Massey Basketball: Strategy- 1999- GHS’s All-Time Best Play- “Help”

This simple play that we ran in 1998 and 1999 produced more points and more free throws than any other play we ran in my 46 years of coaching. It was a simple action but created some nice options for some pretty good players. The play was called, “Help.” The point guard could call the play at any time by just raising her fist.

So in the State Tourney game vs. Loyola, when we had the ball in a tie game, we ran “Help.” We hit Megan Pacheco coming off the screen. She missed the shot but scored on the rebound.

The next day when we played Lincoln in the semi-finals, in a tie game, we ran “Help” again. This time we got the ball to Sarah Larson. She drove baseline and was fouled with five seconds to go. She made both free throws to give us a two point win.

Help- Basic Alignment-

#1- Jaque Howard (Point Guard)

#2- Michelle Flaar (Shooting Guard)

#3- Megan Pacheco (Small Forward)

#4- Jenny Zolper (Power Forward)

#5- Sarah Larson (Post)

Entry Pass- #1 dribbles away from #4. #4 sets up their cut so that they can get the ball at the elbow area. Ideally if they get the ball in their shooting range, their defender cannot sag to help on the flex action. Because we wanted to set up (Larson #5 and Pacheco #3), we 95% of the time had the #4 pop out and entered to that side.

Flex Action- #5 steps off the lane to setup the flex cut. Early in the games, we wanted to have #3 always cut on the baseline side. We wanted #3 to be going to the basket for a post up vs. cutting high for a jump shot.

#5 Screens Then Pops- After screening, #5 would pop out. Because we did not run a typical flex action by having a down screen, there was space for #5. This allowed #4 to look to skip the ball to #5. If #2 or #3’s defenders tried to sag to help out on the action, there were good shooters.

One on One Clear- Our #5 was a good shooter. She regularly could hit the 18 footer if they did not come out to guard her. The primary way that she scored one on one was to shot fake then drive baseline. This is what she did vs Lincoln in the State Semi-Finals. She made a shot fake, drove, and was fouled going up to shoot- she made both free throws.

Fake Low- Come High- After cutting baseline early in the game, our #3 had the option to fake low and cut high. At the end of the Loyola game, this is what Pacheco did. She was open in the lane for a turnaround jumper, missed but we scored on the rebound.

Reaction to Switching- If teams chose to switch the screen, our #5 could read this, seal the defender, and roll back to the ball. Again, with no down screen, there was space for both #3 and #5 to operate.