3.5: Off-Ball Screens I: The Screen Types

Chapter 3: Offense

Pin-down, flare, back screen, rip, cross screen, stagger: the six shapes a screen away from the ball can take, and the four reads a cutter makes off any of them.

New terms introduced (8): Back screen, Chin, Cross screen, Double screen, Flare screen, Pin-down, Rip screen, Stagger. Diagrams: 8.

A ball screen frees the player who already has the ball. An off-ball screen frees the player who is about to get it, and that is a different problem, because the defense is not watching him. A defender guarding a player without the ball stands between his man and the ball, with his head turned to see both, and everything about an off-ball screen is designed around where that defender is looking. A screen he can see coming, he can avoid. A screen set on his blind side, or set while he is turned toward the ball, he cannot.

The six screens in this lecture are the shapes. What distinguishes them is the direction the screen faces and the direction the cutter goes: up toward the perimeter, away along the arc, back toward the rim, across the lane. The named actions of lecture 3.6 are built by combining two or three of these; this lecture is the parts list. Section 1 is the pin-down and the four reads a cutter makes off it, which are the same four reads off every screen here. Section 2 is the flare screen, for a defender who cheats toward the ball. Section 3 is the back screen and the rip screen, both set behind a defender who is watching the ball. Section 4 is the cross screen, the big man’s screen. Section 5 is the stagger, two screens for one cutter. Section 6 is two names built from these parts: the double screen, two screeners side by side, and the chin, a back screen at the weak-side elbow.

1 The pin-down, and the four reads

The pin-down is the most common off-ball screen in the sport, and the one every shooter learns first. A shooter starts near the baseline, usually on the block or in the corner. A screener stands above him, facing the baseline, and the shooter runs up off the screen to the wing or the slot for a catch, as in Figure 1. It is also called a down screen, because the screener has come down toward the baseline to set it.

Figure 1: The pin-down. The screener faces the baseline; the shooter starts near the block and runs up off the screen to the wing. His defender, who was between him and the perimeter, has to go around the screen to follow him.

What makes the pin-down teachable is that the cutter has the same four choices off it that he has off every off-ball screen, and the choice is decided by what his defender does:

Curl. The defender chases the cutter over the top of the screen, right behind him. The cutter curls the screen, turning it into a cut toward the rim, and the defender is trailing.
Fade. The defender goes under the screen, between the screener and the rim, to meet the cutter at the wing. The cutter fades the other way, away from the ball toward the corner, and the defender has gone the wrong side of the screen.
Straight cut. The defender is caught on the screen. The cutter comes straight up to the wing and shoots.
Back cut. The defender anticipates and jumps above the screen to deny the catch at the wing. The cutter reverses and goes back door to the rim behind him, the back cut of lecture 3.7.

Setup: The shooter on the block or in the corner, his defender between him and the perimeter. The screener above him, facing the baseline. The ball on the other side of the floor or at the top, in the hands of a passer who can see the wing.
Trigger: The screener sets his feet. The shooter waits until the screen is set, then runs; a cutter who leaves early runs past his own screen.
Read: The shooter reads his defender against the screen: chasing over, curl; going under, fade; caught, straight cut and shoot; jumping above, back cut. The passer reads the same thing one beat later and delivers the ball to the spot the read chose.
Payoff: A shooter catching on the perimeter with his defender behind the screen, or a layup for the cutter who curled or back cut.
Beaten by: Top-locking the shooter: his defender stands above him, between him and the screen, and refuses to let him get to it, conceding the back cut to take away the shot. Taught in lecture 4.4. The other answer is to switch the screen, lecture 4.5.

Action 1: The pin-down: the screen a shooter learns first, and the four reads he makes off every screen after it.

One name heard for a version of the pin-down has no entry of its own on this site. A wide pin-down is set in the corner or the short corner for a cutter who starts in the corner, so the cut is longer and the catch is at the wing. Two more names are built from the screens in this lecture and have entries in Section 6: the double screen, two screeners shoulder to shoulder, which is the stagger of Section 5 with the screeners side by side instead of one behind the other; and the chin, a back screen at the weak-side elbow.

2 The flare screen

The flare screen is for the defender who cheats toward the ball. A perimeter player is standing at the top or the slot, and his defender, watching the ball on the wing, has drifted a step toward it. A screener steps into the path the defender would take to follow his man away from the ball, and the man fades along the arc to the far wing, as in Figure 2. The pass is a skip pass over the top. The flare is the pin-down turned ninety degrees: the cutter goes sideways along the arc rather than up from the baseline, and the screen is set on the side of the defender that faces away from the ball.

