The FIBA Under 19 Men’s World Cup was held in Latvia earlier this month, with 16 of the best teams from throughout the globe participating in a high quality tournament. We look at some trends and observations from the event.
Offence – individuals
- Guards skilled with the ball in traffic – ability to play “low and slow” in the lane at the end of penetration and below the ball screen
- Perimeter players ability to shoot the deep 3-point shot
- Elite guards have the ability to shoot the 3-point shot off the bounce – ball screens and in broken play
- Best perimeter players advanced passers in the pick and roll/drive and kick setting – use of jump passes, throw backs and hard skips (area Australia needs to develop)
- Pull-up jumper and mid-range game feature of all he better perimeter players – hard drive to a spot and into the pull-up
- Primary pass on deep penetration off ball screen lob or kick out
- Posts – jump hook more prevalent than in other youth tournaments
- Posts – use of “duck in” effectively
Offence – concept
- Trend towards significant off ball action with screens away from the ball – use wide pin downs or staggered screens as entries
- Iverson cut, turn-out, zipper cut into the next action – pick and roll, DHO, “get”, hand-backs
- Elite teams had at least one primary shooter they could rip off staggers, turn-outs or flares to create a shot – catch and shoot footwork and shot preparation advanced from previous tournaments
- Spread pick and roll concepts into drive and kick concepts
- On pick and roll, base-line big will stay low more than the traditional “roll & rise” action
- Hand-back into flare screen, then down or staggered screen opposite prevalent
- Use of “mix” (Spain) pick and roll concepts – screen the screener
- Post action – some use of “up-down” ball-side action, space opposite
- Elite teams sent bodies to the offensive glass
Offence – team
- Use of spread pick and roll concepts
- More emphasis on screens off the ball – Diamond starts, use of wide down screens more prevalent
- “Floppy” into the next action – curl cut more prevalent, players curling through the catch to create penetration
- Some Flow concepts as a finish
- Use of Drag and Double Drag in transition
- Guards comfortable stretching to “high out” to create downhill opportunity – elite teams had overt spacing late clock to create penetration
Defence – individual
- Elite defenders strong on the ball and ability impact physically
- Lot of “up and in” early in the possession – forcing people to attack pressure
- Good length on the wings and use of denial
- Bigs do a good job of disrupting the line of the ball screener – no straight line runs into the pick, impacting physically (plus holding)
- Use of “walling up” with verticality to contest at the rim is prevalent
- Bigs could switch the pick and roll action for the most part with good success
Defence – concept
- Overall, most teams had good intent to pressure the offence, both on the ball at point of pick and in lanes
- Focus on disrupting actions – disrupt the path of the ball screener, “blow up” DHO, use of switching
- Mix on post defence – some fronting, some play from behind and dig, some doubling on the first dribble
- Ball screen D – MPR predominantly “quick show” coverage with some switching, SPR switching predominant and create the wall behind
Defence – team
- Predominantly man to man tournament
- Extended ball pick up point by most teams
- 2-3 zone the predominant zone
- 1-2-2 predominant press
- Some use of 1-3-1 by teams as a change-up – effective early as teams had limited preparation time
Images courtesy of FIBA
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