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It really is THAT easy...

gary-7

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Jan 27, 2003
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...and I'm just posting this as a follow-up to my New Year thread.

While most here seemed to get the point, I continue to be puzzled that some Carolina folk still don't embrace the importance of the Secondary to what we do. And as the GIF below shows, it doesn't even hafta be a textbook iteration.

Wacth below --- early in the Wake game we come down in Secondary (albeit in imperfect lanes). Mando correctly has run the sprint lane shaded to ball-side. McKoy, initially in the right side perimeter lane sees that both Caleb and Leaky have assumed perimeter lanes on the other side. Remembering that he's playing the 4, he correctly assumes RJ will push sidleine to initiate a post-entry angle, and thus clears to the opposite "trail" position in case of a reversal.

Since the entry is indeed made, as he prepares to dive backside, you see McKoy giving the classic Carolina Freelance fist signal to Leaky that a down-screen is coming for an interchange. Here's the effectivenss of the Secondary personified, in that both of the backside Wake defenders get drawn in by the entry to Mando, and aren't sure who to pick up, so Leaky doesn't even need the screen to pop to a wide-open spot. Note that RJ almost drifts too far up, but sees Leaky in time to stay outta his way, so... kick-out from Mando... open 3 look... easy-peezy.
https://i.makeagif.com/media/1-06-2023/wtJMoG.gif

Anyway, the beauty of Dean's Secondary Break is not just the geometry, but that it rewrote the "conventional wisdom" (for most of basketball hsitory to that point) that you don't push the ball against a defense unless you have a numerical advantage. Fact is, Dean knew that a retreating defense is vulnerable, even 5-on-5, and that especially the quick post entry causes a chain reaction and often confusion that we easily exploited here.

Moreover, think of how hard we normally hafta work to get that sort of look against a set defense (especially not having a legit PG). That's why the Secondary is more important for us now than ever, whether utilizing sophisticated called variations off it (like Roy did) or just into Freelance. In that little 11-second span we saw our keys to success --- transition and inside-out ball --- emodied in one possession.
 
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1st: DES was a saint AND a genius! 2ndary Break is a beautiful system and it is not personnel driven! I have loved it for decades and went to a coaches clinic to learn it when I was a coach. I would think it works well with Bigs who want to be shooters too so it fits current ideologies well! These days one problem is peeps really don't want to learn to pay attention to details. Simple stuff like realizing that if a guard starts his cut too early, the big doesn't have time to set a proper pick. It can be hard to keep quiet when you see stuff like this happening in a practice. Peeps keep running through the same plays which work so well against air and they get lazy! I stopped a HS practice and just showed them the difference it made if the little just waited a beat and then set up the pick before cutting so his big could get in the right position and get set. (Luckily, I have known the coach for a long time or it could've gotten ugly) (Big had fouled out of the last two games)
 
1st: DES was a saint AND a genius! 2ndary Break is a beautiful system and it is not personnel driven! I have loved it for decades and went to a coaches clinic to learn it when I was a coach. I would think it works well with Bigs who want to be shooters too so it fits current ideologies well! These days one problem is peeps really don't want to learn to pay attention to details. Simple stuff like realizing that if a guard starts his cut too early, the big doesn't have time to set a proper pick. It can be hard to keep quiet when you see stuff like this happening in a practice. Peeps keep running through the same plays which work so well against air and they get lazy! I stopped a HS practice and just showed them the difference it made if the little just waited a beat and then set up the pick before cutting so his big could get in the right position and get set. (Luckily, I have known the coach for a long time or it could've gotten ugly) (Big had fouled out of the last two games)
And what is nicely ironic is that the 3-point shot has made Dean's 60+ yr-old invention even MORE effective.
 
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I think the biggest hurdles would be that to efficiently run the 2dary you need to be disciplined and focused - not the biggest strengths this team has shown
 
Thanks for the insight Gary….

I have to admit, I still get confused as to what is or isn’t secondary.

But what I do know is the difference between movement of man and ball vs a bunch of statues waiting for the hero shot.

In the clip you shared, players kept moving after the ball went to Mando… earlier this season they were not doing that….. similarly, in early season play, if RJ or Caleb had the ball in half court offence, there was zero movement elsewhere.
 
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