Ball Screen Defense: Switch And Rotation

Last night we watched a great game between EFES and Real Madrid. A tough one that ended up being decided in the last minutes. 

Let's take a look at some of the last plays of the game. Real looking for options off a middle screen and EFES defending it:

Real played this middle screen three times in the last two minutes of the game (in their last three set offenses) Sergio Rodríguez and Gustavo Ayón running the ball screen and Real's power forward, Nocioni, filling the corner on the left side, with the other two smalls, Carroll and Llull placed one on each side.

EFES defensive rule was clear: they switched between Ayon and Rodriguez's defenders (Lasme and Draper) and made a rotation with one of the weak side defenders when Ayon rolled to the basket. With that rotation, the mismatch after the pick and roll is not so big (it wasn't Draper, but Perperoglou or Osman taking care of Real's big) Perperoglou and Osman, both of them big enough to avoid a big disadvantage in that mismatch, were aggressive and managed to deny the pass to the big man.

Real played three different options after the pick and roll: pass for Llull (and another ball screen), pass for Nocioni (one on one against Perperoglou), and Rodriguez's one on one against Lasme (which finished with a turnover). Only the second one ended up with the white team scoring. That gave them two points in three possessions, which was not enough to win a close game.

Let's watch it:

Playing Against Helps

A quick detail from last game between F.C. Barcelona and Real Madrid, to show how a team can read the defense and adapt to get advantages. 

FCB know how Real will play ball screen defense, helping/bumping from the opposite side against the screener's roll, we saw it here some time ago, and they are using some moves to punish that kind of defense.

One of the sets they use often is the double high screen, in which, as we can see in the video, both bigs are rolling to the basket, so if the opposite side big's defender helps against the roll or the penetration, there will be a good option to receive the pass inside, or, very important, an advantage for the offensive rebound.

If the last defender helps inside, they will punish this help with the pass to the wide open shooter.

Let's take a look:

Mismatch Defense - Basic Ideas

Last week I received an e-mail from a coach asking me about mismatch defense (big against small in the perimeter) We exchanged our thoughts (and we are still doing it) and I was willing to find some examples of mismatch situations to show my ideas. And yesterday we saw a nice one involving Vassilis Spanoulis and Nemanja Bjelica. 

There are many different ways to defend a mismatch, and I'm not going to criticize how Fenerbahçe did it last night, you know it is said that "after the battle everyone is a good general" but this one works well to explain myself.

I said my colleague that the first rule I give my players is to force the ball handler to drive to the basket, to put a lot of pressure on the ball. For different reasons:

• Many players are capable to shoot nowadays (at least at the high - elite level) and the risk of that shot to be hit, to me, is big enough to decide I want to avoid it. Plus, the risk is bigger because the players more often involved in these situations are the best offensive players.
• The shotclock is running down. Almost every team end up switching in ball screens with 10"- 8" remaining. The shotclock is on your side.
• The ball handler, once he can't shoot, needs to beat his defender… and then the defense should be ready to help - rotate to stop the penetration (and the shotclock is running down!)
• He has to find an open teammate, and give him a good pass. Will they find a good scoring option? (better than the avoided shot?) Maybe… but maybe not (and the shotclock, you know, is running down)

In the video, Bjelica (huge wingspan) is ready to contest the shot (or he thinks he is) but you will notice how the other four defenders are also focused on Spanoulis. If he tries to drive, he won't be able to finish at the basket, and as you see, when he really starts being aggressive there are nine seconds remaining on the shotclock. 

Let's take a look at the video:

Update: Coach Ali Kamalian told me about this article: mismatch in the NBA, with a different focus. The tendency there (just like in other situations) appears to be to allow the mid range shots instead of "forcing" to drive.

Real Quick: Ball Screen Defense - Help Side Bump

During last sunday's Real Madrid - Laboral Kutxa we saw an interesting defensive move by Real's captain Felipe Reyes.


The situation is a middle screen set by Ili Diop, who rolls quickly towards the basket while his defender, Salah Mejri, and Sergio Rodríguez are focused in the ball handler, Thomas Heurtel.

Reyes, from the weak side, moves quickly to bump Diop, giving both Mejri and Rodríguez time to recover. At the same time, we can see how Jaycee Carroll places himself in a position that allows him to rotate in case there's a skip pass to San Emeterio.

Let's take a quick look: