“Show”

Term: Show

Definition: A pick-and-roll defense in which the defender guarding the screener briefly lunges at the ball above the level of the screen with his back to the sideline toward which the ball-handler is moving.

Synonyms: Soft Show, Hard Show, Hedge, Soft Hedge, Hard Hedge, Blitz

Explanation: In the last 10 years, NBA defensive philosophy has shifted to a more conservative approach that focuses its efforts on protecting the rim and the three-point line. The mechanisms behind this change have been a greater reliance on pick-and-roll coverages known as “Drop,” “Weak,” and “Ice” — all three of which attempt to minimize defensive rotations and push shot attempts toward the mid-range area.

“Showing” on pick-and-rolls — which can, at times, result in longer and more complex defensive movements — fell out of favor. But recently, a resurgence in defensive aggression has attempted to counterbalance the impact of playmaking guards and wings. Their ability to make off-the-dribble three-pointers and wreak havoc in the space provided by these preferred coverages too easily exploited its weaknesses. Part of the response has been more aggressive drops to take away the three-point line; the other part has been more shows on pick-and-roll.

Although the show is still one of the lesser used pick-and-roll defenses in the NBA, it is an effective technique when executed properly. At its core, what separates the show from every other pick-and-roll defense is that it prompts the man guarding the screener to confront the ball-handler above the level of the screen. That is why most teams restrict their use of shows to their more athletic bigs — typically 4s. It takes particularly quick feet to execute a good show, and not all NBA 5s have that ability.

Instead of partially conceding a downhill path to the rim for the ball-handler as is common in a drop, weak or ice, the show disrupts the ball-handler before his momentum can get started. In some cases, this leads to the ball-handler necessarily getting rid of the ball — a defensive priority when the show is used against a particularly dangerous ball-handler. In other cases, it leads to an uncomfortably circuitous path for the ball-handler that takes away any immediately easy passing options. Either way, the key to every good show is a redirecting of the ball toward half-court and away from the rim.

Although the show can pressure the ball to a high degree, it is not a trap. The big who gets out to the ball is only there momentarily. How far he ranges above the level of screen and to what extent he pressures the ball is a matter of coaching preference, and these degrees characterize the slight differences in terminology. But unlike the sometimes marked difference between an aggressive and deep drop, the mechanics of a show do not vary greatly depending on its level of aggression.

How To Show

One of the most important parts of a show pick-and-roll defense is for the defensive big to be in proper position before initiating his show. Because he is jumping out above the level of the screen, he must be right with the screener as he goes to clean up the on-ball defender. If the defensive big lags behind, his show is late and barely a disruption to the ball-handler, leaving him out on the perimeter with no advantaged gained.

If the big has called out his coverage early and is up near the screen once the pick-and-roll begins, his next step is to lunge out toward the ball, putting his arm and body in the path of the ball-handler, who is beginning his east-west move around the screen.

Take a look at Dennis Schroder of the Atlanta Hawks in the play below, as he uses a side ball-screen from teammate Miles Plumlee. We can see that Enes Kanter of the New York Knicks — the man guarding the screener — is right up near the screen as Schroder starts to use it.

For the on-ball defender, it is essential that he does not allow the ball-handler to reject the screen. With the big above the screen, he has completely committed himself to one side of the pick, leaving the other side exposed. Here, Kanter showing toward the middle means he cannot recover baseline. Therefore, Jarrett Jack, the on-ball defender, must force Schroder middle and cut off a baseline drive. The on-ball defender accomplishes this by getting into the ball and sitting on the rejection side of the ball-screen — in this case, the sideline side. This subtly influences the ball-handler toward the screen as he feels physical pressure from the opposite side. In this example, Jack does his job well.

With the elements for a proper show in place, it is now Kanter’s job to jump out at Schroder and into his path. Typically, showing bigs get their body above the screen but only extend an arm into the area for potential contact. Although this helps to avoid a potential foul created by a body bump, it can sometimes ease the burden for the ball-handler, as it means there is less resistance in his path. Quicker bigs who can get their feet set above the screen early, however, get the best of both worlds: solid resistance to the ball-handler and no whistle.

