After struggling on the road to start ACC play, the Virginia basketball team came through with a strong effort in Atlanta as UVA topped Georgia Tech on Saturday. It marked the 5th straight victory at McCamish Pavilion. The Double Bonus returns for a closer look.

Simple Virginia Set

While the Hoos run a handful of base offenses – ‘Sides’ Blocker-Mover motion, modified ‘Sides’, 3-man motion, and spread ball screens the most frequently – there are times when they mix in a quick-hitter entry for a possession. The most well known of those plays include the ‘follow the leader’ screen set discussed in this recent Double Bonus and the ‘box split’ elevator look (both of those appeared in this game too).

Early in the second half, though, Virginia pulled out a super simple entry that actually produced a wide open 3-pointer for Isaac McKneely. Given how he was shooting on Saturday, that led to 3 points. The concept came early in the second half.

In this clip, Reece Beekman brings the ball across halfcourt where McKneely already has aligned to set an on-ball screen. The Hoos rarely set a guard-to-guard on-ball screen and they almost never do it at the start of a possession. The idea here seems to be to bait a switch or to create a little bit of confusion. That works because Tech’s Miles Kelly signals a late switch to Tafara Gapare. That puts Gapare a step behind McKneely, who separates from his screen to run off the typical flare screen at the top of the ‘Sides’ motion scheme. Gapare causes more trouble for himself when he momentarily considers going under the Ryan Dunn screen before seeming to realize ‘oh wait, that’s the shooter!’

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