I agree with the problems with off-ball movement, but another problem with this team is holding the ball too long and often.

How often do we see NU wings hold the ball on the second pass as they analyze the options? One-one thousand. Two-one thousand ... pass or drive.

That allows the defense to reset every time, rather than creating an advantage on the next pass and drive.
 
I agree with the problems with off-ball movement, but another problem with this team is holding the ball too long and often.

How often do we see NU wings hold the ball on the second pass as they analyze the options? One-one thousand. Two-one thousand ... pass or drive.

That allows the defense to reset every time, rather than creating an advantage on the next pass and drive.
There was very little offensive plan in 2018. And 2017. And previous years. There was better defensive intensity, communication, rebounding, and Sanjay-ness.

Some teams can do both. NU under Collins and his predecessors never has. Maybe 2019 is the year!
 
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I don't cheer for GSW because they've made the NBA less competitive, but their offensive movement, talent, and execution is impressive and almost beautiful to watch
They'd be on early summer vacation now if the Rockets (without Chris Paul) had made even a few three pointers in the second half of Game 7, but I'm not bitter.....:mad:
 
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