With all the new roster additions and lineup configurations, let's take a look at Michigan's go-to set as we head into the Gavitt Games. Two games in, Michigan's most often used action is Double Drag. 

Generally speaking, Double Drag features the PG above-the-break on either sideline, with two players (most often a big/big or wing/big tandem) each setting consecutive ballscreens. Most often we get one big rolling as the other pops, as the PG reads the offense and corresponding options. There are multiple wrinkles/progressions off that standard base alignment, but let's use this as the foundational point.

On that note, let's take a look at the aforementioned standard alignment while walking through the reads + defensive coverages. 

Empty Double Drag

We have Dug on the left sideline with Nkamhoua as the initial ballscreener and Tschetter up next. As noted above, one big rolls (Tschetter) while the other big pops (Nkamhoua). The "empty" terminology comes in since the left side of the court is void of any players/action exclusive of the three-man game in the Double Drag alignment.

So now let's walk through the execution/reads/coverages. McDaniel takes a poor angle using the Nkamhoua screen, as doesn't hug the screen to optimize the advantage, but Evan Johnson gets tripped up on the screening contact and loses phase. UNC-Asheville was blitzing/showing high for the majority of the game and Toyaz Solomon blitzes Dug as Tschetter begins his roll. 

Olivier is wide-open on the pop as Nick McMullen has to tag/switch Tschetter on the roll (:07 mark). But Dug is locked in on the right side of the court and doesn't survey the left side of the court to verify coverage/potential advantages. Instead he passes to Nimari Burnett who is 5 feet away. 

The scheme created an advantage, but the execution is poor on this particular possession. Michigan gets a bucket here as Tschetter is able to score with some nifty footwork, but this is essentially a broken possession where Michigan cashes-in despite some subpar reads.

So now we go to the Youngstown Stage game for the clip below. YSU's defensive approach is more conservative, with the POA defender tasked with fighting through the screen as the other two defenders are a step below screen level. 

McDaniel does a good job setting the POA defender up on this possession, as he crosses-over right to left to get his defender going baseline before quickly crossing back over (:06 mark) to get him slightly off-balance.

Nkamhoua rolls as Williams pops. Oliver temporarily takes two defenders with him on the roll, as Brandon Rush bumps him to prevent the easy entry pass. Dug makes the proper read here, as he delivers the pass to Williams the moment he identifies Olivier carrying two defenders. Terrance gets a semi-open look here, as he's in rhythm and shooting over a smaller defender that is closing out. 

You can argue that Williams would have been better served dumping this into Nkamhoua with deep position, but this isn't a bad look at all. Better process on this possession despite the lack of a score. 

 

Double Drag Weakside Flare

Here's the same base alignment, but with an additional wrinkle/progression. After Dug gets to the second screen (:06 mark), Williams sets a flare screen for Burnett on the weakside. This is a better version of the standard Double Drag, as it theoretically deters weakside help-defenders from tagging the roll-man. 

Dug once again gets into the double crossover and also does a relatively good job hugging the screen. YSU is once again going with a conservative defensive approach and McDaniel has plenty of time/space to see the floor and make the proper read (:07 mark).

The optimal read here is a pass to Nimari, as he's wide open after the flare screen and would have the opportunity to attack an opposing big (Bates) that has to closeout in space, while we also have TWill now matched up against a small guard. 

Here, it appears as though Dug pre-determined his read and reversed the ball to the left side where the popping Nkamhoua doesn't really have an advantage. Olivier is able to score on a straight-line drive against some really poor defense. But the process/read here isn't ideal. 

Same action/setup below against YSU. This time we have Tschetter and Reed as the ballscreeners with Jackson + Washington on the weakside.

YSU once again in conservative coverage. This time Dug doesn't really have the opportunity to make a real read. Tray Jackson should be setting the flare screen at the precise time that McDaniel/Tarris are commencing the screening action. Instead, Jackson is late and Dug is void of a read that presents a real advantage. This possession goes into a post-iso for Reed that doesn't generate any points.

Early season execution woes.

[Hit THE JUMP for great scheme + working out the kinks]

Double Drag Spain Punch

Same base alignment. The big setting the initial screen (Nkamhoua) rolls per usual. The wrinkle?

Terrance Williams sets a backscreen (also referred to as a rip screen) for the rolling Nkamhoua (Spain action) to get him a free bucket rolling to the rim on the lob (not common in college) or more likely, good position on the left side for a post-up.

Also notice the second screener (Reed) basically dies after setting the screen. This gives Michigan an additional release valve for Dug if the lob/post-up isn't there, with the idea being for Tarris + Olivier to play a high-low game with Reed delivering an over-the-top entry pass to Nkamhoua. 

