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In 2009, the 3/5 pick and roll with Hedo Turkoglu and Dwight Howard was one of the centerpieces of the Orlando Magic‘s offense. With Turkoglu’s departure and Vince Carter‘s arrival, the 2/5 pick and roll became the flavor de jure for the Magic.
Carter’s involvement in the pick and roll not only initiated the offense for Orlando but the play was also used for him to score. Carter takes, and is still taking, a lot of heat for his underwhelming performance in the 2010 NBA Playoffs, but there’s no denying that he was an efficient force in pick and rolls. Yes, Carter settled for too many jumpers and didn’t attack the basket as much as he should have offensively, yet he usually got the job done in the 2/5 pick and roll with Howard.
Usually.
Hopefully the comparisons with Carter and Turkoglu have been put to rest. But if there’s one thing to point out between the two players when they anchored — along with Jameer Nelson — the pick and rolls, Carter took much better care of the basketball than Turkoglu did. And that means something because Carter wasn’t wasting many possessions, even if the end game (a long two-point jumper) wasn’t the result that many Magic fans desired.
With Carter at the helm last season, the Magic were more efficient on offense during the regular season than they were in 2009. This isn’t to state that Carter was the sole reason for this phenomena, though he was one of the reasons.
The 2/5 pick and roll is a very simple play, yet it has devastating effects on opposing defenses because of the personnel on the court for Orlando. Carter is the headliner of the concert and players like Nelson and Rashard Lewis are the supporting acts, because of their abilities to spot up on the perimeter. As for Howard, he is the engineer that makes it all go with his screens.
To be specific, the Magic run side pick and rolls — meaning they run them on either the left or right side of the floor. As has been stated before, note the excellent spacing by the shooters.
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Example 1:
A 2/5 pick and roll on the right side with Marcin Gortat as the screener. The Atlanta Hawks defend this fairly well since Joe Johnson rotates properly to cover Carter on the play, yet Marvin Williams is late in recovering on Mickael Pietrus. Even though Carter does make the floater, he might have been better off passing it to Pietrus for the open three. It’s, admittedly, a nit-picky observation.
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Example 2:
A 2/5 pick and roll on the left side with Howard as the screener. Howard does just enough to clip Williams as he goes over the screen and once again, Johnson does a good job of rotating onto Carter. However, this is where Carter’s athleticism (even if it’s waning) allows him to finish strong at the rim. For Magic fans, these are the types of plays they’d like to see more from Carter.
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Example 3:
Same play, different side. This time, Carter elects to settle for the fadeaway jumper. The degree of difficult on this shot is high, yet Carter makes it.
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Example 4:
This possession is similar to Example 2, yet the Hawks do a horrendous job of rotating on Carter as he comes off the screen that is set by Howard. The befuddlement is amusing, to be frank. Oh yeah, and Carter dunks the ball.
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Example 5:
This is where Orlando’s spacing comes into the forefront. The sole reason that Lewis has an open look at a three-pointer is because Carter was aggressive in attacking the basket on earlier possessions. As such, Johnson creeps towards Carter as he’s about to execute the pick and roll. Lewis is left open and drills the three.
Too easy.
