That LaMarcus pick and pop play...

[JerzeyReign]

I won't lie and say I know the Portland alignment off the top of my head but that shot is something fairly common in the Corner offense. The corner offense was something used heavily by Rick Adelman's Sacramento teams in the early 2000s. In NBA 2K its the sets that start with 'CNR'.

The CNR (for gaming sakes) is normally set in motion with the '1' passing the ball to the '3' on the wing. The '4' is at the strong side high post. After '1' passes the ball to the wing, he cuts immediately to the strong corner. The 3 then passes it to the high post and goes to set to a screen for 1 in the corner. The 1 comes up to receive a handoff from the 4 as 4 sets a rub screen.

Ok, thats the very basic description of this set. Everything else is just a read/variation to the play.

To get the LA pop action from that, after the 3 sets the screen in the corner he cuts baseline. When that happens after 4 sets his screen, he can pop as his man - especially if he's trying to help - may be drawn to help back door. If the pass isn't made to the baseline, the PnP action can take place and if the shot isn't immediately available LA is iso'd in his comfort zone.

This particular set is in NBA 2K but again, I'd be lying if I remembered what particular variation allowed for this action to take place. The key to understanding plays is to understand the entire scheme. Once you understand the scheme, you'll understand the plays. If everything I posted above - sorry for the randomness - confuses you, hopefully I gave enough information for you to google.

Edit:

So I just looked at some LA highlights and the play seems to have a variation of the Corner offense. LA loves the left side so the 'CNR formation' is setup on the right. Defense has to respect that because Portland likes to run a slip and pop out of it for a corner three. LA just gives a high screen with his back to the paint (so the handler can attack the paint) and pops.

I don't see anything that resembles that set at the moment in 2K but these plays could give you a similar result (looking at the play catalog so I'm not sure which team's playbook they're in):

Slice Fist Out
Spread 14 Fist Out
Spread 14 Fist Up

I see a couple more but these do a good job with isolating LA. When you come around the pick, attack the heck out of the hedge man - force your opponent to respect the ball handler so much they collapse on him.

Edit #2:

Use 24 Fist Out (Portland default book) is the play you want to run. Lillard will be the PnR ballhandler giving you the attacking threat you need to collapse the screener's defender. Opens up LA for an easy midrange jumper.

[acidfrehley]

Great info! Ill try those plays tomorrow.

I found another one that give me something similar to it to. Ill get the name tomorrow.

cheers