5 Concepts from the Start of EuroCup

Also: When simplicity is greater than creativity

🤔 Thought Starter
⛹️‍♀️ 5 EuroCup Concepts to Consider
📓 Pribble: Simplicity > Creativity
🎶 The Playlist

🤔 Thought Starter: Mauricio Pochettino

“People (managers) sometimes say, ‘That is my philosophy, my idea, and I’m going to die with my idea.’

“No, I want to live, because life is amazing. I want to be clever and I want to win. I don’t want to die.”

- Mauricio Pochettino

⛹️‍♀️ 5 Concepts from the Start of EuroCup

After a great trip to Ireland last week, I’m now waiting for our season to start on Nov. 4. Lots of logistics to figure out still, but I’m also devoting time scouting actions and concepts from games happening around the world.

This week that meant watching some of the EuroCup Women’s action. Lots of great ideas to consider from the games. Here are 5 clips of actions / concepts / plays / etc. for your consideration.

1. Alba Berlin: Away → Get → Twist

Posted this video on social media with the comment: “Simple actions paired together early in Alba Berlin's possession = easy bucket.” Former guest of the pod Kareem Kalil made this great point.

Besides the initial Away Screen that triggers the offense, I highlighted the post up after the curl. The player’s decision to vacate quickly creates the space for the roll and an “optimal shot.” The idea of “Into and out of space” is a great teaching point to focus on when running a conceptual offense.

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2. Baxi Forrel: SLOB Screen-the-Screener

Sideline out-of-bounds play from Baxi Forrel that uses screen-the-screener action for a 3-pointer. Like how Forrel creates space and the players use change of pace so the initial screen could create a scoring opportunity. Another point … Watch how Forrel attacks the glass when they see the 3-point shot develop.

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3. VBW Gdynia Transition Hammer Screen

When we won our state title in 2023, this was a transition staple for the team we faced in the championship game. They ran it so effectively, it was among the top 3 defensive priorities for us entering the game.

In the first clip, you will see the wing player “push” through to the weakside and eventually receive the shot. I also like how this push clears out a defender if the ball finds the rim runner. In the second clip, you see the emphasis by the first player down to set the screen. Unfortunately, the illegal screen negates the opportunity. Great concept to teach to make the weakside defenders have to think in transition!

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4. NKA Universitas Pecs BLOB

Another out-of-bounds play where a screen-the-screener concept creates a great shot. Not an expert on the personnel, but it looks like Pecs is picking on a defender here. Great coaching move: Base BLOB positioning on opponent’s personnel.

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5. O.ME.P.S. Battipaglia PB63 Stagger → Flip → On-Ball

Great actions tied together out of a stagger, but the results gets bogged down in what I will call early season execution. Great film to show the impact the strongside corner has on spacing. Unless it was a GREAT shooter, we would probably encourage the corner to cut baseline to provide more space for the on-ball action and let this duet cook.

Another concept I highlight in this clip is the “weakside” Ghost Cut. While there is lots of room for improvement, PB63 still comes pretty close to an easy score.

📓 Pribble: Simplicity > Creativity

In Idaho, we are lucky to have great basketball coaches at all levels — especially at our colleges and universities. Recently, University of Idaho men’s coach Alex Pribble appeared on the Slappin’ Glass podcast. If you haven’t yet, I would encourage you to listen because there are a lot of great takeaways.

I really appreciate the “Start, Sub, or Sit?!” section of the podcast focused on Pribble’s approach to playbook and ATO designs for several reasons. The first thing I enjoyed was the idea of the playbook organization method that the original question was based on … 1. Player, 2. Shot Profiles, and 3. Alignments. (For me, I would probably rank them Alignments, Player, and Shot Profile.)

If you’ve listened to the podcast before, you know the real meat & potatoes come in Dan and Pat’s follow-up questions with the coaches. In one of these follow-up responses, Pribble reflects back on his time at Eastern Washington where plays, ATOs, etc. were determined primarily on simple advantages. The basic concepts was to put their best 1v1 players in space with simple reads to play out of. I love his point … sometimes simplicity is way more efficient than creativity.

“Our job as coaches is to put the players in position to be successful, so simplicity (and) getting the ball in the right spot … I think that’s where it starts.”

Pribble’s expectation is for the player to get to the rim to finish, but if the defense collapses, it becomes an exit pass. A little bit later in the segment, Pribble discusses his philosophy on weakside actions in these scenarios. I encourage you to listen to that, but here’s one more clip featuring a concept off an exit pass that can be turned into a fun shooting drill for players. We would call it Boomerang shooting (thanks Alex Sarama) and would tell the defense to either allow the shot off the first pass or force the second pass — the “Boomerang” — for the shot.

🎶 The Playlist

A mixture of recent discoveries and old favorites that helped producing this newsletter. I also included a songs from The Tragically Hip. I’m enjoying the new documentary about the band called “No Dress Rehearsal” that’s available on Amazon Prime.

I was lucky enough to see The Hip five times in concert, including a trip to New Orleans where we met and talked with most of the members after the show. That was certainly a cool experience, and more than made up for my wife and I having some things stolen from the hotel we originally booked within an hour of checking in. We quickly found a new, more secure place and had a heck of a weekend. Hope you enjoy!