Spurs Playbook: How is San Antonio evolving in the half court?
Coach Popovich is using set plays to get the basketball to his best players.
The highly-anticipated arrival of Victor Wembanyama was supposed to usher in a new era of basketball for the Spurs. Diehard fans endured the ceaseless frustration of a full-throttle rebuild and the third-worst record in franchise history, yet San Antonio is still on pace to lose even more games than a year ago. Nevertheless, the front office is dead set on not skipping steps, and they have embraced the growing pains of a young team.
A significant part of this process has been Gregg Popovich easing his cluster of gifted and impressionable prospects into the intricacies of his offense. While this group is at its best when they force turnovers and run the open floor in transition, they have been executing better the half-court as their coach has expanded the playbook. So, let’s take a closer look at some of the most successful sets from the last month of their schedule.
1.) Floppy + Double Curl (SOQ)
How about we dive headfirst into this ingenious set Gregg Popovich dialed up against the Washington Wizards in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter? There are only two relevant actions on this sequence. But San Antonio uses Victor Wembanyama and a couple of reliable sharpshooters to exploit the undersized defensive personnel across from them on the hardwood for an easy bucket.
Everything begins with Blake Wesley taking the basketball up the court and setting up shop inside the half-court logo while his teammates arrange themselves in and around the paint to prepare to execute the play call from their head coach. From there, we will see the Spurs run a unique variation of their classic Loop Series, which other teams at lower levels and around the league often refer to as Floppy Action.
What is Floppy Action? This a composition built on optionality, where a player under the basket decides between running around staggered screens on one side of the court or a pindown on the other based on how their defender is covering them. Though that is the traditional setup, the Silver and Black add a wrinkle by tasking Cedi Osman and Doug McDermott with curling tight around Wembanyama to create an advantage.
This double curling is effective at shifting the defense for two reasons. One: Doug and Cedi are both threats to attack the rim or fire away on the move, making it integral for their men to stay attached as they round the pindown from Wembanyama. Two: There is nobody to help Deni Avdija smother Victor once McDermott attacks the hoop since Delon Wright, Corey Kispert, and Bilal Coulibaly are defending the three-point line.
Wembanyama is not the most effective screener, but he catches enough of Kyle Kuzma to leave him trailing Dougie as he curls the pindown. With his man battling to recover and everyone else out of the picture, McDermott is at liberty to unleash a lob to Victor once he sees Avdija step up to cut off his driving lane. The pass was on the money, the play design was perfect, and the alley-oop set the tone for the rest of the frame.
2.) X-Get + Flash + Backdoor (SLOB)
The last play was reasonably straightforward, and this one is easily the most digestible set in this article. Though we are introducing an action we have never explored on our site, it is simple and effective, and fans should get used to seeing the Spurs utilize it as a staple in sideline out-of-bounds situations.
San Antonio starts with Malaki Branham and Doug McDermott stationed at the slots, Wembanyama occupying the nail, and Tre Jones standing in the restricted circle. This alignment allows them to flow into their X-Get Action, where Victor sets Rip Screens for McDermott and Branham. After crossing each other and stretching to the corners, Jones darts toward the inbounder to receive the ball. Or does he?
Popovich realized the Pelicans were aggressively denying the rock to their point guard on previous inbounding sequences, and he outsmarts their coverage. Because Brandon Ingram rotates over to stop the Spurs from passing to Jones, it leaves a massive hole in the middle of the floor. All it takes to exploit this opening is Wembanyama flashing to the top of the key for a swift give-and-go with Julian Champagnie, who cuts backdoor for an impressive double-clutch finish at the rim.
Aside from the elements we already mentioned, two other things helped put the Spurs in a position to succeed on this possession. The scoring gravity of Wembanyama stops Jonas Valanciunas from peeling off him to redirect Champagnie. And because Doug is a lights-out marksman, Trey Murphy III can’t afford to sag off him enough for his last-minute dig to disrupt Julian. While Naji Marshall makes a timely weakside rotation, it merely forces a midair adjustment.
