Yoo Jae-Hak has an interesting offense playbook history. Over the years, his offense emulated where ever Jason Kidd landed and the offense where Kidd orchestrated, to the extent osf almost similar offensive patterns alongside some post isolation from the import (which is a KBL team staple). Yoo also happened to have Yang Dong-Geun over the years to facilitate his evolving offense.
He ran Byron Scott and Jason Kidd's high screen offense with Yang Dong Geun in the Ulsan championship in 2007. In the 2010 championship, Yoo emulated the Dallas Mavericks offense of Rick Carlisle and Jason Kidd / Dirk Nowitzki given the High Post Trail with the local version of Yang Dong-Geun and Ham Ji-Hoon alongside Aaron Haynes as a designated Caron Butler role that reads the high screen to cut in the wings and fold.
In the 2009 FIBA Asia, Yoo ran that same offensive pattern with the National team and Kim Min-Soo was his designated Nowitzki as Yang Dong Geun ran the offense. Kim thrived given those open looks in the baseline and the freedom to create via the triple threat. In the 2010 Asian games, Yoo ran Coach K's 2008 quick hitters given the 1-4 sparsing wherein Jason Kidd partly orchestrated that offense in the Beijing Olympics. To no one's surprise, Yang ran that with three designated shooters and atleast one post rebounder as a keeper for the quick 4-1 lane fill fast break that Coach K employed and it also happen to materialize with Yoo as the coach.
This season, Yoo Jae-Hak ran Mike Woodson's set with the New York Knicks and Jason Kidd. Yoo's first five of:
Curtis Withers / Rod Benson
Ham Ji-Hoon
Moon Tae-Young
Kim Si-Rae
Yang Dong-Geun
Is similar to Mike Woodson's unorthodox early starting lineup of:
Tyson Chandler
Kurt Thomas (Before he retired)
Carmelo Anthony
Raymond Felton
Jason Kidd
Consisting of two post players, two point guards and a talented wing in Anthony / Moon. The most striking patterns materialize with Ulsan this season as Yoo ran Woodson's sets of:
1-2-2 Ball reversal
Starts with Kidd / Felton setting it up in the high baseline with Anthony stepping forward as recipient where the wing navigates two low screens from Chandler and Thomas while the guard, depending on which defenders commit / trapped in the low key scramble will have an open shot as soon as that guard cuts clock work into the base opposite to be hit with a past from Anthony still stationary in the baseline.
Yoo ran a similar instance with Moon Tae-Young steps in from a pass made by Yang DG or Kim SR as Ham Ji-Hoon hops into the post to establish a post up recipient as a false action to be able to seal a converging lane where Curtis Withers sets a timed staggered screen for either Yang DG or Kim SR who does not have the ball, for a CnS position. They ran that play over and over again with the Sakers weak interior defense to get shot after shot.
Double Stagger Screen
Mike Woodson's favorite play for his off-guard where again, it starts at the high baseline with a wing player as recipient and as soon as the wing has the ball, post player in the paint sets an up-screen allowing another post player to curl around it and to be in line for a post up position with the wing upfront. Only for that post player to quickly move down low and sets a standard staggered screen for the other post player so that post player swipes past in the paint for an open shot. Woodson ran this with Kurt Thomas for open shots.
While in the KBL, Withers and Ham Ji-Hoon would execute this as they ran rings with slow and lumbering centers for those easy mid-range shots. Ham Ji-Hoon usually shot it as Withers with his frame, froze two defenders. In the playoffs, it was Benson and Ham that ran this against Seoul SK Knights.
1-4 Stack Zone Attack
Not used for Yang Dong-Geun but more effective utilization of Moon for a much higher percentage field goal attempt by attacking the zone via the interior. This one started materializing when Woodson started utilizing Carmelo Anthony as a PF where the latter would isolate face up in the elbows but Yoo did not emulate it all the way though, Yoo reverted back to Byron Scott's 1-4 corner ISO with the New Jersey Nets back when they had Keith Van Horn and Kenyon Martin. Kidd would create a distraction by ordering a high screen with a center and two wingers would move closer to the curve pockets and a lone post player moves back for a recipient in the elbows. Yoo did this with Ham Ji-Hoon and Moon Tae-Young against teams with teams that have weak interior defense like KCC, LG and Samsung.
As for the 2013 South Korean national team, Yang Dong-Geun is still expected to suit up as Yoo trusts Yang with religious following. I don't see Yoo trusting any point guard like Kim Sun-Hyung or Park Jae-Hyun to take command of the team. THis also adds gas to the fire where rumors has been floating around that Moon Tae-Young could be called up for the national team as a scorer primarily. Much like his brother Moon Tae-Jong in 2011 where the latter was brought up as a wing help fo defense, rebounding and scoring. With mobile bigmen in the pool, this may point to Yoo Jae-Hak rehashing his 2009-2010 offensive patterns or his 2012-13 playbook for the national team.
