Basketball plays don't happen by accident. They're the product of inspiration, problem-solving, and sometimes just a doodle on a cocktail napkin.

In January, we asked the Memphis Grizzlies if they'd pull back the curtain. With their cooperation, we followed a single set through its design process with the staff, the way it was first explained to the players involved, its implementation, refinement, first use in a game, and a wrinkle that was added along the way.

STEP 1: Doodle in a meeting

Like a lot of us, Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger must attend meetings. A lot of them. He was in one -- something administrative that didn't capture his full attention -- when he found his mind wandering to the Washington Wizards' offense, and its clever misdirection and movement. Joerger's team has an offense built around two big men, and the movement can be lacking at times. Not to mention, his team had just traded for Jeff Green.

"Stealing" strategies is common practice in the NBA, where even an original thinker like Gregg Popovich admits he has borrowed plays from the Celtics' Brad Stevens, among others. Maybe Joerger's Memphis offense could benefit from a little dose of the Wizards.

STEP 2: Show the coaching staff the actual doodle

In a Jan. 21 coaches meeting, Joerger tells his staff he'd like to get more movement in the offense. He also wants to start Green -- he'll be in the starting lineup the next game against the Raptors -- and find new ways to integrate Green.

With that, Joerger introduces his new play "SLICE QUICK 3 OUT RUB," a new play the team will start the game with tonight.

STEP 3: Introduce the play to the team

At shootaround later the same day, Joerger and assistant Elston Turner walk the team through the new play and, to get them focused, tell the team it will be the first play run that night against the Raptors.

Guard Mike Conley explains the play: "Ever since [Joerger] said it's going to be the first play of the first quarter, I've been saying to myself, 'I have to get that play etched into my brain.' I'm thinking about all the options. I'm thinking about where I'll be able to score, who's going to be open, and how to time everything.

Mike Conley and the Grizzlies carried out the new play right away. Joe Murphy/NBAE/Getty Images

"We use misdirection. It swings from side to side, and you're putting your best players in a position to be successful. For example, Marc [Gasol] and I in the high pick-and-roll, but even before that, Jeff Green coming off the '3 out' -- which is him coming across the top -- it looks like we're going to Jeff. And we might, if he's in position to score one-on-one. Then, you have Marc and I in a pick-and-roll, which we love to do together. And, we can go to Zach [Randolph] in the duck-in spot. So we have everybody in a comfortable position to where I can make a play to any one of three guys and be successful."

Says Green: "I know my marks. It's a set that creates threats at every angle, especially with the players we have on the floor. It's a great play that allows everyone on the floor to do what they do. It creates a lot of confusion for the defense. There are so many options off that one play. The most important thing for me to do is run my position hard. And remember the play [laughs] -- that's the biggest part. But if we get to our spots quick and execute, the play will be effective."

STEP 4: Run the play for the first time

Sure enough, the Grizzlies open the game with the play. Off the jump, Conley deliberately gets the Grizzlies into their offense. Memphis goes through its options: A high, middle pick-and-roll with Conley and Gasol; Green coming across the top; Randolph as a last resort in the post.

The Raptors cover each action well, and they force Randolph into a long fadeaway jumper, which he hits. This is one of those cases where a team didn't exactly get a quality shot, but it scored anyway.

"The play you are referring to is a rather elaborate way of ultimately getting the ball into Zach Randolph on the right low block [where he really plays to his strengths]," says an NBA advance scout who was on site to scout the game for an Eastern Conference team. "This is tough to defend -- the defender on (Tony Allen) has to 'tag' Gasol on the roll and get back to his own man [Allen] and contest the shot/contain dribble penetration.

"You must not allow Gasol to have a 'naked roll.'

"Toronto did a good job of defending this play, which has an element of surprise to it -- with all of the initial and secondary movement the defense is not likely aware that the intended target is Zach Randolph.

"I am reminded of my history professor at UConn who -- when discussing an elaborate and perhaps brilliant [or not!] strategy often remarked, 'It's like a Rube Goldberg cartoon' during his lectures -- which is a good thing in this case: The Grizzlies are getting ball movement from side to side, player movement, a high pick-and-roll, and then a direct post-up for Randolph. Gasol is at the top of the key [so if Randolph is fronted they can reverse the ball to Marc and go high-low into Zach]."

STEP 5: Make tweaks to the play

ESPN Illustration

"We were able to play through option one, two and three," Conley says the following morning. "We were just going to read what they did, and they defended it as well as you could. They made us go to our last option, which was swing-swing-back-to-the-post. It's not the worst option to have. If the worst thing that happens is an unmolested post-up for Zach, you're doing OK."

STEP 6: Start on a new play