-
-
-
-
-
- CBB Front Page
- Scores
- Teams
-
Conferences
- Players
- Stats
- Standings
- Rankings
- Schedules
- Women's Hoops
-
-
-
-
- Soccer Front Page
-
Leagues
- MLS
- England
- Champions
UEFA Cup- English Champ
Germany- Italy
Spain- France
Netherlands- Scotland
Belgium- Mexico
Copa Lib- Copa Sud
Copa Oro- Copa America
World Cup- FIFA U-20
Get inside March Madness with SI.com's Luke Winn in the Tourney Blog, a daily journal of college basketball commentary, on-site reporting and reader-driven discussions.3/16/2008 03:31:00 PM Xs and Os: Arkansas' Late-Game Plays
There are things that this blog is good at (or at least I'd like to think so): on-site reporting, posting amateurish photos from my Canon Elph, doing light statistical analysis, begging you to join the Facebook pool. I am not, however, entirely qualified to provide you with a thorough breakdown of a team's offensive sets.
That's why the blog has turned to an expert -- coach Bruno Chu of The X's and O's of Basketball -- to give us a few guest posts during the dance. The latest: A look at the crunch-time prowess of Arkansas' post players. Bruno takes it over from here:
How did Arkansas pull out its nail-biting, 92-91 win over Tennessee in Saturday's SEC tournament semifinal? While the Razorbacks have a game-changing guard in Patrick Beverley, the result was decided by bigger boys down low. Here are three key, late-game plays that sealed the victory for Arkansas and set up Sunday's SEC finale against Georgia:
There's nothing crazy about the plays you saw above, but what they do show is that you don't have to run a 1-4 low or side isolation play for your best guard to win a game. Running an off-ball pick-and-roll or a back-screen to free up a big man can work just as well. Here are the sets that coach John Pelphrey utilized:
The UCLA Screen: It's amazing how, after so many decades of use, this play can still work to perfection. Almost every team in the world has a UCLA backdoor screen somewhere in its playbook. The play the Hogs run here is a give-and-go with a UCLA screen that sets up a nice alley-oop for Sonny Weems.
Off-ball Screen-and-Slip: When you run screens for guards in crunch-time situations, most people assume that the ball is going to the guard. But because most coaches instruct their players to switch off of all picks in these moments, it's easy for the screener to slip the screen and go right to the basket. That's what Charles Thomas does here -- and even though he blows the layup, Darian Townes comes to the rescue with the tip-in.
It's been an up-and-down season for the Razorbacks, but as these plays prove, they'll be a difficult team to defend in the final minutes of NCAA tournament games. Stopping them isn't as simple as shutting down Beverley on the perimeter -- do only that, and you're liable to get burned on the inside.
(Read more from Bruno Chu, a high-school coach in Vancouver, B.C., on his excellent blog: The X's and O's of Basketball.)posted by Luke Winn | View comments (0) |
Reporting From ...
San Antonio: The Final FourContact The BlogUse the comments, or send e-mail here.Third Annual Blog Pool
(On Facebook)We have 5,490 bracketeers in this year's blog pool -- an 852-percent jump in participation from 2007. Your current leaders are:
1. Karen Kraus (136/KU)
2. K. San Antonio (136/UM)
(Full standings here)
Recent PostsThe Style Archive
Our Style Archive has relaunched for 2007-08, with UCLA's Russell Westbrook among the best new 'dos. Readers are invited to make nominations for new exhibits.Blog Q&As
2007-08
• Memphis' Pierre Niles
• Texas' Ian Mooney
• Maryland's Greivis Vasquez
• K-State's Bill Walker
• Indiana's D.J. White
• Pitt's Sam Young
• Kansas' Brandon Rush
• Vandy's Shan Foster
• Marquette's Jerel McNeal
• Mich. State's Drew Neitzel
• UCLA's Ben Howland
• Memphis' Joey Dorsey
• Oregon's Bryce Taylor
• St. Louis' Rick Majerus
2006-07
• Georgetown's Roy Hibbert
• Texas A&M's Acie Law IV
• Florida's Taurean Green
• VT's Deron Washington
• Air Force's Dan Nwaelele
• Tennessee's Chris Lofton
• Pitt's Aaron Gray
• Kansas' Julian Wright
• Creighton's Nate Funk
• Alabama's Ronald Steele
• UNC's Tyler Hansbrough
• UCLA's L.R. Mbah a Moute
• Wisconsin's Alando Tucker
• SMU's Matt DohertyTourney Blog PlaylistCurated, one mp3/day, by:
(Right-click the song names and choose "Save As ..." to download for your iPod)
1: Yeasayer
2080
2: The Black Lips
Not a Problem
3: Band of Horses
The Funeral
4: Beach House
Gila
5: Del T.F. Homosapien
Bubble Pop
6: Midlake
Roscoe
7: The Cave Singers
Seeds of Night
8: Grizzly Bear
On a Neck, On a Spit
9: Girl Talk
Hold Up
10: Destroyer
Foam Hands
11: Iron and Wine
Innocent Bones
12: Panda Bear
Comfy in Nautica
13: King Khan & the Shrines
Welfare Bread
14: Spoon
The Underdog
15: Stephen Malkmus &
The Jicks
Cold Son
16: Caribou
Melody Day
17: She & Him
Why Do You
Let Me Stay Here?
18: Panda Bear
Comfy in Nautica
(xxxchange Remix)
19: Amanaz
Khala My Friend
20: Writing On The Wall
Buffalo
21: Holy F---
Nude (Remixed)
22: Quiet Village
Free Rider
23: Stephen Malkmus &
The Jicks
Baltimore
24: Tapes 'n' Tapes
Hang Them All
25: Tree Wave
May Banners
26: Sufjan Stevens
Chicago
27: Cat Power
The GreatestOlder Blogs
Copyright © 2008 Time Inc.A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.Terms under which this service is provided to you.Read our privacy guidelines.
