Sideline and After Timeout play
SLOB Box: Zipper Flare for a Three
- Court
- Half court
- Length
- 16 steps
About this play
The need-a-three sideline play from the same box, from Beilein's last-second sideline play and the elevator second option Doug Brotherton added to a Princeton set, the one Brad Stevens calls "Winner," both on the Coaching Toolbox. The weak-side post steps up and screens the ball-side elbow's defender, and the elbow zipper-cuts straight up the lane to the top for the catch; as he catches, the shooter flares to the weak wing off a flare screen from the other post, and the point skips the ball over the top for the three. Why a zipper first: the catch at the top faces the whole floor, and a defender who chased a zipper cut is behind the ball when the flare starts. The read is X2: chasing over the flare means shoot the catch; going under means drift to the corner. The counter, Brotherton's elevator, is for the defense that switches or sits on the flare: the two posts set an elevator for the inbounder, who has stepped in to the baseline and cuts up the middle through the doors for the second three. Common mistakes: the skip thrown before the flare is set, the shooter flaring flat instead of away, and the inbounder standing on the sideline instead of stepping in as the next shooter. Both halves come from the Coaching Toolbox: John Beilein's last-second sideline play and Doug Brotherton's elevator added to the Princeton set Brad Stevens calls Winner; read them for the timing.
