It’s often said that the best “new” inventions or creations are a clever mix of two or more basic elements put together in just the right way. It is in this same vein that we enjoy seeing how some of the world’s best coaches combine a couple of foundational elements of offense or defense and stitch them together to uniquely fit their style and personnel. Today’s deep dive will look at how Turkish club Anadolu Efes is doing just that, melding transition “seals” and “Spain” action into something, well…
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With the explosion of skill in today’s game along with the increased use of defensive switching, new opportunities in transition are emerging for forwards who find themselves defending on the perimeter as a shot goes up. For example, on missed shots, these 4-men can turn what was a speed disadvantage into a size advantage on the other end by sprinting the floor and establishing early seals. We’ve studied this technique in the past through the lens of Nikola Mirotic, who consistently generates early, easy baskets by running under his matchup in transition, driving the defender up the lane, and sealing for the finish {🔒}.
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Zooming In: What we appreciate about Nikola Mirotic’s seals is that instead of trying to bury his defender with a deep paint post-up (which can be great as well and something we highlighted in depth HERE {🔒}), he sprints ahead in transition and quickly slides underneath the matchup. His goal in these cases is to seal his defender as high as possible, creating space for a lob pass over the top and an uncontested finish against a defense scrambling to establish its strong and weak side help responsibilities.
If there was a defensive switch before the shot, the forward will often face minimal resistance on the transition seal, likely having the physical advantage to move the rim defender up the lane, creating the necessary “catch area” for their ballhandler to throw it into.
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This is obviously the ideal outcome when encouraging forwards to seek early rim seals in transition. However, what happens when the early seal isn’t available? With the Forward at the rim and the center trailing in transition, what options does the offense have to maintain its flow and pace? How should the rim runner create space to open up the rim for attacks? This brings us to today’s case study of Anadolu Efes and how they have successfully turned the early rim seal into a Spain ballscreen.
Rim Runs to Spain Screens
As is often the case when the Center is trailing the ball, they will complete the transition action with a Drag ballscreen. With the center involved in the ballscreen, a decision must be made on how best to space the forward at the rim in order to remove size from the rim and create space for the roll. To better contextualize this decision, let’s compare how Efes finds success with their rim runner and how Maccabi Tel Aviv, under Oded Kattash, spaces their rim runner around the ballscreen {🔒}.
Empty-Side Drag Screens
With Coach Kattash, whenever the corner is empty in transition, the ballhandler is tasked with driving the ball well below the free throw line prior to the drag screen being set. Forcing the drag screen below the free throw line does a few things: 1) It potentially opens up the nail for the ballhandler to turn the corner, 2) makes the ballscreen hard to go under since it’s so low on the floor, and 3) maximizes floor spacing for the offense, allowing the forward at the rim to cycle up to the opposite elbow.
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Zooming In: With the rim runner spacing to the opposite elbow during the empty-side drag, the offense is properly spaced to punish the big if they stay at the rim to control the roll. This can be done either through high-low actions from the elbow ⬆️ or by an elbow dive cut on the catch by the roller ⬇️.
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Now, comparing Maccabi’s spacing strategy to Efes, whenever the sealing forward at the rim tracks the center’s sprint into a drag screen, Efes opt to follow the ballscreen and set a stack or “spain” screen on the defender of the 5-man.
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Zooming In: Rather than spacing to the opposite elbow or filling the empty corner, the forward involves himself in the drag screen by locating and screening the defensive 5-man to create a Spain ballscreen. Keeping in mind that the 5-man will need to aggressively roll to the rim, the screen, compared to Coach Kattash’s empty-side drag, will be set much higher on the court.
Corners Filled Spacing
Another common spacing consideration occurs when both corners are filled around the forward’s rim run. In this alignment, the 5-man will be screening the ball in the middle third of the court. One solution is for the forward at the rim to abort their seal and begin “mirroring” the ballhandler, continuously creating space for the roll and forcing long single-side tag situations.
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Zooming In: In mirroring the ball, the forward should constantly search for gaps or pockets of space where they can be available for a pass or another duck-in seal opportunity.
So, what does Efes do when presented with this spacing in transition? KISS—Keep It a Spain Screen.
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If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Spanish ballscreens are challenging enough to defend when the action is static and in the half court, but seamlessly transitioning from a rim seal into a stack ballscreen amplifies the difficulty, making it even harder for the defense to coordinate, communicate and execute their desired Spain PNR coverage. If the 4-man is at the rim, regardless of the spacing, the defensive difficulty in controlling the action will create viable solutions for the offense, whether through shots at the rim or second-side actions off the pop of the 4-man.
For much more on how Efes flows into this Spain action in transition, SG+ Members can enjoy this week’s Deep Dive on SGTV…
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