The ball is at the right wing with 1, whose defender is below him and toward the middle. A shooter, 2, is at the top of the key. His defender, x2, is below him and a step toward the ball, labeled cheating to the ball. A big, 4, stands on x2's other side, away from the ball, with a bar between them: the screen. 2 fades away from the ball, just outside the arc and along it, to the left wing, labeled fade, and the dashed skip pass goes across the floor from the right wing to the spot just below where he arrives. 4's defender, x4, is on 4's left and a little below him, under 2's fade. 3 is in the left corner and 5 is low on the right, each with a defender. — Figure 2: The flare screen. The defender at the top has cheated toward the ball. The screener steps into the path he would take to follow his man, and the man fades along the arc to the far wing for a skip pass.

Setup: The ball on one wing. A shooter at the top or the far slot whose defender is shading toward the ball. A screener, usually a big, at the elbow or the slot on the shooter’s far side.
Trigger: The shooter’s defender takes his step toward the ball, or turns his head to it.
Read: The screener steps into the defender’s recovery path and the shooter fades away from the ball. The passer on the wing reads the defender: caught on the flare, skip the ball to the shooter; going under the flare toward the rim, the shooter lifts higher along the arc for the same pass; switched, the screener has a smaller defender at the elbow and seals him for an entry.
Payoff: An open three on the weak side, thrown over a defense that was leaning the other way.
Beaten by: A defender who stays on the line between his man and the ball and never cheats, which costs the defense its help on the drive; or a switch. Lecture 4.4 and lecture 4.5.

Action 2: The flare screen: the cutter goes away from the ball, and the defender who leaned toward it is screened.

3 The back screen and the rip

The back screen is set where the defender cannot see it. A defender guarding a player away from the ball stands between him and the ball, facing the ball. The screener comes up behind that defender and sets the screen on his back, and the man he is guarding cuts to the rim, as in Figure 3. The defender learns about the screen when he tries to follow his man and cannot. The pass is a lob or a bounce pass to the block. The UCLA cut of lecture 3.7 is a back screen set at the elbow; the Spain pick-and-roll of lecture 3.4 is a back screen set on the roller’s defender.

1 has the ball on the right wing, his defender x1 below him. 3 is at the left slot, and his defender, x3, stands a step from him toward the ball. 5 stands just below x3, on the basket side, with a screen bar between them, labeled on his back. 3 cuts straight down past the left end of the bar toward the rim, labeled to the rim, and his cut ends beside the left block, where the dashed pass from 1 meets him. 5's defender, x5, is just below the free-throw line. 2 and 4 are in the corners, each with a defender. — Figure 3: The back screen. The defender at the slot is facing the ball. The screener sets the screen on his back, and the slot player cuts to the rim. The pass is a lob or a bounce pass to the block.

Setup: The ball on one wing. A player at the far slot or the top, his defender between him and the ball with his back to the elbow. A screener at the elbow or the free-throw line behind that defender.
Trigger: The defender turns his head to the ball.
Read: The screener sets his feet on the defender’s back. The cutter goes to the rim on the side away from the screen. The passer reads the defender: screened, the lob; slipped under to the rim, the cutter pops out to the arc where the defender was, for a three; switched, the screener has the smaller defender and seals for a post catch.
Payoff: A cutter at the rim with his defender behind a screen he did not see.
Beaten by: The defender feeling the screen coming and going under it toward the rim early, conceding the pop; or a defense that switches every back screen, so the big’s defender takes the cutter and the guard’s defender takes the big. Lecture 4.5.

Action 3: The back screen: set on a defender’s back while he is watching the ball.

The rip screen is a back screen with a particular cutter: the player who has just set a screen himself. A big sets a pin-down or a ball screen; his defender is now above him toward the ball, having helped on the cutter; a second player comes across and back-screens that defender, and the big rips to the rim, as in Figure 4. It is the simplest form of screening the screener, and it works because a defender who has just helped on a screen is standing exactly where a back screen wants him.

The ball is at the top with 1, whose defender is a step below him and to his left. The big, 5, stands at the right elbow, having just set a down screen, and his defender, x5, is above him and to his left, toward the ball. 4 comes from the left block across the lane and sets a back screen under x5, drawn as a bar between the end of 4's cut and x5, with the label back screen just to the right of the bar's end. 5 rips down the right side of the lane to the rim, labeled rip, and the dashed pass comes from the top to meet him. 4's defender, x4, stands above the left block, clear of 4's cut; 3 is on the left wing and 2 in the right corner, each with a defender. — Figure 4: The rip screen. The big at the elbow has just set a down screen and his defender is above him toward the ball. A second player comes across the lane and back-screens that defender; the big rips to the rim.

