“Baiting, Turning and Bolting - The New World of PnR Bigs” Part 1 by Stefan Grassegger
Before we get into our topic, I would like to give a shoutout to my colleague and friend Brent Tipton, who did a tremendous job of introducing some core concepts in regards to running a successful PnR. He did a tremendous job of explaining the notion of creating space before creating an advantage and creating an advantage before shooting the ball (as termed by Liam Flynn). Please go and check his blog out, as he posts some great stuff there. Also, I know that he is about to share his views on the same topic. So I am really looking forward to comparing his and my philosophy concerning the screener’s role in the PnR.
I’m sure you all are familiar with the notion of setting a hard screen before rolling to the rim with force. To be honest, as recently as last season this was the way that i taught my bigs how to behave in the PnR. Hit your target, use a front pivot (and never a back pivot!) and sprint underneath the rim. The reality — or in better words: the profile of demands for PnR bigs — has changed. Whereas these simple instruction might have sufficed ten years ago (maybe?) the modern game requires bigs to make a multitude of reads at the point of the screen. These reads encompass the question of when to roll/pop and the question of how to roll/pop. Does the big have to slip? Does he have to hold the screen? How does he have to turn? These are all questions a big needs to be able to answer in split second decisions. Answering these questions correctly and employing the appropriate technique are important prerequisites to play a part in creating and, ideally, maximizing an advantage — a vital skill when we consider the philosophy of advantage before shot. This series of blog posts aim at introducing my personal philosophy and shows how I have taught the PnR game to our bigs. We will first deal with the question of when to release the screen before addressing some ideas behind how to open up after the screen in Part 2.
- When to release the screen
I have to admit….I am a thief. The majority of what you are going to read here is taken directly from Coach Liam Flynn’s clinic on “The Art of the Mid PnR”. For all of you who want to dive deeper into the topic, I can only strongly recommend you to check out this video (and all of his other stuff for that matter). It is a great resource. In terms of Pick and Roll release techniques, Coach Flynn differentiates between the “Hit and Hold” technique, which is used against passive coverages, and the “Touch and Go” technique, which is used versus coverages that are more aggressive. I am going to introduce both techniques over the course of the following paragraphs.
- BAIT & BOLT
“Wait? Didn’t he talk about Touch and Go a couple of sentences ago?” is what you might think now — and you’re right. While the idea behind it is exactly the same as the “Touch and Go” as defined by Coach Flynn, I felt that this metaphor fit our team and my teaching style better. In fact, it has also allowed me to improve my understanding of this technique. Let’s talk about the details and important intricacies.
The basic idea behind this technique is that we urge our bigs to get behind the defense as quickly as possible and create separation from their defender. We do this by releasing the screen early. Since we want to attack more aggressive coverages with the pass primarily, an early release ideally provides the ballhandler with early passing targets. Either the big himself is open, or his release sucks the defense in, which eventually opens up other passing targets. The contact by the screener with the on ball defender is only our secondary priority.
However — and this is extremely important to understand for our bigs — this is not an early slip. If our bigs try to slip too early they will not create an advantage. The on ball defender will not react to the threat of an on-ball screen and the big defender will not engage in the coverage and stay attached to the screener.
Hence, our bigs need to successfully bait the defense into activating their coverage. To mask their bait, we teach our bigs to sprint into the screen and stop shortly (as if they would set a regular screen) before releasing quickly. In addition to baiting the defense into running their coverage, this short stop gives the ballhandler his start signal to attack.
If the defense has taken the bait, it is now the big’s job to quickly bolt out of the action via (short) roll or pop. All too often, the concept of being physical in the PnR and giving the on ball defender a good hit makes it tough for our screeners to quickly move out of the action. Therefore, it is essential for the bigs to understand that the physical contact is not important. As you will see in the clips below, the contact of the screener with the on-ball defender is minimal (or even non-existent), but both screeners quickly stop to bait the defense into playing their coverage before bolting out of there. (Note: As mentioned, this technique can also be called Touch&Go or Touch Screen. You can teach players to quickly touch the on ball defender with the palm of their hand to activate the coverage. After that they quickly release the screen without holding physical contact. In essence, the basic concept of contact being secondary remains the same as before.)
In order to teach our bigs how to read this situation correctly, we need to educate them on when they can / have to bolt. The key is whether they see a path to the rim at the point of the bait/screen or not. If they see a clear path, they can bolt. Conversely, if they don’t see their defender over the inside shoulder any more, chances are that a path to the rim is open. Let’s take a look at the diagram and the picture below to see an example of this concept.
As you can see, Baynes sees a clear path when he glances over his inside shoulder at the point of the screen (or depending how you want to phrase it: He doesn’t see Ondrej Balvin anymore). This cues the bait and bolt for Baynes. He has minimal contact but gets behind the defense quickly. Let’s look at the clip.
Note: Of course, there are situations where an early slip is important. If the big sees pressure by his defender early (or the path to the rim is wide open early) it makes sense to slip the screen immediately.
- HIT AND HOLD
Versus more passive coverages (think Drop or Ice) we want to attack the big by forcing him to guard the dribble. In order to do so, we teach our bigs to hit the on ball defender and hold the screen 0.5 seconds longer before releasing. In doing so, the defending big has to contain the ball longer and the on ball defender’s recovery distance becomes longer (note: How the ballhandler can manipulate the big in the pocket will be the topic of a future post). In accordance to the terminology of Liam Flynn, we call this technique Hit & Hold. As opposed to the Bait & Bolt technique, it is really important to get a good and clean hit on the on ball defender and to maintain the contact for 0.5 seconds longer before releasing. Often the roller will either be open in the pocket or late (as he now trails the play a bit). Let’s look at two examples.
If we think back to the reading process for the screener in our Bait & Bolt scenario, it will become clear that the read for hitting and holding is the exact opposite. If the defender of the screener is visible over the inside shoulder (in other words: if the path to the rim is not clear) we teach our screeners to hit and hold the screen.
Note: I would also like to acknowledge that there are different philosophies on how to teach this read. For example, I have heard about the big reading whether the on ball defender has opened up his stance and deciding when to roll. If you want to learn a little more about this idea, check out this article.
EDIT: As hinted at in the note above, there is another type of philosophy on when to open the screen. As opposed to looking for the big defender and adjusting the timing accordingly, bigs can also use the on ball defender as a point of reference. Once the on ball defender opens his hip and gives the PnR ballhandler a lane, it can make sense for the screener to bolt early (even against a drop). The advantage is already created, which means that the screen is not necessary anymore. At the same time, a quick bolt and roll down the lane can put the big defender in a tough spot. Just picture James Harden running one of his pattented PnRs with Clint Capela in the last couple of seasons. Check out the pictures below for an example.
However, there are a couple of things that have to be taken into consideration. For one, the advantage really needs to be big enough. It does not make sense to skip the screen if the ballhandler only has a tiny bit of daylight and cannot capitalize on the open angle. Speaking of capitalizing: More often than not, it will be a good driving threat that can create his own advantage early. That same type of player (e.g. James Harden) will be more likely to maintain or even extend said advantage if the “traditional screen” is taken out of the equation. Conversely, slower perimeters might not be able to extend the advantage. Hence it is important for the screeners to know their teammates. It also helps the cause if the ballhandler is a lob threat that can get behind the defense quickly. That way he puts even more pressure on the big who is already caught in that 1 on 2 situation. Let’s look at some examples in the following video.
So much for Part 1. In Part 2 we will look at how to open the screen to achieve different results and attack coverages differently.
