Top Sets of 2020
Year-In-Review Part 1
Welcome to our “Sunday Mornin’ Newsletter”, where we consolidate and break down many of the best ideas, strategies, and X’s and O’s from around the world of basketball.
Today’s Edition is Part 1 of 2 of our “Year-In-Review” Series, where we’ll look back at our favorite learnings, strategies, sets, and moments of the year.
In today’s Part 1 we’ll cover:
Our upcoming presentation for the “December to Get Better” Coaches Clinic
The Slappin’ Glass Podcast “Year-In-Review” Episode
“Top 20 Sets of 2020” - Looking at #20 - # 11 (with PDF’s and Video)
Teams We Enjoy Watching & Interesting Reads
Let’s dive in…
Attacking the Tag - Clinic Presentation
Last month we put together an extensive video and newsletter dedicated to many of the effective ways to “Attack the Tag”. We were excited to be asked to present on this topic at this week’s “December to Get Better” Coaching Clinic presented by FastModel.
Our presentation is tomorrow, December 28th at 3pm EST. We’ll present for about 40 minutes and will leave plenty of time for questions/discussion.
If you sign up with our unique link HERE, we’ll get 30% of the ticket sale. A big thank you if you do.
For a refresher on the topic, here is the Newsletter and the full YouTube Breakdown.
There are a ton of great speakers and coaches presenting at this event. We’re looking forward to hearing and learning from them.
“Year-In-Review” - Special Podcast
We cannot express enough how appreciative we have been of the support from both the coaches we’ve had on and those who listen to the Slappin’ Glass Podcast. It is our favorite thing to do and we work hard to make it a valuable listen for coaches, players, fans, and our parents.
To wrap up 2020, we recorded a “Year-In-Review” Special Episode where we reflected on our biggest learnings and takeaways of the year. We discussed our favorite podcast moments, the X’s and O’s that stuck with us the most, interesting strategies, behind the scenes “Bloopers”, and finally, we concluded the year by putting each other on the “Overrated/Underrated” hot seat.
Again, thank you for the support.
We can’t wait to kick things off in 2021 with a top notch coach from Down Under.
Top 20 Sets of 2020
A few weeks ago we started putting together our favorite sets of the year, and it has proven quite difficult. There are so many great coaches running terrific stuff all over the world, but, we had to decide, so here is the breakdown of our favorite sets #20 - #11…. the Top 10 will be out this Thursday, December 31st.
Top Sets #20 - # 11
#20 - FC Barcelona { Zipper/Step-Up/Staggered Veer }
The “Zipper to Step-Up Screen” action is fairly common in Europe, but the 2nd Step-Up to Staggered Veer action is the special sauce here.
#19 - Andorra { 45 Cut to Pin Down Actions }
Setting a “Pin Down” for a player who has just 45 Cut while simultaneously fake-selling a pin-down on the opposite side is an action and acting job James Lipton would be proud of.
#18 - Ulm { Reverse Screen w/Shallow Cut }
Coach Lakovič runs great stuff, and this “Short-Angle Screen” coupled with a Shallow Cut from the Corner puts the Tag Defender in a real tough spot.
#17 - Zenit SLOB { DHO/Step-Up/Hammer }
The first of a couple “Hammer” entries on the list. The Zipper to DHO before the Hammer Screen distracts the shooter’s defender for just enough time to free the shooter.
#16 - FC Barcelona { Iverson to Pin Down }
Like #19 and #17 above, this set shows the value of screening a shooter’s defender directly AFTER the shooter is coming off another action, taking advantage of a defender’s tendency to relax for a moment.
#15 - Manresa SLOB { Zipper to Hammer }
The speed, timing, and excellence of this Hammer set is one Ricky Bobby and Cal Naughton could surely get behind. Shake and Bake baby.
#14 - Mornar Bar - { Bilbao Action }
Zak Boisvert first turned us on to this great action during our “X and O Extravaganza” podcast episode. Love the pressure the backside split movement puts on the defense and the ability for the offense to slip to the rim.
#13 - Ulm/UNLV { Side Weave Series }
Ratiopharm Ulm and Coach Lakovič make another appearance on the list in this “Crossover” edit, along with UNLV, in this great “side-weave action”. If you’ve never seen “Ulm, Germany” and “Las Vegas, NV” in the same sentence, well, it’s 2020.
#12 - Obradoiro/Bilbao - { Veer Screen Reject }
A sneaky-clever set design by and against podcast guest, Moncho Fernandez, built off the “Reverse Angle Ball Screen”. Effective because it attacks the “Low Help” defender directly after the reject of the 1st Veer Screen, making it almost impossible for the “Low Help” defender to bump or trail the shooter.
#11 - Charlotte Hornets/NBA in General - { Mayday Ghost Screen }
We talked about the “Ghost Screen” during our “Year-In-Review” podcast as one of the best concepts of the year. Very effective, especially for a guard that can attack downhill.
Part 2, Sets #10 - #1, will be out on Thursday, December 31st!
Here are the Free PDF’s of the Top #20 - #11 Sets.
Teams We’re Watching & Interesting Reads
Teams We’ve Enjoyed Watching this Week:
Xavier - Coach Steele (NCAA D1)
Denver Nuggets - Coach Malone (NBA)
MHP Riesen - Coach Patrick (German BBL)
Assumption University - Coach Faucher (NCAA D2)
London Lions - Coach Macaulay (BBL/EuroCup)
Interesting Reads:
The NBA’s Most Stolen Play (Side Note: The author of this article, Ben Cohen, was on the Slappin’ Glass Podcast earlier this year and we dove into his great book about the science of The Hot Hand. After we recorded the episode we talked off-air about this article he was working on tracing the origins of this famous play. Fun to read now in full. Sorry about the paywall.
Sustained Greatness: “64 Reasons Paul McCartney is Underrated”
Marc Andreessen On Productivity, Scheduling, Reading Habits, Work, and More
We hope you’re having a great holiday season, and thank you for reading. If you enjoy the newsletter we always appreciate the share.
Have a great week coaching,
Dan and Pat
Tools We Use
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If interested email us slappinglass1024@gmail.com