In this case, Kanter only extends with an arm. Again, this is usually a teaching point specific to individual coaches. It is quite possible that because Kanter is not fleet of foot, Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek does not instruct him to jump out too far.

Nevertheless, we can see that Kanter succeeds in his task because his brief pressure forces Schroder to redirect around his arm. Notice from above that Schroder starts at the three-point line; now look below, and see how he has been forced to circle all the way around Kanter.

Also take note of Jack, who chooses to go under-two (meaning he goes beneath both the screener and his showing teammate to recover back to the ball.) Many coaches teach an under-one (under the showing teammate but above the screener), but again, this is a matter of coaching preference.

Even though Kanter appears somewhat exposed here, he is counting on two elements of the show coverage. The first is the previously mentioned circuitous path: by the time Schroder gets around Kanter and is in a position to hit the rolling Plumlee, Kanter will have created enough time for a recovery. The other is the momentary delay by the pressure itself. In many cases, a good show forces the ball-handler to drop his head and focus on his dribble in order to maintain control of the ball. By the time he pops his head up, the passing window has disappeared.

Of course, this isn’t always the case. Sometimes the show doesn’t redirect the ball-handler enough, or the ball-handler is skilled enough to navigate the pressure without losing his court vision. To account for this possibility, showing bigs should always recover with high hands — similar to how guards use high hands to prevent a throwback in a pick-and-pop when in a drop coverage. (Kanter gets away with no high hands here.)

One final point on the basic mechanics, relating to the guard. As we can see above, Jack’s under-two route leaves him far away from the ball as Schroder steps up to the three-point line. While the under-two can sometimes result in a less obstructed route of recovery, it is dangerous against good pull-up shooters. Under-one can sometimes be difficult to navigate, but has a better chance at cutting off the type of shot that Schroder, as we watch the play in its entirety below, chooses to pass up.

With the proper technique in mind, now let’s look at an even more aggressive show, this time involving Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers. A bit faster than Kanter, he’s able to completely cut off Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards. While this does stop Beal in his tracks, it forces Cleveland into a handful of rotations (more detail on this later.)

Show Counters

1. Slip

A proper show relies on timing. Because the man who is guarding the screener momentarily springs out above the level of the screen, he is somewhat exposed in other ways. In the Knicks play above, New York executes its show coverage correctly (assuming Hornacek teaches an under-two, and not an under-one). There are, however, two common counters that capitalize on this coverage’s weaknesses. The first is a screen slip — meaning the screener doesn’t actually set the screen, but instead changes course and darts to the rim early.

The point of this counter is to attack the aggression of the show. Because defensive bigs know they have to get out on the perimeter, the speed with which they operate makes aborting the coverage difficult. Smart screeners who recognize this — or have studied the scouting report and know opponent coverage calls — pivot toward the paint early to avoid the chaos of the screening action. Instead of having to disentangle from the screening contact to begin their roll, they get into it immediately.

Smart ball-handlers will then throw an early pocket pass, catching the showing big by surprise and leaving him in a middle ground: neither pressuring the ball nor sticking with the roller. Watch how that frees Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans for an easy bucket against the Toronto Raptors:

2. Split

The other and more dangerous counter is the ball-handler splitting the defense. Instead of winding his way around the show, he slides between his own screener and the showing big to get north-south.

The split exploits the danger of a late or disconnected show. Being late to any pick-and-roll coverage is a recipe for disaster, but defenders in a show are particularly susceptible to compounding their mistake. If they are in fact late, it is likely the ball-handler has already begun his east-west move. This means the showing defender will not extend straight out toward half-court from the point of the screen, but will hop farther out in the anticipated path of the ball-handler. The problem with this approach is that it opens a space between the showing defender and the screener.

The defense is further disadvantaged by the fact that the ball-handler is given a clear line of sight to see the defense; he can track the showing defender readying to lunge at him, and can prep his ball-handling reaction accordingly.

