Dane Carbaugh, a friend of Raptors Republic and frequent contributor at SB Nation and Hardwood Paroxysm, has been producing a weekly NBA breakdown video called the Baseline Rewind on YouTube this season. In addition to making me wish I had better video-production chops to get myself some reps doing things like this, they’re very fun, digestible quick-hits to start your NBA week off.
This week, Carbaugh highlighted a Raptors’ after-timeout backdoor cut play in his normal Playbook Breakdown segment. You can skip ahead to the 5:40 mark for the Raptors-only content, but there’s some fun Clippers talk beforehand, as well as some on-court sneaker rankings (shout out to DeMar DeRozan).
I focused mostly on the defensive side of the ball in my Nets-Raptors breakdown, so I’m glad Dane grabbed this play to point out. It’s one I’m not sure the Raptors can run as effectively if Terrence Ross is the second wing alongside DeMar DeRozan, but they could probably have Carroll as the screener, or use it when it’s a Ross-Johnson wing duo (with Ross providing an even greater weak-side corner threat than DeRozan). Having a wing like Johnson who’s strong enough to set a good screen on a player the size of Brook Lopez is a nice luxury to have, as is having a center with the quickness and hands to make that cut and promptly make a play off the pass.
The Valanciunas-Scola high-low is something that worked nicely against Washington, too, and if Valanciunas continues showing strides as a passer, that will open up even more fun wrinkles for head coach Dwane Casey’s out-of-bounds sets.
