Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Notre Dame's Jack Cooley: inside clinic

Jack Cooley may be my favourite forward in the country. Just look at the way he stays active in the paint here, leaning on his man, and then bouncing off him as the shot goes up. In this sequence he hits his first nine shots against San Francisco University (though its contentious as to whether he makes the first tip-in, or teammate Pat Connaughton gets the touch). Either way, Cooley is making things happen, stepping around and inside defenders with an eye for rebounds - most of which fall his way due to his superior positioning. But what I enjoy most is his pump fakes, which frequently displace two defenders at once for the easy lay-in.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Jeremy Lin drive and dish

There are a number of NBA point guards who can torpedo into the paint. Some of them, in fact, make that move alone their modus operandi. Jeremy Lin, however, consistently takes the ball deep into the key in order to set up teammates. On this drive he shows tenacity against the Kings outside defenders, and then shapes for a lay up. This opens a straightforward dump off to Tyson Chandler. Drawing the defense to open spaces - simple basketball.