3.) Zipper + Elbow + Stagger + Twirl (ATO)
Calling a timeout offers coaches a second to go to the clipboard to organize the troops and concoct a play that settles the offense. Popovich has long been effective at putting points on the board in these scenarios, so it was no surprise when the Spurs exited the huddle and hit the hardwood with a gorgeous set that placed Devin Vassell in an ideal position to build positive momentum before halftime.
Don’t let the convoluted labeling intimidate you. We will separate this possession into two parts, starting with the Zipper and Elbow Actions.
As Tre Jones dribbles to the left slot, Jeremy Sochan will set a screen for Devin Vassell to cut through the paint and receive the ball close to the half-court line. This is known as Zipper Action. Jeremy then flashes to the left elbow, becoming the playmaking hub for San Antonio.
After Vassell delivers that entry pass to Sochan, he sprints to the opposite elbow to set a Staggered Pindown Screen for Malaki Branham. However, that action was a guileful decoy that runs into Twirl Action, where Malaki curls around Devin and cuts through the paint. The smooth swingman turns around to use that Collins screen to leave Cam Thomas in the rearview mirror for a feathery floater.
We should rewind a few ticks. When Vassell curls around Zach near the right elbow, it functions like a pick-and-roll. While Ben Simmons is mere steps from Devin, he has to sink into the paint when Collins dives to the basket to take away a potential dump-off pass. Unfortunately for Cam, he lacks the necessary wingspan to contest runners from behind, cracking the door open for another shot that hits nothing but the net.
4.) Iverson + Hammer
Spurs fans might recognize the terms Iverson and Hammer, and Coach Pop pulled out one of his classics when San Antonio decimated the Raptors on Monday night. This is a set San Antonio has run for recognizable names like Manu Ginobili, Kawhi Leonard, Patty Mills, Danny Green, Gary Neal, and Davis Bertans over the years.
Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell kick off the action with staggered cross screens for Tre Jones around the top of the key, generating enough space for him to separate from Immanuel Quickley on an Iverson Cut to catch an entry for Jeremy Sochan. After that, Keldon leaks out to the right slot for an empty-side pick-and-roll with his point guard, who rejects the ball screen and attacks downhill with his man on his back.
The dribble penetration from Jones convinces Kelly Olynyk to rotate over to prevent a wide-open layup, which in turn triggers Gradey Dick to abandon Vassell in the corner and tag Zach Collins on the low block. However, the framework of this play was never meant to create a shot for Tre. The plan was always to collapse the defense and sling a pass down the baseline to Devin for a trifecta.
Once Dick makes contact with Collins, the big man sets a Hammer Screen that makes it virtually impossible for him to recover back to Devin. While Quickley sniffs out this action and ditches Jones to contest the three, he is too far away from Vassell to make a worthwhile closeout that bothers the fourth-year swingman. And in the end, we heard some sweet string music as the trifecta ripped the cords.
5.) Stack + Double Curl (BLOB)
The final set on our list shares a concept with the first play we detailed, and it is about as self-explanatory as the sideline out-of-bounds sequence we looked at earlier. Rather than installing complicated actions into his offense, Coach Popovich has depended on simplicity and execution to generate favorable shots for his best players whenever San Antonio is in a half-court setting.
Stack is the name of a formation that teams will use to disguise their plays. And yes, it is quite literally what it sounds like, with every player organizing into a single file line as the inbounder waits for the official to blow their whistle.
Once the referee hands Tre Jones the ball and starts his five-second counter, Zach and Sochan will flip around to set Staggered Back Screens for Keldon, who curls them and clears out to the right corner. The frontcourt tandem will repeat that action for Devin, who leads Caleb Martin into the first pick, carving out a pocket for him to rise into an uncontested midrange jumper.
Bam Adebayo could have switched on Vassell, but he was likely concerned with giving up a slip to the rim or catch-and-shoot opportunity to Collins. As for Terry Rozier, the veteran point guard stuck to Jones, a savvy player known for cutting immediately after passing to teammates. Miami should have communicated better, but the Spurs carried out all their responsibilities to a T on this possession.
Are these the real names or the Vic n Roll specials?