Setup: A big who has just set a screen at the elbow or the wing, with his defender above him toward the ball. A second attacker on the far block, ready to come across.
Trigger: The big’s defender helps on the first cutter and is a step above the big.
Read: The second attacker screens the big’s defender from behind. The big cuts to the rim. The passer reads the big’s defender: screened, the pass to the rim; recovering under, the big seals him and the pass is a post entry; the rip screener’s defender switching to the big, the rip screener himself is open where he set the screen.
Payoff: A big at the rim whose defender was screened while he was doing his job on the first screen.
Beaten by: The big’s defender never leaving the big to help on the first screen, which is what the drop coverage of lecture 4.3 buys; or a switch. Lecture 4.5.

Action 4: The rip screen: a back screen for the man who just screened.

4 The cross screen

The cross screen is set across the lane, block to block, and it is the screen that gets a big man a post catch. Two bigs are on the two blocks; one comes across and screens the other’s defender; the other cuts across the lane to the ball-side block, seals his man, and catches the entry pass, as in Figure 5. The ball usually arrives by reversal: it is on the far wing when the screen is set and comes to the near wing as the cutter arrives. Because the screen is set low, the cutter’s defender has to choose between going over it, which puts him behind the cutter, and going under it, which puts him under the rim and out of the passing lane.

The ball is at the left wing with 1. Two bigs are low: 5 at the right block with his defender, x5, above him on his lane side, and 4 just outside the left lane line with his defender, x4, below him inside the lane. 4 comes across the lane, labeled across the lane, and screens x5, drawn as a bar between the end of 4's cut and x5. 5 cuts under it, across the lane to the left block, where the dashed entry pass from 1 on the left wing meets him, labeled post catch. 2 is at the top and 3 in the right corner, each with a defender. — Figure 5: The cross screen. One big comes across the lane and screens the other’s defender; the other cuts block to block, seals, and catches the entry pass as the ball arrives on the near wing.

Setup: Two bigs on the two blocks. The ball on the far wing, about to be reversed toward the cutter’s destination.
Trigger: The reversal pass leaves the far wing.
Read: The screener crosses the lane and sets the screen on the cutter’s defender; the cutter comes across and seals. The passer on the near wing reads the defender: over the top and behind the cutter, feed the post; under the screen, the cutter steps to the elbow for a face-up catch; switched, the screener now has the smaller defender on the far block and the pass goes to him instead, which is the screen-the-screener idea again.
Payoff: A post catch on the block for a big who has his defender sealed on his back.
Beaten by: The cutter’s defender going over the top and getting to the block first, then fronting the post; or a low man who bumps the cutter as he crosses the lane. Lecture 4.4.

Action 5: The cross screen: block to block, across the lane, for a post catch.

5 The stagger

The stagger is two screens in a row in the same direction for one cutter, as in Figure 6. Two screeners stand one above the other along the cutter’s path, and the cutter runs off both. The defender has to get around two bodies rather than one, and if he chooses the wrong side of the first screen he is on the wrong side of the second. The stagger is the base of most of the named off-ball actions in lecture 3.6: the floppy is a single screen one way and a stagger the other, the loop is a stagger along the baseline.

1 has the ball on the right wing, his defender x1 inside him. 2 starts in the left corner, his defender x2 beside him toward the lane. Two screeners, 4 and then 5 about seven feet higher, stand in a line just to the lane side of 2's path between the corner and the left slot. Each has a short screen bar beside the path, square to it, on the side toward the corner, and each screener's defender stands beside him toward the lane. The labels first and second sit just below the lower end of each bar, away from the path. 2's cut runs up past both screens to the left slot, labeled catch, and a dashed pass runs from 1 to the same spot. 3 stands in the right corner with his defender. — Figure 6: The stagger. Two screeners in a line, the second a few feet above the first. The shooter runs up off both from the corner to the slot; his defender has to get around two bodies.

Setup: The shooter in the corner or on the block. Two screeners along his path to the slot, the second a step above and inside the first, both facing the direction the shooter comes from. The ball on the other side.
Trigger: Both screens set; the shooter runs.
Read: The four reads apply at each screen. The common one: the defender chases over the first screen, so the shooter curls the second; or the defender goes under the first to beat the shooter to the second, so the shooter fades off the first back toward the corner. The second screener also reads: if his own defender jumps out to the shooter, the second screener slips to the rim.
Payoff: A shooter catching at the slot with his defender two screens behind, or a slip to the rim by the second screener.
Beaten by: The shooter’s defender going under both screens and meeting him at the catch, which concedes a curl; or switching the second screen, so the second screener’s defender takes the shooter. Lecture 4.5.

Action 6: The stagger: two screens in a row, and a defender who has to be right twice.