So now let's examine the reads when accounting for defensive coverages, etc. The opposition comes with an aggressive blitz after the second screen by Reed. Dug makes a mistake by taking a really wide path (avoiding contact) that essentially takes away any viable outlet because the potential passes are simply too far away and he can't see the reads anyway. In the NBA, this would be the functional equivalent of the defense begging the ballhandling PG to simply run to their intended spot to draw a foul. 

UNC-Asheville does a good job of switching to Olivier after the backscreen by Williams and denying the entry passing by aggressively fronting. 

At this point, the only advantageous read available to McDaniel is a skip-pass to Burnett on the opposite wing (:08 mark). Dug doesn't see it, and takes an additional 3 dribbles looking to get the ball to Olivier on the block. I think this might be another example of McDaniel making a pre-determined read. But really, the possession was blown up the second Dug took the wide angle that saw him end up near half-court on the left sideline. Michigan ultimately draws a foul as the opposition was a bit too aggressive in attempting to deny Nkamhoua position on the block. 

So let's fast-forward 12 minutes and we get the identical setup with the same ballhandler + screeners.

This time Dug is prepared for the aggressive blitz and simply stops as Terrance sets the backscreen for Nkamhoua to provide an easier passing window for a potential entry pass without eating up clock unnecessarily. 

UNC-Asheville once again does a good job with their switching scheme. McDaniel has a path to get Olivier the ball with a direct entry pass at the :07 second mark, but is intent to get the ball to Williams for the safer entry pass. 

At the same time, Washington is wide open on the opposite wing and would be attacking a closeout that would create a numbers advantage should he receive the pass from Dug and attack said closeout. 

Again, there may very well be a pre-determined read here, or perhaps McDaniel is only seeing one side of the court (right side). 

TWill does end up getting the ball to Olivier, but he's 18 feet from the rim when he gets the catch. Nkamhoua faces-up and makes a strong move to draw a foul, but again we're leaving meat on the bone by not optimizing the opportunities created by the scheme. 

 

Double Drag Cross Exit

This is my favorite iteration of the Double Drag series, as it provides multiple actions/progressions in quick succession that puts the defense in real conflict. 

This time we have Nimari Burnett taking command of PG duties with Reed + Olivier as screeners. 

UNC-Asheville proceeds with their typical blitz approach, but Burnett isn't bothered and takes a much more direct path to the left side of the court.

After Reed rolls, Terrance clears and Dug sets a cross-screen for Tarris in hopes that Reed is open on the left side for either an easy finish at the rim or deep position for a post-up. Dug isn't able to make contact on the screen versus the recovering big (that's a big ask for a player of that size), so there's nothing there. But there's another progression.

You may have noticed Nkamhoua essentially dies after the second screen for Burnett (he basically stays at the FT line). This is intentional. After attempting to set the cross-screen for Tarris, Dug is going to get an exit screen from Olivier to hopefully free him up for an open C+S triple.

Nkamhoua forces the chasing defender to step off his path to get around the screen which does indeed free up McDaniel. After seeing the Reed post-up isn't there, Nimari quicky pivots to his next read (Dug) and delivers a timely pass to Dug in rhythm. 

This is what the intersection of good scheme/good processing/good execution looks like. 

Fast forward 9 minutes. Identical setup/action, but this time Dug is back at PG, with Washington the designated shooter coming off the exit screen. 

Once again, the opposition goes with the aggressive blitz and you'll immediately notice McDaniel takes the wide path to the left side that is less than ideal. He's near half-court as Olivier reaches the left block. 

But the scheme is putting in major work here, with Caleb Burgess (#2 for UNCA) in real conflict, as he identifies his small-ish teammate switched on to Nkamhoua and it is clearly a mismatch. You can clearly see he takes a nano-second to determine whether he should help his teammate. And in that nano-second, George Washington is coming off the exit screen from Reed...........and Burgess doesn't even know it. 

Dug is looking for Olivier on the block and takes a nano-second too long to come off that read and deliver the ball to GW (he catches the ball at the logo when it should have been delivered at the three-point line). The scheme was so good here that it didn't matter though. Burgess is still trailing on the closeout and Washington attacks a scrambling defender and gets a straight line-drive to the rim. The UNCA big gets in a good contest but that frees up Tarris Reed for an easy offensive rebound + putback.

The scheme worked to perfection here. The reads weren't bad, but the processing time was a nano-second slower than necessary for this possession to be perfectly executed. Still, the intersection of scheme/reads/processing/execution was good enough to generate points because of the play-design.