Elite NBA three-point shooters like Ray Allen or Reggie Miller have beautiful, effortless shooting strokes. But it’s the few seconds before the catch and shot — the sprinting off screens, cutting through contact, picking and re-picking — that set them apart.

Marcus Holman is the same way, just in lacrosse.

Holman — third all-time with 345 goals — is one of the best goal scorers the sport has ever seen.

California Redwoods assistant coach Chris Collins described him as having “home run derby hands, hips and feet.” Like how a big home run hitter in the MLB can crush a ball with hips, shoulders and feet all moving together effortlessly, Holman is the same way with his body moving in unison to blow one past the goalie.

Holman’s smooth shooting stroke allows him to rack up goals in the Lexus Championship Series and summer season alike, but it’s the way Holman moves off-ball to get to his shooting spots that make him truly fearsome for defenses.

“He plays off-ball with the intensity and drive that most guys do with the ball in their stick,” Collins said of Holman.

In the Champ Series, his go-to off-ball action is in the two-man game on the righty wing with Asher Nolting and Ryan Drenner, in particular. A big part of their 2024 Champ Series success, the righty two-man game is borderline unstoppable when it's clicking.

They can score off a classic pick-and-roll with miscommunication between defenders.

If the defense rotates to the initial picker, then they can find the open man as the defense recovers.

If that initial pick-and-roll doesn’t work, Holman will continue to cut and find space, knowing Nolting will throw a pass on the ear.

Holman mentioned he and Nolting have a few designed looks they practice together, including this “get” action popularized in basketball. The “get” action is when the initial passer then works back to receive a handoff after looking like he’s going to set a pick. 

As you can see, it can cause confusion for the on-ball defenders. And even when the on-ball defenders guard it well, it can confuse off-ball defenders, resulting in a goal.

You may ask, "If they seemingly score every time off a pick game, just don’t let them run it, right?”

Not so easy.

My personal favorite pick-game action is the “fly by,” where Holman looks like he’s about to set a pick but then flies by Nolting toward the cage.

Sometimes this can catch the defender off-guard, resulting in a simple goal. In this clip, Holman draws the attention of both defenders and Nolting is left wide open.

“Just don’t let Holman pass the ball to Nolting initially, right?”

Also not a foolproof plan. If you press out on Nolting (or whoever the right wing player is), it leaves so much open space for Holman to operate in a one-on-one toward the net.

I said the two-man action with Holman and Nolting is borderline unstoppable, and not just because of all the variations they can use it in. It works because of the trust they have in each other.

“He’s such a great feeder, and I’m obviously able to move off the ball well at this point in my career,” Holman said. “That trust and chemistry, we both know that it’s special because that doesn’t always happen.”

So, going back to the question, what do you do as a defense?

Well… you've just got to do the best you can.

“They’re just really good,” Collins said. “The hope is you have your D personnel on the field.” 

Another coach lobbed the idea of sitting in a zone-type defense to try to contain Holman, Nolthing and Drenner on the right wing.

The problem with that, as this coach pointed out, is if you focus your attention on the right side of the field, Holman and Nolting can move it quickly Boston’s big-time lefty shooters in Matt Campbell and Chris Aslanian, who are two of the deadliest two-point shooters in the league.

In that sense, it’s a little bit of pick your poison. Perhaps a strategy we will see from teams is to defend the two-pointer. Campbell and Holman were tied for the Champ Series lead in two-pointers in 2024, while Drenner and Aslanian had two two-pointers apiece in the 2024 regular season. It’s no secret Boston has shooters, and with a team like that, defending the two-point arc and giving up a layup is absolutely a strategy. 

Whatever the solution is, if there is one, will make for one of the most entertaining battles throughout the Champ Series.