Three - Is A Magic Number

I'm not talking about the Schoolhouse Rock song. Although, just as an aside, it is a very catchy tune and there's a great cover version done by the band Blind Melon. Sorry. Moving on. Three is a powerful number, no question about that.

This past week, during practice, I talked with our players about the power of three. I mentioned how the US Marine Corps uses the power of three in their daily lives. I talked about how their communication will be much more effective if they employ echoing calls 3 times. The power of three can be just as effective for us as coaches.

We can really keep things simple for ourselves and our players. Take every aspect of the game and break it down into three teaching points for each. I found this to be a great exercise to edit out useless information and get to the bare-bones of my philosophy. If you haven’t done this before, or are a younger coach hell-bent on using every ounce of information you picked up from clinics this summer, you may find this task somewhat daunting. I had to write down anything and everything I wanted done and edit the list from there; whittling things down to the most important by crossing off the unnecessary and monotonous.

This task ultimately came in extremely handy recently. We hadn’t spent a lot of time on guarding the ball screen on the wing. Because we use the ball screen quite often, in a live 5-on-5 situation we got exposed on defense. So, to the Power of Three drawing board we go.

We told the defender guarding the screener that he had 3 responsibilities:

1) Communicate the screen (name & direction 3 times)
2) Make the ball handler take at least 1-2 dribbles toward half court
3) Trust the help on the roll

The on-ball defender has 3 responsibilities:
1) Do not let the screener get into your body
2) Get the top foot and hip above the screeners
3) beat the dribbler to the spot going underneath the hedge

Ever since, we have done a terrific job of defending the ball screen on the wing. Players a less confused and their roles are clearly defined. Now that they understand the basic concepts, we can begin to tweek the details into sub-groupings of three.

Defending the Ball Screen

How do you guard ball screens? Do you have a set way to guard all ball screens regardless of personnel and location? Do you change how you play ball screens dependent upon where the screen is set? Do you scout opponents and play ball screens differently for different players?

Whatever your defensive philosophy, here are some thoughts to playing ball screens.

1. Hedge high and go under - Usually utilized for great penetrators that don't shoot the ball extremely well. Pluses - Keeps the ball out of the key. Minuses - Can give up open look jumpers.

2. Hedge high and go over the top - This is probably the scariest way to play a ball screen. It almost forces the rest of your defense to switch. Pluses - I honestly can't think of any. Minuses - Puts tremendous amount of pressure on your helpside defenders, gives up slip to the basket, easier to split the defenders.

3. Drop off the screener and go over the top - Usually for a great shooter coming off. Pluses - Shouldn't give up open jumper, help is built in if the on ball defender gets caught on the screen. Minuses - Easy reversal pass, gives up jumper to the screener on a pop.

4. Drop off the screener and go under - Usually for a total penetrator. Pluses - Can beat penetrators to the spot, help built in with the screeners defender. Minuses - If the screeners defender doesn't drop far enough it could become a double ball screen, gives up open look for the screener on a pop.

5. Jam the screener and go under - Usually used for good penetrators and teams that like to slip or pop screeners. Pluses - Forces screen to be set higher up the floor than they want, prevents slips, easy to recover to pop. Minuses - Potential for a double ball screen, very little help.

6. Trap - Usually used for excellent all around players. Pluses - Very aggressive and maintains pressure, forces quick decisions for the ball handler. Minuses - Risky if the defenders are split, MUST have great rotations by the other 3 players.

7. Jump high on the ball handler and low on the screener - Usually used on the outer third of the floor for penetration middle. This is where the ball defender jumps all the way on the high leg forcing the dribbler baseline and the screeners defender drop below the ball handler. Pluses - Plays to most man-to-man principles of forcing baseline/sideline, unorthodox and can cause confusion. Minuses - Gives up pop to the screener, can create mismatches is big on little screen.