Raptors Playbook: Backscreen Floppy
Over at the Raptors Playbook YouTube channel (@RaptorsPlaybook on Twitter), I am breaking down the X’s & O’s of the Toronto Raptors. This week, we’ll focus on their Backscreen Floppy – a quick-hitter that Nick Nurse resurrected from the Raptors playbook from many years ago. Watch the video embedded below alongside the summary written, and remember to follow and subscribe to never miss out on a video.
Option 1: Backscreen Floppy – Starting at 0:10
This play, which I have film of the Raptors utilizing with very little frequency as far back as 2015, starts with the ball handler above the break and the remaining 4 players bunched up on each block. The two off-ball wings will line up on one side, with a backscreen being set for the eventual target. That player will cut off the backscreen and utilize the staggered screens set by the off-ball Bigs on the opposite block. By utilizing 3 off-ball screens, they should have created a sufficient advantage between themselves and their assigned defender which they can potentially leverage to score.
Nurse has ran this play primarily for Danny Green, but in the past has been used for many of Toronto’s wing players, such as DeMar DeRozan, Terrence Ross, and DeMarre Carroll.
In one somewhat notable instance several seasons ago, the Orlando Magic defended this pet-play particularly and Toronto swung the ball to the weak side of the floor which is usually ignored in this action. It caught the off-ball Magic defender off-guard and Toronto drew a foul. Noteworthy because this play will almost always end up in the hands of the desired target and is one of the more scripted actions that Nurse utilizes – an oddity for an offensive system that largely allows for read-and-react freedom and decision making.
