“Rip DHO”
Definition: a 3-person action in which a player sets a rip screen and then receives a dribble handoff
Synonyms: 21 Down
See Also: Pistol/21, Spanoulis, Delay, Screen the Screener, UCLA Screen, Rip Pin, One Thru Rip DHO/Pin
Origin of the Name: A combination of a rip (back) screen and a dribble handoff
How It Works: In the diagram above, 1 sets a backscreen for 3 and then receives a DHO from 5.
Rip DHO is another name for 21 Down, one set from the Pistol/21 series.
Why It Works: Much like a UCLA screen, a rip DHO rarely results in a layup for the player receiving the backscreen but is still effective because the defense’s adjustment to prevent the layup creates a disadvantage elsewhere. If 1’s defender provides help on the rip screen, he’s out of position against the DHO. But if 1’s defender doesn’t provide that help, 3 is potentially open for an easy bucket at the rim.
As a result, rip DHO is perhaps the most common SLOB (sideline out of bounds) play in the NBA. The player who inbounds the ball receives the rip screen, often from a good shooter whom the defense does not want to help off of. In this clip, Trae Young sets the backscreen for John Collins, and Trae’s defender, Caris LeVert, never lets go of Trae to provide help:
The Brooklyn Nets like to have James Harden or Joe Harris, a career 44% 3pt shooter, set the rip screen. In this next clip, Harris’s defender, Solomon Hill, momentarily pauses to help with the backscreen, which gives Harris just enough separation to come off the DHO with a good look for 3:
If the defense is able to prevent a layup or an open 3, it can still be at a disadvantage against the DHO, particularly because there’s nobody to tag the roller. In pick-and-roll defense, the low weakside help defender (x2 in the diagram below) is the tagger, responsible for bumping/tagging the roll man:
Because the player who receives the rip screen clears out to the far side, however, there’s nobody to tag the roller. If the defense shows/hedges the DHO — often necessary to prevent an open 3—the roller may be open for a lob:
The rip DHO combination is also effective because it’s a quick action that provides two opportunities for the defense to switch and therefore create a possible mismatch.
Another option is for the cutter to reject the rip screen and take the DHO himself. In this clip, Kevin Durant, who appears to be setting a backscreen for Harden, flips the screen to make it a pin-down, turning the rip DHO into Chicago action:
The player who sets the backscreen can follow that up with an inverted ballscreen if his defender is face-guarding:
One type of rip DHO is called Spanoulis, named after the legendary Greek basketball player Vassilis Spanoulis. In this version, the player who receives the (gut) DHO sets the backscreen near the weakside elbow, not to the outside:
A cousin of the rip DHO is the rip pin, in which the big—instead of DHOing to the player who sets the backscreen—passes to the weakside wing and sets a pin for him instead:
See More:
