Raptors Playbook: Horns Triple
Over at the Raptors Playbook YouTube channel (@RaptorsPlaybook on Twitter), I am breaking down the X’s & O’s of the Toronto Raptors every Wednesday. This week, we’ll focus on Thumbs Up – a post up set with multiple counters and variations. Watch the video embedded below alongside the summary written, and remember to follow and subscribe to never miss out on a video.
This sequence of actions is initiated by the point guard dribbling up the left side of the court, as that is Jonas Valanciunas’ preference when posting up. The ball handler will engage in a superfluous dribble handoff (DHO) with a wing player that emerges from the strongside corner and immediately flips the ball back to the initial ball handler.
Option 1
The first option this play presents, starting at 0:13 in the video, comes when the weak side wing player balances the floor by cutting along the baseline while utilizing an off-centred cross screen. The primary ball handler and wing player can treat this as a pindown of sorts, as the defense’s negotiation of the screen dictates the attack. If they cheat the screen and get stuck fighting through the post player’s screen, the wing player has the opportunity to shoot a corner three pointer. If the defender trails behind the wing player, they can be kept on their hip as they curl towards the rim and attack.
Option 2
In the second option of this play, as seen at 1:02 in the video, the wing player who has exited the strong side of the floor can utilize a flare screen. If the ball handler chooses, an over-the-top pass can be thrown. At that point, the receiving player can shoot a three pointer or attack the closeout, all of which depends on how the defender negotiates the screen (trailing, cheating, going under, etc…). This also depends on personnel, as DeMarre Carroll will treat the flare screen and defense’s reaction differently than DeMar DeRozan.
Option 3
The third and final option that stems from this play, which appears starting 1:30, is the main focus and the most commonly used, even though it is the final choice. After the flaring wing player is looked off and it doesn’t seem quite right for the corner wing player to drive, the ball handler throws a post entry pass (or post entry trigger by passing it to the corner to be passed to the post) and clears the strong side of the floor with everyone else. This isolates one post player on the left block to attack the potential mismatch. Occasionally, the Raptors have experimented with split cuts above this post up, as well as innovative (and most likely illegal) brush screens on the post player’s defender that somewhat resemble a Snug ball screen. Regardless, most of the time it ends as it looks — a vanilla post up. That’s not a value statement, as the Raptor have a talented post up player and sometimes it is appropriate to attack and utilize that advantage. It is just important to label this correctly, which is a play designed to isolate and present opportunity to a post player who some (hyperbolically) claim as never receiving such opportunity.
