‘24–25 New York Knicks | Gut Chicago
Counters/Variations: Gut Chicago Stack, Keep
Meaning of name: “Gut” refers to the area of the court in which the off-ball player (soon to be ball handler) cuts to the ball. In the above diagram, 1 receives an “Away screen” to cut to the middle of the paint/above restricted area to come back to the ball.
Typically the big sets an away screen for 1 to get an on-ball touch and they run a PnR. Even though the Knicks intentionally have Jalen Brunson/Mikal Bridges reject the screen to run the play, rejecting it is an option if he cannot get over the screen/top-locked.
The term ‘Chicago’ or ‘Zoom’ refers to a pin-down screen set by 2, followed by a dribble handoff (DHO) from 5.
Why run the action?: Gut Chicago works like any Chicago action. It provides the cutting ball-handler multiple screens, putting the defense behind the ball if they play drop and creating mismatches in switching schemes.
Starting at the “gut” creates deception out of an Away screen. The eventual ball-handler’s defender relaxes after the offensive player rejects the action only to find themselves chasing.
Breakdown
Action typically begins with an Away screen + reject:
KAT catches it at the top of the key. Josh Hart sets pin-down:
Chicago action forces a switch:
Shot fake and drive on the smaller player:
Continued..
In the video above Brunson fakes a cross screen (a screen for a player to cut horizontally across the court towards the ball-handler) for Bridges before getting into the action. Hawks defender, Dyson Daniels, isn’t aware until it’s too late. The defense plays drop coverage on the handoff and Daniels ends up behind Brunson running into him as he shoots.
Other sets that incorporate the action + a counter:
Out of Chin (a back-screen for a player to cut from the weak-side slot to the basket) Double. They’ve also added Stack/Spain. In the video below the pin-down screener (Hart) sets the back-screen for the 5.
An article on the Knicks Chin Series is currently up
Gut Chicago Keep:
Whenever KAT gets the ball whether it be in Delay or at the Elbow he’s always a threat to score. Staying aggressive/not waiting for the play to develop if he sees a crack in the defense speaks to the chemistry/trust he’s built and the confidence in his scoring abilities. Nic Claxton tries to deny him the ball and overplays the toss back
Origin/Similar plays: Spanoulis action
Some people will refer to ‘Gut Chicago’ as Spanoulis action where a guard/wing cuts from under the rim towards the top of the key for a handoff. In my personal opinion they are not the exact same. In Spanoulis the guard/wing sometimes doesn’t receive a pin-down, or they may set a rip screen before the DHO. The term ‘Gut Chicago’ specifies the action.
JJ Redick talks about the Denver Nuggets’ use of Spanoulis:
Links to certain basketball vocabulary are embedded under the underlined words in all stories
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