The Wizards started playing with smaller lineups towards the end of last season, but they’ve been mostly showing two-big sets, and they like to play inside-out. Washington ranked top 10 in post-ups last season and scored nearly 42 percent of the time when playing out of the post (via NBA.com). I’m looking at their “Down Roll” action for this breakdown. Here’s the first clip from a full video courtesy of Half Court Hoops:
The player who enters the ball into the post, who in this case is ideally Bradley Beal, is the one the Wizards want to go back to for a shot. Here’s a snapshot of the what’s happening after Beal’s post entry to NeNe.
In some instances that opposite wing will pretend to be setting a screen for the cutter, like Garrett Temple is doing here:
The false action helps Butler get free of his defender, Giannis Antetonkounmpo, coming off of the screen. Jared Dudley tries to jump the play and help his trailing teammate, but he’s not quick enough to stop Butler from splitting and attacking the middle of the floor.
This look from the Wizards has great simplicity to it, but there always has to be attention to small details when you’re looking at how and why certain plays work. For this action you can see the impact of spacing, positioning, timing, and running it with purpose so that someone else can benefit.
