The last couple of weeks I watched a ton of basketball and there were two things that really called my attention in watching Kentucky’s National Championship run and watching Panathinaikos defeat Macabbi in an incredible playoff series:

1. These two teams are championship caliber because of their defense

2. On offense they keep it really simple, PAO with the pick and roll and Kentucky with the dribble handoff

Let’s take a closer look at Kentucky and the dribble handoff

Here are (my) keys to why this was so effective for Kentucky:

1. Bigs that are a threat off the dribble
2. Great Cuts by the guy coming to get the ball
3. Variety in who comes to get the handoff (passer loops, guy recieves a down screen first, etc) and using it as a decoy to set up other things
4. Playing it on both sides of the court, they did a great job of sometimes playing direct on the first side of the court and other times playing it on the help side of the floor
5. Never forgetting to react to the defense, they were always looking to attack and never robotic in their movements