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ICYMI: Part 1 of our "Film Room" series with Joe Gallo breaking down the Miami Heat's zone defense. View the newsletter HERE.

Today at a Glance:

🔒 SG Plus Content: Joe Gallo - Miami Heat & Merrimack Zone Defenses { Part 2 }

🎤 Slappin' Glass Podcast: Meg Griffith {Columbia}

🥇Best of the Week: Spain PNRs & Zone ATOs

Let's dive in...

As the old saying goes, you can have "too much of a good thing." There are, however, exceptions to that philosophy, especially when it comes to listening and watching Merrimack Head Coach, Joe Gallo, teach zone defense. In that case...

Not only is Coach Gallo one of the best teachers in the game on that side of the ball, but he also is a complete open book on the "hows" and "whys" of all he does, so we're excited to have him back for Part 2 of our "Film Room" series breaking down the similarities, differences, and rotations between Merrimack's "No 3's" Zone and the Miami Heat's Zone. Last week we focused on several similarities within the two coverages, and today, we'll highlight a few differences between the two teams.

Let's dive in...

Forward Bumps & Positioning

To begin with, a unique staple of Coach Gallo's Zone is their forward bump. Tasked with taking away the "Point to Wing" three-pointer, the forwards stunt aggressively with their outside foot and outside hand into the shooter's foot space, then immediately pushing back off their top foot into the passing lane to the corner...

Zooming In: As discussed in today's video, Coach Gallo tells the forward not to wait for the guard to bump him off the ball. The forward's sole duty is to take away the catch-and-shoot. It is up to the guards to execute their "Below & Outs" (see part 1) as quickly as possible to arrive on the ball as the forward retreats.

Here is Miami executing the same bump...

So where is the difference? Whether it's a difference in emphasis or positioning, Coach Gallo discusses Miami often appears to be more willing to allow above-the-break 3-pt attempts when compared to Merrimack (Coach Gallo's zones are well-known for not allowing 3-point attempts {🔒}). Miami's forwards were not extended as high and wide on the perimeter, resulting in their bumps being lower and rarely encroaching into the shooter's foot space.

Zooming In: Whereas Merrimack aims to have their forwards arrive on the catch in their opponent's foot space to prevent the shot, Strus' positioning here is lower, leading to his stunt being at the 3-point line.

Of course, considering the prevalence of the corner three and the distance of the NBA 3-point line, extending this bump beyond the 3-point line could potentially spread their zone too thin. However, it was noticeable that Merrimack, with its emphasis on taking away catch-and-shoot 3-pt attempts, position their forwards higher on the perimeter and extended their stunts beyond the 3-point line on wing catches.

Not that Miami was thrilled about giving up 3-point shots, but considering all the ways an opponent could exploit their coverage, allowing an above-the-break three a few feet beyond the arc appeared to be a risk they were willing to take depending on the personnel, time, score, etc...

Zooming In: As shown above, this is still an incredibly difficult shot to make when faced with a stunt and a guard closeout. As mentioned in Part 1, zones can induce hesitancy in the offense, so rarely will an opponent beat the coverage on a steady diet of "Point to Wing" 3-pointers against the stunt.

Defending Step Up Screens

Turning our attention to ballscreen coverage within the zone, one of the main points of differentiation was in how each team chose to defend the Step Up Screen. Miami opts to switch the "Home" guard onto the ball and peel the on-ball defender into the high post.

Zooming In: This type of tandem defense between the "Home" guard and the on-ball guard is a strategy we've explored previously in Coach Igor Milicic's Match-Up Zone Defense{🔒}.

Merrimack, on the other hand, opts to Ice the Step Up Screen back to the "Home" guard where they could execute their "Dribble Tag."

Zooming In: Once the ballhandler reached the basket line, Merrimack's "Home" guard will switch onto the ball, with the on-ball defender dropping into the high post, a strategy they termed a "Dribble Tag."

Should Merrimack's guard get stuck in the screen, they simply treat it as a slot penetration. With both their guards getting to the elbows and having the center pick up the penetration.

In our closing remarks with Coach Gallo, he shared how they often do not see such wide Step Up Screens like in the NBA but did run into some trouble against Virginia Tech, who did a great job attacking through this screen (*note...this long two point jumper is a shot Merrimack is more content to live with overall though)...

