A film-breakdown by Ethan Khoza analyzing Johnny Juzang's March Madness performance for UCLA. The video argues Juzang was the tournament's most impressive scoring run, describing his mix of off-ball screen scoring (pin-downs/cross screens), catch-and-shoot ability, isolation moves (triple-threat, high overhead sweep, floaters), elite finishing (high % around the rim, two-foot finishes), and strong instincts/feel for the game. The host offers coaching takeaways about practicing two-foot finishes and developing instincts through live play.
Questions this video answers
April 7, 2021.
Nearly 23 points per game.
Over 50% shooting.
66% in the mid-range.
73% around the basket.
Chapters
The UCLA Bruins made a historic Final.
Four run this year.
And the most incredible part of this run is the absolutely electric performance put.
On by Johnny Juzang. Zuzang averaged nearly 23 points per game on over 50% shooting while making some incredibly difficult shots. It was truly witnessing a player will his team offensively to wins and it nearly took UCLA to a national championship game. From my perspective, Juzen's had the most impressive March Madness run that I've seen in a long time.
And in this video we're going to break down his game and see exactly.
Why he's such a great score and what you can take from his game and add to yours. Let's get into it.
Between isolation and off ball screens, Juzen had a pretty unique mix of scoring during the NCAA tournament. As is the case with all of today's great players, the number one aspect of Juzang's game that makes him so difficult to stop is that he's just straight up a shot maker. His ability to knock down shots from the outside puts a tremendous amount of pressure on on the entire defense, which opens up much more for him to do off the dribble as well. But it all starts with his ability to catch and shoot, both from three from the deep mid range. And as we'll see coming off of pin downs. This was a big possession down the stretch for UCLA and Jalen Suggs made a huge mistake by turning and going to help on that post touch which then left Juzang open and again he's able to make the defense pay with his shooting ability. Now, as we looked at earlier, a large part of Johnny Juzang's scoring during the tournament was coming off of off ball screens. UCLA loves to run him off of pin downs and cross screens and it's partially to create looks for him, but it's also a lot of times because he's being faceguarded or he's the defense's number one priority. And not only is he incredibly smart reading those screens and determining what the best course of action will be to get himself an opportunity to score, his teammates are also very, very good at setting those screens and making sure that they hit the defender to create a bit of separation for Juzang, this clip right here is the perfect example of this.
Jalen Suggs is over the top face guarding Juzang the whole entire time, but he continues to be active. He's eventually able to set up Suggs with a pin down. That leads to him coming tight off that curl and then getting fouled and getting a trip to the free throw line.
And this is the dilemma that teams.
Are facing trying to guard Juzang. So you can see in these two clips right here, they try and switch up and severely overplay to try and take away the ability for that defender to get hit by that screen. And Ju Zeng still able to get fouled and go shoot free throws. They also love to set screens for him as well. Out of these short inbound situations. I think that the ability to use off ball screens seems so simple, so a lot of players overlook it. But if you want to be able to manufacture scoring, this is the way to go.
Juzang is a true three level scorer. You could probably even call him a four level scorer with the ability to finish at the rim and hit the floater as well. Which is a big reason why he's such a great isolation player. He shot an incredible 66% in the mid range during the NCAA tournament. Even though the major majority of shots that he took were very, very difficult contested shots. He's got the ability to take guys into the post and at 6 foot 6 is able to turn, elevate and shoot the ball over them. This was also a big time shot he hit out of post up right here. And while I'm sure he practices this kind of shot, this is the type of reading decision you make when you have a lot of one on one experience under your belt. And one of his go to's in isolation against Jalen Suggs was his high overhead sweep which allows him to get the ball protected and almost give a jab step look. And at that point the defender has to make a decision. Either he's not going to move and Juzan can just continue to rip through and drive baseline as it did in this first clip, or if that defender does jump to try and cut off that potential drive to the right side, he can rip through and go back to the left. Now I want you guys to think for a minute, watch these two plays and tell me how play number one set up play number two, once you know, drop a comment and let me know. And ultimately his elite ability as an isolation player comes from his understanding of how to use a triple threat, how to read his defender and the help defender and how to get to his spots for the shots that he wants. He also went to the float pull up as one of his go to's when he needed to get a shot off. And he did this for a couple of reasons. First of all, the float or the lift or the hang is a great way to sell the drive to keep that defender on their heels and not ready to contest a shot. He also likes to do this going to his right side which is much less natural shot for a right handed shooter which again helps to catch that defender off guard with his hands down. At the end of the day, what makes him great as an isolation scorer is that if you have your hands down or even if you're just late getting your hands up, he's going to take the shot and he's likely going to score on you. Foreign the last area we need to talk about when it comes to Johnny Juzang scoring is his finishing. He finished at an incredible 73 around the basket and one of the craziest things that I realized when I was going through and looking at his stats is that every single finish that he had during March Madness came off of two feet. Yes, every single finish that he had was a two foot finish. Juzang ended up being in the top three amongst guards throughout the entire NCAA tournament when it came to field goal percentage around the baske and I don't think it's a coincidence that every single finish that he made was off of two feet. While he does have good size, he's a good athlete, not a great athlete, so he's not able to just go rise up over everybody around the basket. So he has to be smart, he has to be on balance and powerful on his finishes and finishing off of two feet allows him to do that. Like I said, two foot finishing allows him to be more powerful around the basket and more under control, which not only leads to finish finishing at a higher percentage but also drawing more fouls. This is something that I've been stressing to my players that I train in person and I'm going to link a video above that goes even more in depth into two foot finishing and why it's so important. Now of course, the physical skills we've talked about so far, shooting, being able to use pin downs and cross screens, being able to finish effectively off of two feet, and the physical ability to play out of the triple threat are all step number one to becoming a high level scorer. But the true separator comes down to instincts and a feel for the game. Basketball is such a feeling sport, meaning that it's not always black and white or cut and dry. What the right decision to make is, what the right move is, what the right situation to do something is. It ultimately comes down to how you feel and at the end of the day, what makes Johnny Juzing such an incredible player isn't his ability to shoot the basketball. It's not his ability to attack off the dribble or play off of off ball screens or finish off the two feet effectively. While those all are a major part, obviously what really makes him a great player is his feel for the game and the instinctual way that he plays. No matter how people defended him throughout the tournament, he found ways to score, he found ways to be effective, and even when he was in situations where it might not have been a high percentage, look, he was able to figure out a way to get it done and put the ball in the basket. And as important as drills are, that's not where you develop those instincts. You develop those instincts throughout playing. So the message I'll leave you guys with is that you want to make sure that you're playing basketball as much as possible. One on one, two on two, pick up, five on five, whatever it may be. That's where you develop that ability to have that feel for the game and to play with those instincts. And that's where you really start to make those connections and where those physical abilities are going to start to take off for you. I'll link another video above that goes even more in depth into developing instincts if you guys are interested in that. If you guys enjoy this video, make sure you drop a like and subscribe and drop a comment. Let me know what you think. I'll talk to you guys soon. Peace.
