One of the most popular offensive alignments is the 1-4. In the 1-4, the point guard begins with the ball beyond the top of the key. The other 4 teammates stand in a straight line about 10 feet from and parallel to the baseline. Numerous movements with these 4 players to open them up have been invented through the years. My favorite is the classic Carolina “44-P.”The 44-P came as an attack extension out of the 4-corners, and was used throughout the Smith regime as an excellent way to cap off a possession intended to burn time off the clock. In this play, the two big men are the two middle positions of the 4-man line. The point guard simply penetrates at a specified time. As soon as his penetration begins, the two big men swap places. Defenses usually will lose one of the big men while their perimeter players will usually collapse inward to help against the penetrating point guard. The PG has 6 options:

1) Penetrate for the layup (King Rice loved this)
2) Stop and Pop (Kenny Smith was the best at this)
3) Pass into big man #5 (Phelps to Montross)
4) Pass into big man #4 (Good if defense forces PG down left side of lane)
5) Pass out to open wing #2
6) Pass out to open wing #3

Options 5 and 6 usually result in a pass to the strong side wing (ie. penetration on the right side yields a pass out to the right wing). Option 3 was Eric Montross’ favorite, where he was unstoppable. Kenny Smith perfected option 2, the most difficult option. This option only works if the PG goes full steam into the lane, abruptly stops, keeps balance, and gets an accurate shot off. This is virtually impossible to defend because it is a surprise move. If the PG gets by his defender, like King Rice repeatedly did to Virginia’s John Crotty, he can go to the basket. Jeff McInnis was also good with this option, as he was good with altering his shot while driving.

But that’s enough history! Raymond Felton’s talents are perfect for this play. Coach Matt Doherty seems to have recognized this, but the team is not setting the play up properly. Coach Doherty has the 4-man alignment set much too close to the baseline, pinching the big men from a good shot, and severely jeopardizing the wing pass options.

The big men must be aligned far enough away from the basket that they have an option to go left or right to the basket. The current alignment forces the big men to the middle should they get the ball. While I previously mentioned that the 4-man alignment is usually a straight line, this play works better if the wing men are actually farther upcourt than the big men.

Figure 1

Figure 1 shows Derrick Phelps in 1993 penetrating against Cincinnati in the regional finals. Notice that the big men are properly positioned on the lane blocks while the wing men are roughly even with the free throw line. Figure 1 shows a point just before the big men, George Lynch and Eric Montross, swap places. Should Phelps pass into Montross (after the switch), the strong side big man, Montross could roll toward the middle or the baseline and still have room for an accurate shot. Should Phelps pass out to Donald Williams on the strong side wing, the angle of the pass would be such that Williams’ defender would have a difficult time stealing the pass. Also notice here that Derrick Phelps has already gotten by future NBA star Nick Van Exel. With Raymond Felton’s footspeed being faster than Phelps’, it is easy to see how the 44-P is a perfect weapon for the 2003 Heels to break down a defense.

Figure 2

Figure 2 shows another example of the 1-4 alignment in the 1993 National Championship game (note: near-side wing Donald Williams is on his way to being in position.) Just after beginning his penetration move, the penetrator (Brian Reese) sees the defense collapse to help out. Figure 3 shows just how open Derrick Phelps is on the far wing. (Note: Reese and Phelps swapped positions for this possession so as to take advantage of a mismatch and Phelps’ shooting ability). Notice how easy the pass out to the wing is when it only has to be made directly outside from the free throw line. If Phelps were closer to the corner (downcourt), his defender would have a much easier time stealing the pass from the penetrating Reese.

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 4 shows the 2003 team aligned in the game versus Clemson. Notice how the 4-men are no more than 5 feet from the baseline. The pass to the perimeter is extremely easy to defend, and the option of turning toward the baseline for Jawad Williams (near side) would put him out of bounds. Figure 5 shows how (four seconds later) we see that Felton passed to Rashad McCants in the near corner. Notice how close the Clemson player was to stealing the pass, and notice how McCants’ only option is to shoot. If McCants were 15 feet from the baseline he would have numerous passing, penetrating, and shooting options.

Figure 5

The 44-P play is an excellent play for excellent point guards. UNC has one of its best point guards ever, and needs to improve its execution to easily take advantage of this raw talent.

The animated version of this play shows all of the point guard’s options, except for the lay up.