Odds and Ends from the Dominican Republic's U19 Team

Photo Courtesy of FIBA.com

The following blog is the odds and ends that I got from watching the Dominican Republic's U19 team play. They are a fun team to watch, have some good players, defend well, and if they can become a little less sloppy they could make some noise in FIBA down the road. Below are some of the Xs and Os they ran that I liked.

Down Screen into Pick and Roll
In the last post I talked about how Serbia ran actions into pick and roll - which I think is the way to go. The Dominican Republic ran this set a lot, and it's an action that I'm seeing quite a bit in FIBA right now.

The set starts by getting the ball to a wing - there are a lot of ways to do this but the Dominican Republic keeps it simple here in transition. The slasher is on the block. The screener is on the opposite block. The trail sets a down screen for the slasher who cuts up the lane line and gets the ball. As the catch is being made the backside post rises and sets the ball screen. The other wing in the corner (3) cuts through to really open up the driving lane. I would love to see the 3 stop under the rim or on the backside block and look for the ball if his defender turns his head.

SLOB Set
Sideline inbounds sets are hard to come by and most look pretty similar. This one did a nice job of getting the Dominican Republic's drivers going toward the rim. The set starts with an inbounder, three across the top of the key and one down by the rim. A shooter is by the rim and your point guard is the third player in line - farthest from the ball.

The point guard cuts toward the ball across the two other players in the line. As he does, the player under the rim comes through the elevator screen to get the ball.

When the pass is made to the player coming through the elevator, the inbounder runs an Iverson cut across the top with the two players screening for him.

I would have LOVED to see the point guard curl a little and catch the ball going toward an unguarded basket. I also think it would have been more effective if the players lined up along the free throw line so the player coming through the elevator would have a three point shot.

After Time Out Lob Set

After a time out in a close game they uncorked this set. It starts with the point bringing the ball down one side and them getting into a 5 out look. The point takes it to a wing and the player you want to get the back screen fills the top.

The ball gets passed to the top and dribbled at the opposite wing who shallow cuts to the point. The corner back cuts right after the shallow cut. The ball is reversed the the shallow cutting player. As the ball is reversed to the top, the corner who back cut steps up and sets the back screen for the lob. 

This one almost looks like it was part of the read and react offense,but I didn't see them running much read and react in the half court.