When Michigan needed a bucket against Creighton last night, the play that created perhaps more good looks than any other was a double drag screen, also sometimes called a double stagger. (Basketball terminology, like football terminology, can be different depending on the coach/analyst.)

The concept is pretty simple. With the ballhandler initiating the play from the side of the court, two players—spaced, or staggered, apart—set consecutive on-ball screens, with one screener then popping out to the three-point line and the other rolling to the basket. When executed correctly, this play puts the defense in a bind; the on-ball defender has to navigate two screens, which usually requires help, thus forcing quick, difficult decisions for the off-ball defenders. If the double-screen doesn't free up the ballhandler to drive for a layup, at least one of the roll or pop is usually open.

It took Juwan Howard a little while to break the double drag out against Creighton, and when he did, it failed to work as designed and had to be bailed out by a David DeJulius stepback three:

What went wrong? As Matt from Endless Motor pointed out in our slack chat, Colin Castleton waited too long to roll, which screwed up the timing and spacing of the play. Simpson has to double back as his defender goes under the screen and, as you can see below, Castleton still hasn't begun to go to the hoop:

Simpson's man easily recovers, Castleton's is waiting for him in the paint, and Johns isn't open on the pop. DeJulius has to hit an absurd shot to save the possession.

[After THE JUMP: they fix it, then start making it rain.]

On Castleton's next shift, Michigan went back to the double drag, and it sure looks like he got some coaching points in the interim. The play starts out of the pistol set, with Simpson initiating early offense with a pass to Eli Brooks on the wing:

Brooks hands it back to Simpson, gets into position, and sets the first screen. There's good spacing here between Brooks and Castleton, and the quick-hitting nature of the play—especially from the pistol—is already impacting Creighton's defense. Simpson's defender is a step behind in even getting to the first screen:

Whether Creighton planned to switch or not, they're forced into doing so. Below we see one of the benefits of the double drag. The defender switching onto Simpson has to make a split-second decision about how to handle the second screen. He chooses to go over the screen, which is not how you want to guard Simpson.

Here's the other key difference from the first play: Castleton times his roll much better. Now you've got #5 still chasing Simpson over the screen and Castleton's man has to help or give up a free path to the hoop:

This is where the options really open up. As Simpson turns the corner, a help defender has come off of David DeJulius in the corner, while Simpson's original man has sunk off Brooks to try and dissuade a pass to Castleton. There are two potential catch-and-shoot options, although the more open one requires the more difficult pass. Still, they're options, and they're not even the best options:

The best option, as Simpson adeptly shows, is to continue the drive and wrap around a pass to Castleton, who's wide open because poor #11 has absolutely no idea whether to stay on the huge dude who's probably going to score on him anyway or get back to Brooks:

Easy layup. In motion:

That's difficult to stop, especially when it's hitting so early in the shot clock. As @LAbound2 put it on twitter:

The 2xstagger is effective w/personnel groupings featuring a roll man w/adequate finishing gravity (Colin) & a shooter that commands gravity (Eli) as the screeners

M essentially occupies 2 defenders (Jones/Zegarowski) w/roll man (Colin) while Eli is wide open

Pick your poison https://t.co/rCRDZAfWcO

— LAbound (@LAbound2) November 13, 2019

Dude was late getting back to Brooks, so that could've been a good look from three, too.

In the second half, we got two more examples—and probably more, I still have a decent portion of the game left to go through—of double drag creating great shots. On this first one, Brooks slips to the corner, and the two Creighton guards fail to communicate whether they're switching. This gets Brooks a wide open look that doesn't fall:

The next one paid off. Brooks initiates this time with Livers and Teske as the screeners. Brooks's defender goes over the initial screen from Livers, setting off a new chain of events:

A well-spaced double drag puts the on-ball defender in a bind. If he goes over the first screen, he's also got to go over the second screen; there's not enough time or space to snake between screens. Brooks's defender gets caught on Teske's screen, forcing Teske's defender to help on Brooks:

With Brooks's defender (#5) continuing to chase, Livers's man is put in a bind of his own: Teske is rolling unimpeded to the rim while Livers is waiting for a spot-up opportunity:

The defender chooses Teske because uncontested dunks are quite efficient. This leaves Livers all alone and Brooks finds him:

Money in motion:

This is a play you see often at the NBA level. Thus far, Howard has done an excellent job of porting over much of the Miami Heat's playbook, and you can see Michigan improving at execution within games. Howard's head coaching acumen was a complete mystery when he took the job; so far, he's looked quite up to the task.