Fran Fraschilla’s favorite KU play: A defender dilemma ... with a Bob Huggins origin
Just 48 minutes after getting the email, ESPN basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla sends a text to your phone.
You’ve asked him about his favorite play from Kansas coach Bill Self ... and the quick response seems to indicate the video he’s sharing was already saved in his files.
Fraschilla, who regularly attends KU practices and is a former coach himself, labels this set as a “good one.” Following a whirl of Jayhawks motion, the final result is this: a wide open three from Ochai Agbaji, who puts it in against Colorado.
“That was one of our staples,” Self later says when talking about the play.
There’s a lot more going on than meets the eye. There’s false motion, backcuts, a well-timed screen and also KU coaches manipulating the defense to put one defender in a no-win spot.
This also, though, shows how powerful necessity can be. This particular play, Self said, was created thanks to a need KU had a few seasons ago.
The assist, in this case, goes to an unlikely source: West Virginia coach Bob Huggins.
A lose-lose proposition ... for one defender
Fraschilla is a fan of this play mostly because of the conflict it creates.
That starts and ends with one player: the defender guarding Agbaji in the corner.
This set features two backcuts. Tristan Enaruna’s comes first, though this is simply to clear him away from that side of the floor.
“A lot of that stuff is kind of fluff, knowing that we’re not going to score early on,” Self says of Enaruna’s movement, “but it just forces (the defense) to adjust.”
Agbaji — Self labels him as KU’s best backcutter — then follows with a cut toward the basket. If he’s open, KU guard Devon Dotson can pass to him for an easy two. If not, Agbaji circles his way back to the corner.
This is where Agbaji’s defender has a predicament. When Dotson curls around a ball screen, center Udoka Azubuike follows by charging down the lane.
So what is Colorado’s No. 5 to do here? He’s technically guarding Agbaji, who is lifting to the perimeter. But with two of his teammates on Dotson, No. 5 has to help with Azubuike, or KU will have an easy alley-oop.
Colorado’s D’Shawn Schwartz does the logical thing, choosing to step in front of Azubuike to prevent both a dunk and a chewing from his own coach.
That opens up something else, though. Dotson reads Schwartz and fires out to Agbaji, who now is open because his defender is occupied with Azubuike.
It’s a clean shot ... that leads to three points for KU.
Of course, that’s not the only option with this play. What helps its effectiveness is that on many of KU’s actions, Agbaji comes to greet Dotson to take a dribble handoff. If a defender gets used to that and expects it to happen ... the backdoor pass is open for a slam.
Other possibilities this set created for KU in 2019-20 included post touches for Azubuike and also driving lanes for Dotson.
Perhaps most importantly, though, it gave Self’s staff an answer to a challenge it might face.
The roots trace back to West Virginia
The start of this play, Self said, goes back to a few seasons ago when West Virginia had swarming defensive guards Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles. That defensive team, with Huggins at the helm, often made it difficult for KU to run much of its playbook, so Self’s coaches began to search for new ways to alleviate pressure.
“We wanted to try to take advantage of them blowing up dribble handoffs and backcut,” Self said. “The genesis of that (play) was West Virginia, no question.”
While KU ran this set in most of its games, it had the potential to be most effective against aggressive teams. That included Oklahoma State this season, which often overplays passing lanes while gambling for steals.
Self says inspiration came come from all places. A lot of times, staff members incorporate things they’ve seen on TV. Other times, colleagues in the industry will text him plays they think are clever. Just this week, Self said he jotted down a quick-hitter he liked while watching an archived Knicks-Bulls game at his house.
For the most part, though, KU’s coaches come together to create plays all their own, which allows them to add in wrinkles that can accentuate their players’ strengths.
This one fit KU’s pieces well. It kept the ball in Dotson’s hands, flashed Agbaji’s strengths of cutting and shooting and also burdened defenders by making them account for a hard-charging Azubuike.
“That’s pretty good action,” Self said, “that’s hard to guard.”
So much so that Fraschilla called it his favorite — available on his phone for quick sharing, just in case.
