MIES (Switzerland) - This series between Hapoel Netanel Holon and Aliaga Petkimspor is one of the most compelling and fascinating Play-Ins matchups we have ever seen in the Basketball Champions League.
Both games have been close and impossible to predict, but also packed with interesting matchups and coaching chess matches.
The fact that Holon are playing their home games in Hungary and Petkimspor playing theirs in Baku also adds another level of intrigue because both teams are without their customary home atmosphere.
At home, with a raucous crowd behind them, both teams would expect to hold leads and be harder to beat, but what we are seeing is a series where Holon held the lead for 26 minutes in Game 1 - but lost; and then Petkimspor held the lead for 25 minutes in Game 2 - but also went on to lose the game.
Both teams have taken double-digit leads, but neither ever looked secure in those leads.
The two teams have been separated by just four points across the two games, with 20 lead changes. Game 1 saw Petkimspor win 82-81 thanks to a late Jaime Echenique dunk and Game 2 saw Holon level the series 65-62 with Elijah Mitrou-Long sealing the game with a pair of free throws.
And it's Game 2 that we want to zero in on and show you just how fine the margins can be, even down to the difference between how the coaches choose to adjust to each other within the confines of a single offensive set.
In this case, the set we are taking a closer look at is Guy Goodes's Wedge Empty action which is a play designed around leveraging the threat of Michale Kyser rolling to the rim with the nearest corner emptied to remove easy help rotations.
As you can see in the first video below, the play starts with #0 Mitrou-Long running off a staggered screen to receive the ball from #2 Brendan Adams to play pick-and-roll. Adams then sets what is known as a wedge screen for Kyser enabling him to arrive to set the ball screen with his own defender trailing the action.
At the same time, #14 Tucker has cleared the strong side to leave an empty corner.
What you see in the video above from Petkimspor defensively is an attempt to defend the action 2v2, with Kyser's man, #26 Jaime Echenique trying to stay between the passing lane from Mitrou-Long to Kyser, but also protect the rim at the same time. The result of this is that Tucker's defender also takes a step off him to help on Mitrou-Long going down hill and the result is an easy kick out pass to Tucker for three.
The three-ball that Tucker knocked down also triggered a Petkimspor run where they reeled off 11 points unanswered to end the third quarter up 51-41.
Our next clip is Holon attempting to run the same wedge screen action later in the third quarter, but Petkimspor and Burak Goren have adjusted their defense against it and completely shut it down.
Watch how #13 Breein Tyree is able to get under the ball screen now and force Holon into a re-screen. Brendan Adams fakes the re-screen and looks to get downhill, but this time Petkimspor send help from the top of the floor, one pass away from #8 DeWayne Russell.
Petkimspor play the rest of the defensive possession perfectly and it ends with a tough contested three-pointer which they miss.
In this next clip, we pick the game back up halfway through the fourth quarter with Holon still down three.
Holon went back to the same set, but this time with an adjustment of their own. This time Kyser twists the angle of the ball screen towards the sideline and then pops to the middle of the floor. Again, Petkimspor look to send the help from DeWayne Russell, but he has a longer distance to recover to his man Adams on the wing and that allowed Kyser to take two dribbles and kick the ball out to Tucker for the corner three-ball they wanted.
Also, watch out for #21 Netanel Artzi pinning his defender in to prevent any rotations out to the shooter. It was brilliant execution from Holon against a very engaged and aggressive Petkimspor defense.
And finally we see this set one more time from Guy Goodes and Holon. This time coming out of a timeout and with another new read and on the other side of the floor.
They had clearly flipped the play onto the other side of the floor to enable Brendan Adams to reject the action and get downhill to his right hand, with the same empty corner and no help at the rim.
Holon won the last four minutes of the game 7-2 and the fourth quarter 24-11.
In a game decided by just three points, the fact that Holon were able to get eight points from four possesssion running this set in the second half, it provides us the perfect example of how decisive the tactical adjustments these coaches and players are making in-game can be.
In Game 1 the adjustment battle was won by Burak Goren and Petkimspor. Who can predict which way the pendulum will swing in Game 3 on Wednesday in Baku?
Probably the only safe prediction is that it's going to be close, tense, and utterly enthralling.