Which is why Coach Gallo discusses how he admired Miami's handling of the Step Up Screen, and has him contemplating how they will defend this action in the upcoming season and whether to instruct the "Home" guard to switch over or task the wing defender with executing his "Wing" bump.

It has been an incredible two weeks having the opportunity to sit with Coach Gallo and go through the film with him. We appreciate his willingness to share his insights and delve into the finer details behind the success of these two defensive coverages. What has been covered in these past two newsletters is just a small sample of all the knowledge he shares in our 2-part "Film Room" session.

To hear more of Coach Gallo's thoughts on these topics, plus:

Anticipation
Peel switching
"Inside" & "Outside" ballscreens
Corner awareness & closeouts
Getting off of penetration

View Part 2 now on SGTV!

Together with Hudl

We're proud to partner with one of the best tech companies in the world of sports, Hudl! Every play, every stat, every breakdown. On their own, they’re essential. But all together, they’re undeniable. Hudl recently introduced their newest product, Hudl Instat – a new advanced data platform that integrates with Sportscode and every Hudl product you rely on to create an all-in-one data powerhouse. Hudl Instat’s advanced tagging and next-level stat reports help you develop your team – and its global film library helps you find the missing piece to get the most out of every second of film. Visit hudl.com/slappinglass to learn more.

Slappin' Glass Podcast

I'm a work hard, play hard, love hard person. It might be 'yo, we need to go to happy hour today after work. We're all going to sit down.' Maybe we need to go shoot and play...I need to get into that space where we're not talking to each other about our jobs, but we're like competing or we're having fun. We're like letting our guard down and then also I can deal with the BS stuff I need to do...the jobs I don't want to do, because I feel like when I'm connected to the people in the program I'm more willing to do that stuff. I'm ready to do that in a second." - Meg Griffith

We were joined on the podcast this week by one of the great young Head Coaches in the game, Columbia WBB Head Coach, Meg Griffith! Coach Griffith has led a historic turnaround at Columbia, leading them to last season's NIT Championship game and creating a sustainable process for success along the way. In this fantastic conversation we discuss:

Coaching Energy - Who, What, and Where to put energy as a coach, along with how to re-energize yourself
Transition Offense - Playing fast AND smart
And we discuss "Peel Switch" Rotations and "Peer-to-Peer" Communication during the always fun "Start, Sub, or Sit?!"

Please enjoy the entire great conversation with Coach Griffith here...

Listen Now!

Tactical

📺 Spain PNR - Attacking the Guard Switches

"Attacking guard to guard switches against the Spain PnR by holding the big and having the stack screener slip to the rim."

✚ Pair With: Attacking the ballscreen switch and hedge with the stack slip.

🔒 SG Plus Content: Mornar Bar's 2020 Playbook, including their arrival/secondary Spain Ballscreen.

📺 Tenerife - 1-3-1 Zone ATO

" Tenerife attacks a 1-3-1 Zone by flaring the side of the zone out and continuing to screen the lone baseline defender for the big rolling to the ballside."

✚ Pair With: Sergio Scariolo attacking the zone with a flare slip and flaring the side out.

🔒 SG Plus Content: Tenerife's creative set designs for their shooters.

Interesting Reads

📚 Intelligent vs. Smart

"On rare occasions you meet people who are both intelligent and smart. They run laps around everyone. I’d define intelligence vs. smart like this: Intelligent people understand technical details, smart people understand emotional details."

📚 Georgia Coach Kirby Smart Reveals 3 Costs of Leadership

"Smart shared three of those costs that he keeps on a Post-It note in his office.

No. 1, you will have to make hard decisions that negatively affect people you care about.
No. 2, you will be disliked despite your best attempts to do the best for the most.
No. 3 , you will be misunderstood and won’t always have the opportunity to defend yourself."

Quote of the Week

“If your doorstep is clean, then your city will be clean.” -- Ancient Greek saying

Thank you for reading and have a great week coaching,

Dan and Pat

info@slappinglass.com

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Slappin' Glass

🏀 Miami Heat & Merrimack Zones { Part 2 }