6 Two names built from these parts: the double screen and the chin

The double screen is the stagger turned sideways (Figure 7). The two screeners stand shoulder to shoulder instead of one behind the other, so the cutter’s defender meets a wall twice as wide as one screen. A defender can shade a single screen, cheating over the top or slipping under; against two bodies side by side he has no shade to play, and going around the end costs him a step.

A shooter, 2, starts low on the left side of the lane with his defender, x2, above him and to his right, inside the lane. Two screeners, 4 and 5, stand side by side above the left block, shoulder to shoulder, each with a bar just below him facing the baseline, making a wall twice as wide as one screen, labeled the wall. Their defenders, x4 and x5, are above them. The shooter runs out to his left under the wall, then turns and runs up around the outside end of the wall to the left wing, where the dashed pass from 1 at the right slot meets him, labeled catch. 1's defender, x1, is below him, and 3 is in the right corner with his defender, x3, above him. — Figure 7: The double screen. Two screeners side by side above the left block. The shooter runs out and then up around the end of the wall to the wing; his defender has to go round both bodies or under them.

Setup: The shooter under the basket or on the block. Two screeners shoulder to shoulder in his path, both facing the baseline.
Trigger: The screeners are set and the ball is on the other side of the floor.
Read: The four reads of Section 1 apply at the wall. The defender trailing around the end, the shooter catches and shoots; the defender cutting under, the shooter curls tight around the near screener to the rim; a screener’s defender stepping out to help, that screener slips.
Payoff: A shooter catching at the wing with his defender a step further behind than one screen could put him.
Beaten by: Going under the pair and meeting the shooter at the catch, which concedes the curl; or switching one screener’s defender onto the cutter. Lecture 4.5.

Action 7: The double screen: the stagger side by side, a wall instead of a line.

The chin is a back screen set at the weak-side elbow for the player in the slot (Figure 8). It is the back screen of Section 3 in a particular place: the slot defender on the weak side is watching the ball with the elbow behind him, so the screen lands on a defender who cannot see it, and the cut goes to the rim through space the ball side has already emptied. The two glossaries that name it agree on that screen and disagree on how much it covers. One treats the back screen as the whole action; the other treats it as one part of a Princeton-family set, with the post at the high post and a combination of back screens, ball screens and flare screens. The card below is the part they share.

Figure 8: The chin. The ball is on the right wing. The big at the left elbow back-screens the defender of the player in the left slot, who cuts past the screen to the rim for the pass across the floor.

Setup: The ball on one wing. A player in the slot on the other side, and a big at the elbow below him.
Trigger: The slot defender turns his head to the ball.
Read: The big steps up and screens the slot defender from behind; the slot player cuts past the screen’s inside shoulder to the rim. The screener’s defender helps on the cutter, the big steps out for the pass back; nobody helps, the lob or the bounce pass to the rim.
Payoff: A layup from the weak side against a defender who was watching the ball.
Beaten by: The screener’s defender calling the screen and stepping into the cutter’s path, or switching it; and the ball-side defenders refusing to be pulled away from the lane. Lecture 4.4.

Action 8: The chin: a back screen at the elbow for a defender with his back to it.

7 Names heard for which there is no entry yet

Five more off-ball actions are named on the glossaries this site draws on, each by one publisher only. Under this site’s rule a name like that has a description here and no entry until a second independent source names it, so that the word is not a mystery when it is heard. The rule is in the plan (plan/PLAN.md, section 8.4) and the dated report behind these dispositions is data/sources/glossary_diff_2026-09-22.md.

Power. A cross screen set in the lane by one post player for the other. It is the cross screen of Section 4 with a call attached to it, so a team that says power is asking for that screen and not for a new action.
Thunder. A pin-down set for a big man, who comes off it from one block to the opposite elbow rather than out to the perimeter. The screen is the one in Section 1; what the name adds is who cuts and where he finishes.
Veer. A big sprints out as if to set a ball screen for the point guard, then veers away and sets a pin-down for a player in the corner instead. The ball screen is only the approach. The screen that actually gets set is the pin-down, on a different defender, at the other end of the big’s run.
Twirl. Two publishers name this word and describe different actions with it. On one, a cutter curls a screen and the ball goes straight into the screener as soon as the cutter has cleared. On the other, the cutter who curled turns and screens for the man who just screened for him, which is the screen-the-screener idea the rip of Section 3 is built on. Until the two agree, the word has a description here and not a card.
Snap. Described as twirl with one change: the ball is thrown into the post rather than to the screener stepping out to the perimeter.

The idea to carry into lecture 3.6 is that these six screens are a parts list. The actions that carry names on a broadcast are built from two or three of them in sequence, run for a particular player, and the next lecture takes the most common of those apart into the parts you have just seen.