Sophomore guard Kobe Bufkin is in full blow-up mode after putting together a dominant February that saw him average 16.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists on 54.2% FG and 48.4% from distance. More importantly, that superb stretch lead the Wolverines to a 6-2 record and now firmly on the bubble as thoroughly detailed by our own Alex Drain. 

Bufkin has arguably been promoted to Michigan's #1 option for the stretch-run, leading the Wolverines in usage three of the last six games, while being heavily featured during closing time. Juwan Howard has done a masterful job at placing Kobe in advantageous positions to optimize his skillset, with a plethora of wrinkles to exploit the opposition in the five-out set, Delay Action.

 

Generally speaking, Delay Action is a five-out offense where the Center (commonly referred to as the "trigger man" in this set) receives the ball at the top-of-the-key/slot and is used as the playmaker/passer for DHOs/shot-creation for others/himself.

Let's take a look at one of the more basic versions in the clip below. Roughly one minute into the Wisconsin game and Coach Howard wants to get Kobe going downhill to his strong hand. Dug enters the ball to Hunter at the slot area as Tschetter sets a downscreen for Bufkin. Kobe now has space and a head full of steam as he comes toward Dickinson to get the DHO. Dug and Baker relocate to the corners to maximize space in the paint. Hunter does a good job rolling simultaneously with the hand-off to the extent Crowl can't afford to hedge on Kobe or risk giving up the easy dump-off to Hunter for a dunk. Dickinson's rim-gravity allows Bufkin to essentially walk-in for an uncontested layup. 

Very basic set that puts Bufkin in space and aims to utilize his elite finishing ability, as the fast-rising sophomore is converting an absurd 71.1% of close 2s during B10 play............better than a 7'1 Hunter Dickinson. 

With a Bufkin DHO-drive now a legitimate threat, Juwan Howard proceeds to toy with Greg Gard one minute later. Michigan sets up in the same Delay alignment as seen above. But this time Baker clears before Tschetter sets the downscreen for Kobe. Gard is likely thinking "I have it sniffed out this time", but Coach Howard is a step ahead.

Rather than going with the standard Hunter/Bufkin DHO, Michigan catches Wisconsin off-guard as Dickinson is able to easily score on a straight-line drive with no help-defense to speak of. Showing the same base alignment with a different action is the epitome of good tactical work.

[Hit THE JUMP for Juwan Howard spamming Greg Gard with this set on the way to victory]

Wisconsin has now been burned twice with straight-line drives to the rim out of the same alignment. So it's probably fair to say Greg Gard is expecting dribble penetration to the rim from either Kobe or Dickinson. But Coach Howard undoubtedly sees Gard is going with a drop coverage approach against the DHO and exploits it below.

This time around, Juwan eliminates the middle man (Tschetter/TWill downscreen for Bufkin) and just makes it a straight two-man game with Hunter/Kobe. As mentioned above, Gard is expecting dribble penetration and has Wahl helping at the nail area, but Crowl is still in drop coverage. Bufkin has an effective pull-up game from midrange and takes advantage of the space provided from Wisconsin's drop coverage. 

Fast forward to the second half and Coach Howard undoubtedly has Gard's head spinning because he doesn't quite know what to expect from this alignment. So Juwan adds another wrinkle to the Delay Action. This time around Michigan is showing Double Stagger for Dug with Hunter as the trigger man. With Dug McDaniel hitting midrange pull-ups to close out Rutgers, the Wisconsin HC isn't content to encourage that particular shot. So now Gard has Crowl show at screen level.

The result? The Wolverines exploit the blitz approach by having Dickinson quickly roll to the paint to force a switch against an undersized Tyler Wahl. Dug swings to Williams, who gives it to Bufkin for the better post-entry angle. Hunter is nearly in the paint with his second dribble, so Gard brings the double with Crowl. Dickinson finds Terrance for an open catch and shoot three. Although he misses, this wrinkle out of the same set absolutely created an advantage. 

This next wrinkle is likely my favorite iteration of the Delay Action series vs Wisconsin. Juwan is now going with the two-big lineup, which theoretically messes with the spacing, but Michigan's leading man uses it to his advantage in a major way.

Wolverines have once again eliminated the middle-man downscreen for Kobe and just go straight two-man game with Dickinson/Bufkin. You're probably wondering how this is going to work with Tarris Reed clogging up the paint and Wisconsin in shallow drop coverage, particularly with Dickinson rolling directly toward Tarris. But what comes next is pure wizardry. The precise moment that Kobe gets the DHO, notice Reed step into the paint and completely seal off Crowl to negate any helpside rim protection. At that point, it's Bufkin one-on-one against an undersized Wahl for an easy layup. 

That is nothing short of a masterclass possession from Coach Howard, as he undoubtedly pulled from his NBA pick + seal bag. 

Of course it helps tremendously to have a legit NBA prospect as the focal point of this action. While Coach Howard ran circles around Gard with the aforementioned possessions, Kobe Bufkin simply made things happen out of the Delay series at times as well. Not much analysis needed for the clips below. Let's just re-live Kobe Bufkin being more talented than the opposition and closing out a must-win game for the Wolverines. 

Pull-up three against perfect defense? Check.

 

Wisconsin top-locking to deny the initial DHO + switching in order to prevent conceding anything? Fine. Here's a baseline midrange pull-up in a must-have possession.