Off-ball screens

Screens for players without the ball, which is how shooters get open.

All families · 13 terms · 13 full, 0 partial, 0 short

Back screen

A screen set behind a defender, out of his view, so the cutter can go to the rim.

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.

Why it is run. A defender watching the ball cannot see a screen set on his back, so the man he guards is at the rim before he can follow.

What beats it. Feeling the screen and going under it toward the rim early, conceding the pop, or switching every back screen.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.5 · See also Flare screen, Rip screen, Spain pick-and-roll

Chin

A back screen set at the weak-side elbow for the slot player, who cuts to the rim. One glossary treats that screen as the whole action; another treats it as one part of a Princeton-family set with the post at the high post.

The ball is with 1 on the right wing, his defender below him. On the weak side, 2 stands beyond the arc at the left slot, with his defender just below him on his basket side. The big, 5, starts at the left elbow, with his own defender below him toward the baseline, and steps up behind the slot defender to set a back screen on him; the screen bar, labeled back screen, lies between the end of the big's short arrow and that defender. 2 cuts past the inside end of the screen to the rim, and a dashed pass comes across from the right wing to meet him there. 3 is in the right corner and 4 in the left corner, each with a defender.

Why it is run. The weak-side slot defender is watching the ball with the elbow behind him, so a screen from behind lands on a defender who cannot see it, and the cut goes to the rim through space the ball side has already emptied.

What beats it. 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.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.5 · See also Back screen, Princeton offense, Flare screen

Cross screen

A screen set across the lane so a big can cut from one block to the other for a post catch.

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.

Why it is run. A screen across the lane, block to block, gets a big a post catch with his defender sealed on his back, because the defender must choose between going over the screen and going under it into the passing lane.

What beats it. The defender going over the top to reach the block first and fronting the post, or a low man who bumps the cutter in the lane.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.5 · See also Post-up, Block

Double screen

Two screeners standing shoulder to shoulder in the cutter’s path, so his defender has to get around a wall twice as wide as one screen.

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.

Why it is run. A defender can shade a single screen, cheating over the top or slipping under it; two bodies side by side leave no shade, and the defender who goes around the end arrives a step later than he would around one.

What beats it. Going under the pair and meeting the shooter at the catch, conceding the curl; or switching one of the screeners’ defenders onto the cutter.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.5 · See also Stagger, Pin-down, Floppy

Elevator screen

Also: elevator doors

A shooter runs between two screeners who then step together to close the gap on his defender.

The ball is with a guard on the right wing, his defender inside him. Two bigs stand on the free-throw line with a gap between them, each with his defender below him, and the words doors and open flank the pair just above the free-throw line, doors to the left of the left big and open to the right of the right big. The shooter starts at the left block, and a cut arrow runs from him up through the middle of the gap toward the top of the key. His defender stands behind him on the baseline side. A fifth attacker stands in the right corner with his defender. (First of 2 frames; the lecture shows the rest.)

Why it is run. Two screeners who close the gap the moment the shooter is through stop his defender dead with two bodies at once, and it is the one screen set after the cutter has passed.

What beats it. Going round the outside of one screener before the doors close, conceding a step on the catch, or switching one screener’s defender onto the shooter as he comes through.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.6 · See also Stagger

Flare screen

A screen that lets a perimeter player fade away from the ball along the arc, punishing a defender who cheats toward 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.

Why it is run. A defender who cheats toward the ball can be screened on the side facing away from it, so his man fades along the arc for a skip pass the defense was leaning away from.

What beats it. A defender who stays on the line between his man and the ball and never cheats, or a switch.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.5 · See also Pin-down, Back screen

Floppy

A shooter under the rim chooses either side, one with a single screen and one with a stagger.

The ball is with the guard at the top of the key, his defender below him. The shooter stands in the lane just in front of the rim, with the rim and backboard showing below him and the label he chooses just above him, in the fork between his two cuts. His defender stands beside him to his left, on the baseline side. Two cut arrows leave the shooter, one up to the right wing and one up to the left wing. On the right, a single screener stands inside the right lane line, just above that path, with his screen bar beside him, on the side the shooter comes from, square to the path and stopping just short of it, labeled single just to his right. On the left, two screeners stand in a line just above that path, the first inside the lane and the second just outside the left lane line, each with his screen bar beside him in the same way, on the side the shooter comes from, labeled stagger just above the outer one. Each screener's defender stands above him, toward the ball. A dashed pass arrow runs from the top to each wing.

Why it is run. A shooter under the rim with a single screen one way and a stagger the other reads his defender’s first step and goes the other way; the defender cannot be right about both sides.

What beats it. Going under everything and meeting him at the wing, conceding the curl, or switching every screen so a fresh defender waits on either side.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.6 · See also Stagger, Pin-down

Hammer

A baseline drive on one side with a back screen on the other, freeing a shooter into the weak-side corner for a drift pass.

