Zak Boisvert 03/30/10 Daily Chalkboard Twitter: @ZakBoisvert

March 30, 2010 Chalkboard

Final Four Focus: West Virginia

Although they’ve struggled with scoring the ball at times in the last month, the Mountaineers are a dangerous
offensive team because their 5-man Open Post really showcases the versatility of their players. With the
exception of their point guard, West Virginia is pretty much like-sized; Butler, Ebanks, Smith and Jones are
all between 6-7 and 6-9. The “5-man Open Post” Huggins brought to West Virginia has been great for this
group because it allows any of those guys to slide into the post to take advantage of a mismatch.

5-man Open Post Fill Spots

The fill spots for this offense are situated where 5 players can
stand around the 3 point arc while maintaining 15 to 17 feet of
spacing (this spacing keeps one defender from being able to
guard two while still allowing the offense to make direct
passes).
”Read Spot”: The gray mark at the nail of the free throw line is
known as a “read spot”. The offense mandates straight line
cuts by players so on a pass from point to the right wing, the
opposite wing (the left wing), rather than filling the top x by
following the 3 point arc, cuts first to the nail and reads how
his defender is playing him. If he’s overplaying him, he goes
backdoor. If he’s playing underneath, he fills the top X.

The action in which West Virginia has experienced the most success with this
season is one of the 4 like-sized players (Butler, Jones, Ebanks or Smith)
curling the away screen set at the nail by one of their point guards
(Mazzula/Bryant).

After 1 passes to 3, he turns to screen away for 4. He tries to set the screen at
the elbow with his butt to the ball. 4 fakes his man down then rubs right off 1
to curl right into the paint looking for the pass from 3.
Note: In “5-man Open Post”, all cutters go to the rim while all screeners
step back to the ball (In the diagram on the right, 1 would fill the top X).

Zak Boisvert 03/30/10 Daily Chalkboard Twitter: @ZakBoisvert

 Zak Boisvert 03/30/10 Daily Chalkboard Twitter: @ZakBoisvert
If the Mountaineers are able to get good ball movement and swing the ball down to the corner, they can set a
double screen for 5 to curl.

As the defense starts to read the curl and overplay against it, 5 has the
option of backcutting the screen to the rim. This still follows the
offense’s rule of the cutter going to the basket while the screener pops
back to the ball.

These away screens are very simple actions, but the size and versatility
of West Virginia’s players (along with their adeptness at curling screens)
makes it tough to guard. Here’s another away screen and curl that West
Virginia scores off of:

One of the appealing aspects of the “5-man Open Post” is that you can run
a variety of different actions out of it. West Virginia has a good deal of

Zak Boisvert 03/30/10 Daily Chalkboard Twitter: @ZakBoisvert

 Zak Boisvert 03/30/10 Daily Chalkboard Twitter: @ZakBoisvert
success running Flex out of their 5-out set. Shown below is one of their flex actions finished with a double
screen for a shooter.

Cut & Fill:

West Virginia is at its best
offensively not only when
they’re able to curl the away
screens for layups, but also when
they’re able to reverse the ball
and they’re cutting and filling
successfully. Below is a great
example of their cut & fill
concept.

Zak Boisvert 03/30/10 Daily Chalkboard Twitter: @ZakBoisvert