Look at how Darrell Arthur of the Denver Nuggets is late on this show. Not only can Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs see him coming, but Arthur’s compensated line of approach is not tight enough to the screen.

Against small players who can more easily fit through tight spaces, remaining on the same axis as the screener is especially important. Parker has no problem splitting through the space Arthur concedes.

Show + Tag

With the defensive big completely abandoning his man to bother the ball-handler, the screener against a show is often left momentarily unguarded as he rolls to the rim. Although the defense hopes that the ball-handler will be unable to find the roller with a pocket pass, it does not completely rely on chance. As a safeguard, defenses tag the roller with an off-ball player to momentarily cover this free offensive player. (For more detailed information on the mechanics of a tag, check of the dictionary entry for “Drop.”)

Tagging is usually an essential component of a show because of how separated the showing big gets from the rolling screener. Even though he provides ball pressure, he cannot always cut off a pocket pass — the ball-handler is operating in space with a live dribble. This means an off-ball player has to greet the roller as he approaches the paint.

There is, however, one slight difference between a tag in a run-of-the-mill show compared to a drop, weak or ice. It’s easiest to understand these rotations with an example, so let’s actually walk through the Cleveland Cavaliers example from above. In the play, we have:

1. Love showing.
2. J.R. Smith going under-one to get back to the ball-handler, Bradley Beal.
3. Marcin Gortat rolling free to the rim.
4. Two Cavaliers players — Jae Crowder on the left elbow and LeBron James on the left block — in position to tag. Remember that the tagger is always an off-ball player from whom the ball-handler is moving away during a ball-screen.

First notice the sizeable distance between Love and Gortat, with Love completely occupied by the ball. There is no way he will be able to recover to Gortat without help. This means that either Crowder or James, the two Cavs on the weak side, will have to tag. But who should be the tagger?

Unlike a drop, where both a wing tag and corner tag are viable, the show requires the lowest tag possible — in this case, the corner. This is actually a function of the on-ball defender’s route. Because a show pick-and-roll defense always induces an under-one or under-two, the on-ball defender does not get into the passing lane for the shaker — in this case, Markieff Morris of the Washington Wizards. Imagine, for a moment, that Smith were to take the following route — the estimated path through which he might go if he were fighting over the screen if the defense were in a drop. With high hands, he could cut off the pass to Morris as indicated by the dotted line.

But Smith does not take this path because he must go under. Love is only there to redirect the ball, not guard it. If Smith follows behind Beal, Beal can head to the rim unimpeded.

With Smith going under, the defense cannot provide resistance on the throwback to the shaker — the nearest perimeter pass. This means Crowder, who is guarding the shaker (Morris) should not leave him. Instead, James, who is guarding the farthest possible pass to the weak-side corner, is the more logical choice.

In this particular play, James actually has to guard Gortat on the pocket pass — a brief but full rotation. Cleveland is able to get realigned once Gortat kicks it out, with Love getting back to Gortat and James returning to Otto Porter in the weak-side corner.

Show + Empty Corner

An empty corner pick-and-roll can give conventional pick-and-roll defense fits, and the show is no exception. In fact, this is where a show will most often rely on a complete back-side rotation, with the defense recovering through coordinated switches away from the ball. Communication in these cases is the difference between success and failure, and most teams use terminology to trigger the rotations that direct defenders appropriately.

As mentioned in the “Drop” dictionary entry, empty corner pick-and-rolls present the problem of no logical tagger. In a show, defenses compensate with a football-like progression predicated on reads by multiple defenders that is acutally very similar to the trap the box and sink and fill concepts. The first step is a possible baseline rotation (functioning as a tag) by the lowest weak-side player (preferably a big), who must decide whether he needs to fully rotate or set up in a tagging position.

In the play below, that responsibility falls on the two-nining player, Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks. When his teammate Harrison Barnes shows, the screener, Khris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks, rolls free to the baseline area. Nowitzki must assess to what degree he rotates over.

