Dec 28, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) calls a play against the Utah Jazz during the second quarter at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images
I noticed the Sixers use this action for the first time in last night's win over the Utah Jazz. I don't know what they call it or even what the generic name for it is. I'm going to call it Flare Back because it's a flare screen - or an off-ball screen for a teammate moving away from the ball, often toward the three-point line - at the off-ball defender's back. The first time I noticed it, Tyrese Maxey laced an open three after creating space on a reset coming off the action:
They ran it again in the third quarter, yielding this open three for Paul George:
The shot doesn't go down, but I like this play-call a lot for two reasons: simplicity and involvement of the three stars.
Flare back screen is a play as old as time. Dr. Naismith, himself, wrote it into the owner's guide that comes with every basketball hoop available for sale at your local sporting goods store. It is so basic, the plumbers that JJ Redick claims guarded Bob Cousy could run it.
On the other hand, the Sixers' best players need to get markedly better at playing together before anyone can truly believe in this group. The way you accomplish that is by implementing structure, and having that structure involve sets that put them in actions together at the same time.
Nick Nurse likes to "feed the pig", if you will. Doc Rivers, Philly's favorite former head coach - popularized that phrase. It essentially means to run the same action over and over again until the defense finds a way to beat it. The Sixers fed the pig with that action to mixed results on Saturday. It wasn't just something they rolled out on occasion. But, you can read the defense and react accordingly. If there's no pre-rotation to cover up the flare, you can catch and attack downhill. If the screened defender goes under the action, the flare man can catch and try to beat the closeout. If the screened defender fights through, it's a catch-and-shoot three.
The only thing to be wary of is the intelligence of whoever is quarterbacking the opposing defense. If they sniff that play out, they can call it so that their teammates can blow it up by switching on the flare screen. Alternatively, they could jump the passing lane and go for an open-floor steal. I would imagine there's higher risk of that latter downside because of the length of the pass.
Regardless, as the proud owner of a coach's clipboard, I can appreciate some old fashion X's and O's.
