Dario Saric

Philadelphia 76ers Set of the Week: Elbow Chicago

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 5:45 p.m. ET

Fansided, Mike O'connor/FanSided via The Sixer Sense

Another valuable addition to Brett Brown’s playbook surfaced this past weekend.

Welcome back to another Philadelphia 76ers set of the week! Last week, we looked at “Elbow Duck Leak.” The Sixers have been avid users of Mike D’Antoni’s elbow series, and Brett Brown added another wrinkle in it during Sunday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets.

How it Works:

“Chicago” is coaching slang for a down screen into a dribble hand-off. Like most plays in their elbow series, the play will start with the point guard subtly disguising the set with a brief dribble exchange with one of the big men. He’ll send the pass to the Center at the elbow, and exit to the strong side corner. Now, the lane is clear and the “Chicago” action occurs. Dario Saric screens down for Robert Covington, and Jahlil Okafor prepares to give him the dribble hand-off. Covington hesitates initially because he thinks he is open for three, yet he is still able to get an open lane to the attack the backpedaling Luis Scola. We’ll ignore the botched layup.

Notice how in this action, all three defenders gravitate towards the player receiving the handoff. In this next example, Covington catches on and finds Ersan Ilyasova for a wide open three.

This time, they run it for Hollis Thompson, who misses the wide open Dario Saric.

Origin:

Unknown. We see “Chicago” action through all sorts of sets, but I don’t ever recall this being run with any of Mike D’Antoni’s teams through the Elbow Series.

The Verdict:

An excellent play, and a unique wrinkle in the Elbow Series. I continue to be amazed by Brett Brown’s ability to put his players in a position to succeed, while being remarkably disappointed in the team’s execution.

At times, it looks like Brett Brown started teaching the playbook an hour before tip-off. Regardless, expect this action to be run many times for the Sixers’ wings and Shooting Guards throughout the year.