Welcome to the first Film Room of the season. As the Miami Heat fully form an identity in their post-LeBrocalyptic world, it will be interesting to break down how Erik Spoelstra generates open looks on offense.
So far this season, the Heat have displayed good ball movement. A lot of it is reactionary, coming off asked-for screens and kick-outs. Guys like Shawne Williams and Luol Deng have thrived–being able to find openings as Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh attract the attention of double teams.
While a lot of what the Heat does comes off this kind of action, the half-court offense involves plenty of off-ball screens that helps lead to open looks. Miami ranks fifth in the NBA in assist chances per game, per NBA.com. A lot of what Miami does starts on the elbow, ranking third in the NBA in elbow touches per game according to NBA.com, with Bosh getting the lion’s share.
In this film room study, both plays start on the elbow and involve off-ball screens to free up the ball handler. Both plays come from Miami’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks Friday night. Dwyane Wade didn’t play because of an annoyed hamstring, so the Heat relied on more set plays than they typically do without Wade’s shot creation to pull the wagon.
The first play is set for Deng to run and pick-and-roll with Bosh. The Hawks defended it well, resulting in an awkward shot for Deng, but it’s easy to see how this would otherwise be a successful play for the Heat.
The play starts with Norris Cole bringing the ball up. The Heat are in a horns set, with Bosh and Williams on opposite elbows. Deng and James Ennis man the corners.
Williams gets the ball and Cole runs down to set an off-ball screen for Deng to free him out of the corner. Deng runs up to get the ball from Williams on a dribble hand-off (something the Heat are using more often this season).
Bosh pops out to set the screen on the rotating defender Thabo Sefolosha, then slips the screen in what is now and pick-and-roll. Deng continues his path along the arc and Bosh fills the lane in the paint while the rest of the Heat adjust to balance the floor.
That play resulted in a forced shot and miss by Deng. The point here is that Deng has plenty of options. He could have passed to Bosh, taken the shot or kicked out to Williams (who could have swung it to Cole if the defense closed out fast enough). Ennis probably should have moved sooner to bail out a trapped Deng. He didn’t play in the second half of this game, so this may have been one of his screw ups.
On to the next play. Unlike the last one, the Hawks have a key defensive lapse that led to an easy basket for Bosh. To the Hawks’ credit, they played strong defense all game, but this was a one of the rare miscues.
Here we have another horns set. Cole is still the point guard, Bosh and Deng are on the elbow with Williams and Ennis in the corners (he’s on his way).
While this looks like a horns set in which one of the bigs on the elbows will initiate the play, the Heat will first flip Bosh from one elbow to the other before the pick-and-roll begins. To do this, they will create a window for him to dart through. It starts with Ennis coming up from his corner and taking his man–Kyle Korver–with him. Deng sets the down screen on Sefolosha.
Bosh starts his break and Deng switches his screen to Horford.
Bosh gets the pass from Cole and now we have the pick-and-roll. Deng starts his roll toward the basket but Sefolosha’s overplayed the switch. Bosh has a choice similar to a quarterback scrambling out of the pocket with running room in front of him. He can either pass for the touchdown or run it in himself. In basketball, you almost always do it yourself if you can (or unless you’re Rondo). It’s an easy drive and dunk for CB.