Once Middleton receives the ball with Barnes still not recovered, Nowitzki has no choice but to fully rotate. This means that Yogi Ferrell, whose original man is Malcolm Brogdon in the weak-side corner, must sink to inside position on Dirk’s original man, Thon Maker. Everyone pushes over to the strong-side and leaves the weak-side corner — the farthest possible pass — available.

But here’s where things get tricky: where does Barnes go?

Barnes’ first read is to return to his original man, Middleton, who has the ball. His next read is to jump to Maker and push Ferrell back out to Brogdon in the corner. This type of big-big switch, with Barnes and Nowitzki trading matchups, is the cleanest rotational choice, as it covers every player without creating a significant mismatch. If, however, Ferrell cannot abandon Maker for whatever reason, Barnes’ final read is to take Brogdon in the corner.

The reads essentially follow a strong-side to weak-side progression: Barnes works his way sequentially from the ball to the opposite side of the floor.

Relying on Barnes, Ferrell and Nowitzki to navigate this rotation silently is asking for a mistake. That’s why most teams verbally cue Barnes’ rotation away from the ball with the baseline rotator — here it’s Nowitzki — yelling out a specific term. This immediately signals Barnes to abandon the ball and continue on his progression, first to Maker and then to Brogdon. Ferrell then watches Barnes and reacts accordingly.

In the video of the play below, we can see that Barnes takes the first option. Nowitzki gets back to Maker, Ferrell gets back to Brogdon, and the Mavericks execute their coverage perfectly.

For comparison, here’s an example when Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers shows, with he and teammate DeAndre Jordan executing the big-to-big back-side switch.

Show vs. Pick-and-Pop

One of the most popular times to use a show is against a pick-and-pop shooter. This is because a well executed recovery angle by the showing defender can carry him right into the passing lane of the popper. This ability of the show to neutralize the pick-and-pop is unique among convetional coverages.

Still, defenses account for imperfect recovery angles by using a stunt to further disrupt the popping player — as Darius Miller of the New Orleans Pelicans does below. Also take note of how Dante Cunningham’s path of recovery to the popper, Nowitzki, forces the ball-handler, J.J. Barea, to throw a weaker, high-arcing pass:

These two factors in combination force Nowitzki to pump fake to get around the contesting Cunningham. Even though he gets off a clean look, his evasion dribble takes him out of clean catch-and-shoot rhythm.

Small-Small Shows To Avoid Switches

Another popular show usage occurs in pick-and-rolls involving two offensive wings or guards. In late-clock situations, many NBA offenses anticipate defenses switching all pick-and-rolls. The common response is to target the weakest off-ball defender by having his man screen for the ball-handler, which therefore switches this below average defender onto a strong offensive player. If this targeted defender is a small, defenses cannot use a drop, weak or ice because guards are neither accustomed nor equipped to handle the required responsbilities. Instead, they’ll have the guard quickly show and get back to his man to keep everyone matched up.

The tendencies of the players involved in these situations allow the show to succeed. Because the screener is typically a small, his instinct as a screener is to pop. This makes it easier for the showing guard to recover, as pick-and-pop rotations, as described previously, lend themselves to returning to normal matchups. Furthermore, the ball-handler is looking for a switch to isolate against, and this inclination generally prevents him from giving the ball up to his potentially open screening teammate — especially since the screener is usually a weaker offensive player, since that’s whom the defense will have its weakest player guard.

That’s what happens here when Delon Wright of the Toronto Raptors sets a ball-screen for teammate DeMar DeRozan. The Raptors hope that Golden State’s weakest defender, Steph Curry, will get switched onto Toronto’s best offensive player, DeRozan. Curry, however, thwarts that tactic with a quick show. DeRozan does not even look to hit Wright on the pop, and Durant is able to stay with DeRozan and eventually block his shot.

Film Study: “Weak”

Below is a video compilation of various examples of NBA defenses showing against pick-and-rolls. Be on the lookout for the degree to which the defenses tag, stunt, rotate, and/or back-side switch. Every situation is unique and requires correct defensive intrepretation. Although not all of the examples diplay perfect execution, they do show how defenses react to situational variation.