The Sixers Used Double Drags to get Ben Simmons in Downhill Attack Mode
Great game for Ben Simmons on Sunday night.
He finished with 21 points on 9-12 shooting and added 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks, and 4 steals. He did a little bit of everything in the come-from-behind win.
One of the things the Sixers used to get him going offensively, in Joel Embiid’s absence, was explained post game by head coach Doc Rivers:
“We ran a couple of things for him that we thought were really good. Double drags give him a head of steam. Indiana is a team that plays up. They’re one of the teams that plays up in their pick and roll (defense). In shootaround we said that, that they play up, so if they’re gonna play up and we double drag, there’s gaps, but you have to take them. You can’t stop and hesitate, it has to be full steam.”
I love these quotes from Doc. He does a great job of sharing simple Xs and Os without giving away any secrets or over-complicating things.
In this case, a “double drag” is very similar to a double stagger, but it’s typically run out of early transition. On Brett Brown’s teams, for instance, you’d see double stagger in the half court, where Simmons and Embiid would DHO with JJ Redick or another shooter, who would turn hard around the corner and get off a shot.
Sunday night, Doc was talking about these kinds of plays:
You see why this concept works very well with Ben. He’s so good at hitting the gap and driving downhill, that if you get him just an inch of space, he’ll turn the corner and take the ball right to the rack.
As Doc mentioned, Indy likes to play up on pick and rolls, so when the angled screens are set in early transition, Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis will find themselves so far out that sometimes they’re standing on the three-point line:
Simple enough, right? Ben is great in transition, and if he sees that space, he will go into downhill attack mode. His eyes will figuratively turn red and the steam will come out of his nose. If an opponent is going to push their bigs high in pick and roll coverage, Simmons should be able to beat them to the basket on most occasions.
Good stuff from Doc and the coaching staff to notice this on film and attack it.