Video breakdown: How Sam Hauser keeps getting open 3-pointers

Drive and kick. Drive and kick. Drive and kick.

There's not much to break down with these shots. Hauser in on a team full of guys who can get into the paint, and paint touches get everyone's attention. Hauser does a good job of being in the right spot for the kick out. All of these looks are easy, it's just a matter of him making the shot. 

Also, shout out to Payton Pritchard here for making a lot of that happen.

IN TRANSITION

You can see what he means by "running behind a guy in transition for them to flip it back."

Transition is a great way to get in-rhythm 3-pointers because the defense is running back looking for their own guys, causing confusion. Hauser doesn't need much space, and if he recognizes a cross-match that works for him, this kind of play is perfect. 

In that first clip, you can see Hauser check back twice to see Ayo Dosunmu still on the floor, so immediately there's a five-on-four advantage. That advantage also happens to be a wing defender. That's important because the only person in front of Hauser is Nikola Vucevic, and he's running to get Luke Kornet. There's a window of opportunity that both he and Derrick White recognize. Hauser pulls up out of Coby White's reach, White brushes Alex Caruso so he can't challenge, and it's money. 

Side note: If Hauser decided he wanted to upfake, he could have and he would have had a big driving lane down the right side that would have drawn Vucevic. That would have ended up with an alley-oop to Kornet, so that was going to be a spectacular finish no matter what. 

The second clip is just flying to a wide open spot for an easy shot. The third is a nice change of direction against a retreating defense that flows into a dribble handoff with Jrue Holiday.

Everything you're seeing here is about recognition of what's happening on the floor, making the right read, and punishing the other team for doing what they're doing. 

A player down and running up the back of a big? Change direction, get behind the ball handler, and get a pitch-back. 

Star player with a head of steam up the middle of the floor? Get off to the side, out of the reach of an overreacting defender. 

Defense casually jogging backwards? Change direction and get behind a screen for a clean look. 

OFF OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS

Think of offensive rebounds as half-court transition, because the concepts are the same. The defense is pulled out of position because they want to become the offense now. Most guys have lost sight of their guys as they turned to look at the ball. There are opportunities here to move into open spots and get good shots. 

Movement is a shooter's best friend, and it's one of Hauser's biggest leaps this season. You'll see more in a bit, but Hauser is more than a spot-up shooter. Any shooter who can read what's happening, move, and find open pockets to shoot is going to be lethal. 

Now let's get into some next-level stuff. 

OFF RELOCATIONS, WITH A SCREEN FROM A BIG

The concept here is simple: Hauser starts in the opposite corner while the big starts up high. When the ball finds from the opposite sideline to the hashmark or the middle of the floor, Hauser comes up to the break/hashmark area, gets a screen from his big man, and it's an open look.

They're not running this against switches. This is punishing drop coverage where the players are sticking to their guys.

This can be a set, or a read. In the second clip, Pritchard is trying to go baseline, but when he turns back up the sideline, you can see Xavier Tillman call for the pass to Hauser.  In the third clip, you can see Pritchard tell Oshae Brissett to set the screen. In each play, the big screens Hauser's man because there won't be a switch (unless it's called for late when the defense recognizes what's happening). From there, it's up to Hauser. Make or miss league and whatnot. 

SCREEN THE SCREENER

Now we're having some FUN. 

Screen the screener is a common play run at all levels of basketball, but when it's run well, it can be very effective. The Celtics run a lot of variations of this concept for a lot of guys. 

The whole play is designed to get a shot for a guy who is initially setting a screen ... hence, "screen the screener." Hauser sets a screen for a player, which serves as a misdirection to occupy the defense. Then someone sets a screen on Hauser's guy, and he springs open. 

So in the first clip, Hauser sets a cross-screen for Jayson Tatum. Tatum tosses his guy to the right (illegally? I didn't see nuthin') which forces Hauser's guy to chip at Tatum because the ball is in Al Horford's hands at the right hashmark. The play looks like it's for a Tatum post-up because that's the kind of screen Boston uses a ton to get Tatum in that spot. 

But alas, 'tis a ruse! 

Hauser breaks up to the top, gets a screen from Brissett, and it's an easy catch-and-shoot going to Hauser's right. Catch-and-shoot shots off the curl like that are much easier for a righty going to his right than coming off the other side. If the Clippers were to run this for James Harden, the ball would be at the left hashmark and Harden would curl in the opposite direction. 

They run a condensed version of the play in the second clip, but it's the same idea. Hauser screens for Pritchard, Kornet screens for Hauser, open shot behind that second screen. 

Any time you see Hauser setting a screen, watch for him to pop free for a shot. Like this: 

SPAIN PICK AND ROLL

I've highlighted the Spain pick-and-roll before, but the idea is that you're adding a second screen for the rolling big to a standard pick-and-roll. That second screener is usually a shooter, and the confusion created by freeing up a big man around the rim creates enough chaos for the screening shooter to pop free and get a good look. And that's what happened in this play. 

ON THE MOVE, OFF THE DRIBBLE

The Celtics run a TON of cross-screen action. Normally, when the ball goes into Kornet like this, White would screen for Hauser and the ball would skip over to the right side for a shot. But Hauser fakes out Evan Fournier and instead runs a dribble handoff with Kornet. But the wrinkle here is that he take the extra dribble to get space.

Hauser's evolution as an on-the-move, off-the-dribble threat is an important part of his development. 

OFF SET PLAYS

Things like screen-the-screener and Spain pick-and-roll are set plays, but I wanted to highlight Hauser as the screener as its own section. Joe Mazzulla has other sets that can get Hauser looks.

When Hauser screens have sprung guys free a few times, they can run ghost screen actions for him to get him a little space. Again, all of these plays are run for multiple players, so it's not something specifically designed for Hauser, it's something they can go to for a lot of shooters on the team depending on how the defense has been playing, who is on the floor, etc. 

The ghost screen is a fake screen. Watch for it whenever the defense is blitzing Tatum pick-and-rolls, because defense thinks the screen is coming and they start to double. But instead, Hauser peels of and gets to an open spot for a 3-pointer. 

Also, watch Holiday occupy his guy to make sure there's no help coming. 

And I have to note Hauser's elite footwork. It's very easy for a righty shooter to fade left there, but he's perfectly balanced and stepping into his shot. You might think it's easy, but that's basically choreography. That's incredible footwork, which shows how much work he has put into his craft. 

I think this last play is fun: 

Horford gets the ball at the right elbow. Tatum is in the left corner, and White is going down to set a pick for him. Hauser is behind Horford, seemingly not a threat because things are so bunched up. The play clearly looks like it's for Tatum to come up and get the ball. 

NOPE.

Horford pivots into a DHO with Hauser and it's a clean look for 3. 

As a bonus, watch Tatum fake a cut just to occupy Caruso so he doesn't sniff out the misdirection and challenge the shot. These are tiny details, but each little detail adds a little extra to ensure the good look. I love this play because the whole thing is a big fakeout and it worked perfectly. 

"The guys have done a better job of understanding how to use him as a weapon," Mazzulla said after the Bulls game. "He has an innate ability to balance the floor with spacing, but also create indecision. So we don't run a ton of plays for him, but the guys have really learned how to use him as a weapon."