AJ Griffin has therefore scored his second “buzzer beater” of the season. For a rookie, it’s very rare, especially since his basket against the Bulls was extremely difficult to succeed.
There is indeed only half a second left on the clock and Chicago leads by one point (122-121). It is in these conditions very complicated to get a good shot on a throw-in but Joe Prunty, Nate McMillan’s assistant in charge of Atlanta’s offensive animation, will design the system that will make the difference.
The goal is to empty the racket, using the movements of Trae Young and AJ Griffin. To pretend that the ball is for one of the two shooters, while the rookie is actually going back into the paint…
Moreover, the about-face of AJ Griffin surprises his defender, Derrick Jones Jr, but the latter is not that far away. The rookie is forced to register an extremely complicated shot, where he receives the ball in the air and shoots while turning around. Even if he’s not too far from the basket, it’s still a difficult action to do in such a short time.
But the craziest thing is that Gibson Pyper pointed out on Twitter that Joe Prunty had already used the same system against the Bulls. That was seven years ago, when he was an assistant to Jason Kidd at the Bucks…
The principle was the same, with a desire to empty the racket of defenders, and Jerryd Bayless who trapped Derrick Rose by going out and then coming back into the paint.
