Manu Ginobili drew this last-minute play up for the Spurs in a preseason game against the Clippers last night. When I play pickup ball, especially halfcourt, I enjoy setting back screens and UCLA cut-type screens for my teammates. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but having come from a program where iso drives from the wing were prominent (yes, I had a spin move and automatic bank shot back in the 1980s), backdoor cuts and high screens away from the ball are exotic and beautiful to me.
Here's what Ginobili drew up:
Nothing fancy, just open space and two players working together to free one up for a game-winning trey. I'm sure if Griffin had played proper defense, they still could've worked the low post or a pick and roll since the other three Spurs were clear on the other side of the floor.
Like our Rack and Stack plays (vs. man defense), this isn't a play to run 10 times in a row. It's for specific situations, when no defender wants to give up a layup. That leaves the perimeter wide, wide open.
Ginobili continues to pop up in so many topics related to basketball, whether it's his patented Euro Step move, his version of the God Shammgod (reverse crossover) or anything else. I hardly knew, though, that he would be such a great communicator and schemer of winning plays.
FUN.
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