The driver has reached the right baseline with the ball, his defender above him. On the left, the shooter's defender has sunk toward the paint. The big has cut up from the left block, shown by his arrow, and stands below and to the left of that defender, with his screen bar between them. The label back screen sits just below the big. The shooter starts outside the arc, low on the left side, and drifts straight down the sideline to the left corner, labeled drift. A dashed pass arrow runs from the driver along the baseline, under the rim, to the corner, labeled baseline pass. The other big stays just outside the right side of the lane, the left big's defender stays in the lane, and a guard is at the top of the key, each with his defender. (Second of 2 frames; the lecture shows the other.)

Why it is run. The weak-side helper who sinks on a baseline drive is doing what he was taught, and the back screen punishes him for it; the shooter drifts to the corner and the pass comes along the baseline under the rim.

What beats it. Helping with the eyes and not the feet, so the shooter is never left, or the X-out rotation in which the big’s defender takes the corner and the wing defender takes the big.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.6 · See also Back screen, Corner

Loop

A cutter running a triple stagger along the baseline from one wing to the other.

1 has the ball at the top, with x1 below him. The shooter, 2, starts on the right wing with his defender. Three screeners stand along the baseline, 5 just outside the right block, 4 just right of the rim and 3 just left of it, each with a short bar on his right side, the side the shooter comes from. Their defenders stand above them. The label three baseline screens sits just above the three screeners, over the rim, below the defenders. The shooter runs down from the right wing to the baseline, then along the baseline below all three screeners and under the rim, passing just under the end of each bar, and up to the left wing, where the dashed pass from the top meets him at the label catch. His defender, x2, is still on the right wing, three bodies behind.

Why it is run. Three screens along a path the defender must run in full, with the catch waiting at the far wing.

What beats it. Cutting across the lane under the screens to meet the cutter at the far wing, conceding the curl on the first screen, or a switch at any of the three.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.6 · See also Stagger

Pin-down

Also: down screen

A screen set facing the baseline so a player near the rim can cut up to the perimeter for a catch.

The ball is with a guard, 1, at the top of the key, his defender just below him. On the right side, the shooter, 2, starts just outside the right block, and his defender stands a step above him on the lane side, between him and the perimeter. Farther up, the big, 5, stands outside the lane between the block and the wing, facing the baseline, with his screen bar on his baseline side, between him and the shooter's defender. The big's own defender stands above him and to his left, at the lane line below the right elbow. The label faces the baseline sits just above the big. The shooter's cut arrow runs up past the outside of the screen to the right wing, labeled catch, and a dashed pass arrow runs from the top toward the same spot. A fourth attacker stands at the left slot and a fifth in the left corner, each with his defender.

Why it is run. A screen facing the baseline lets a shooter who started near the rim arrive at the perimeter with his defender behind the screen, and gives him four reads off it (curl, fade, straight, back cut) that the defender’s choice decides.

What beats it. Top-locking the shooter so he cannot reach the screen, conceding the back cut to take away the shot, or switching the screen.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.5 · See also Flare screen, Stagger, Top-lock

Rip screen

A back screen across the lane, usually for a player who has just set a screen himself.

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.

Why it is run. A defender who has just helped on a screen is standing exactly where a back screen wants him, so the screener he left rips to the rim behind him.

What beats it. The screener’s defender never leaving him to help, or a switch.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.5 · See also Back screen

Stagger

Also: staggered screens

Two off-ball screens in a row in the same direction for one cutter.

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.

Why it is run. Two screens in the same direction make the defender right twice; the wrong side of the first is the wrong side of the second, and the second screener can slip if his own defender jumps out.

What beats it. Going under both screens and meeting the shooter at the catch, conceding the curl, or switching the second screen.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.5 · See also Pin-down, Floppy

Wedge

A player receives an off-ball screen to the top and immediately turns to set a ball screen.

Half court. The ball-handler, 1, has the ball at the right slot with his defender, x1, below him. The big, 5, starts low on the left side of the lane with his defender, x5, above and outside him on the left lane line. A guard, 3, stands above 5 inside the lane and screens x5, drawn as a bar between them, labeled screen for the big just outside the lane beside it. 5 cuts diagonally up the lane, past that screen, and arrives on x1's left, where a second bar between them is the ball screen, labeled then the ball screen just below it. 1 dribbles left over the top of it toward the middle. x5 is still behind the first screen, so he is late to the second. 3's defender, x3, is on the left wing, and 4 and 2 are in the corners, each with a defender.

Why it is run. A side screen for the big before he screens the ball makes his defender late to the pick-and-roll, the same idea as the ram from a different direction.

What beats it. Switching the first screen so the nearest defender guards the ball screen, or the big’s defender going under the first screen and beating him to the top.

offense · Half court · full · Taught in lecture 3.6 · See also Pick-and-roll, Ram