Views from the Bench with CJ Baird: Hunter Dickinson's playmaking ability
Hunter Dickinson has played even better than his All-American season last year. Outside of his scoring jump, Dickinson has been at his best as a passer from the post. Michigan clearly has prepared some different situations in practice and shown Hunter what’s available when he gets double-teamed in the post. He broke down Indiana’s defense in Michigan’s last game with his passing ability, and Michigan’s cutting strategy off of his touches changed in multiple situations throughout the game. I wanted to outline a few different types of cuts and strategies that Michigan used against IU that kept their defense on edge.
Laker Cuts
A “laker cut” is when the wing player feeds the post from the side and goes over the top of the post player. Michigan used this cut primarily when Caleb Houstan passed the ball into the post. I have detailed a situation where Houstan utilized this cut as a way to get an easy look at the basket.
Houstan here feeds the ball to Dickinson in the post in a position below the free-throw line. This positioning on the floor is key because Houstan has a variety of options on where to cut from this position. In this scenario, he runs to screen for Eli Brooks man near the top of the key.
As Houstan moves to the top of the key in his “laker cut”, Indiana’s defender leaves Houstan to double team Hunter Dickinson in the post. I have shown where the double team comes from in the image above. Once Houstan reaches the free-throw line, his defender immediately leaves to double team Hunter Dickinson. When his defender leaves, notice Caleb Houstan’s head. He recognizes that his defender has left him, and he has a clear path to cut to the rim. Dickinson’s patience in the post allows him to see the whole floor in this scenario which makes him a threat as a passer and scorer.
Dickinson drops a pass over the double team to Caleb Houstan at the rim for an easy look at the basket. The red line I have crudely drawn shows where Indiana’s defender should have
been in this situation. Houstan should have been stopped by Indiana’s help defense; however, the help defenders were so focused on who they were guarding individually.
Baseline Cuts
Dickinson’s post scoring requires a decent amount of space so he can take a couple dribbles to get to an advantageous position. Similar to the above situation, Michigan does a great job of cutting when they feed Dickinson the ball in the post. In addition to cutting over the top of the post, sometimes the guards will go through the baseline side after Dickinson catches it in the post.
In this particular play, DeVante’ Jones is the one feeding Dickinson in the post. The distance between DeVante’ and Eli Brooks at the top of the key changes the type of cut that Jones utilizes. Since it would take a long time for him to get to the top of the key for a screen, Jones cuts to the baseline after he passes the ball to Dickinson.
While this cut occurs, I have outlined the movement on the weak side of the floor with a couple of arrows. Michigan has worked on its weakside movement when Dickinson has the ball in the post. Williams and Diabate switched places over on the other side of the floor which created a huge space on the floor under the basket. This lack of help provides Jones with the lane he needs to get to the basket. Dickinson shovels a pass to Jones on the baseline, while Indiana is distracted.
Jones uses his long arms and easily gets to the rim. Since the ball was handed to him, IU should have help defense in position to stop an easy shot. Dickinson recognized the lackluster defense when he surveyed the floor and made a simple toss pass to help Michigan score.
Hunter’s elite IQ and floor awareness on offense gives Michigan various options from a simple position.
Skip Passes
Dickinson has been at his most dangerous this season when he throws his long passes across the court. His patience when catching the ball gives him the opportunity to see open teammates across the court. He tore apart Indiana’s defense with this skill, and the Hoosiers couldn’t quite get a read on how to guard it.
After the pick-and-roll in the above image, Hunter stops in an open area which forces the IU defense to move towards him. Notice how two players gravitate towards Hunter as Eli wraps the pass around his own double team. Hunter’s positioning on the floor gives him a shorter pass to his open teammates.
Since Indiana prides itself on guarding the basket, the defender under the rim steps up to guard Hunter. Furthermore, the help defense rotates to guard Moussa who is posting up at the rim. Hunter does a quick progression when reading the defense. Looking at spot number 1, Moussa has the size advantage but the defender locks his arms around Moussa making it a risky pass. Hunter sees Terrance Williams across the court and throws a beautiful pass to his shooter. Terrance hits the open three, and Hunter adds another assist on the day.