“Short Action”

Term: Short (Action)

Definition: A cut/flash to the strongside during a pick-and-roll, usually to punish hedging or blitzing

See Also: roll and replace, short roll (which is not the same as short action; in short roll, the ballhandler passes to the roller, who has stopped short near the midrange instead of continuing to roll towards the basket).

How It Works: In the diagram above, 5 sets a ballscreen for 1 as 4 shorts the pick-and-roll by cutting under the basket to the strongside dunker spot. This cut gives more room for the roller and gives a better passing option for the ballhandler (especially against hedging/blitzing).

Mike D’Antoni and the “Seven Seconds or Less” Phoenix Suns are credited with originating “Short Action.”

Why It Works (against hedges/traps): When the defense hedges, x5 briefly guards 1—ideally, by funneling the ballhandler towards the halfcourt line for one or two dribbles while also preventing an over-the-top pass to the roller—before retreating to his man (5). Meanwhile, x4 tags the roller (briefly guard 5 to prevent an easy layup, and then retreating to 4 when x5 recovers to 5).

If the PG is unable to pass to the roller himself, he can pass to 4. At that point, 4 and 5 have a two-on-one against x4:

Since the NBA has embraced drop coverage in recent years, which is far more conservative than hedging, short action has been relatively dormant in the league, but in the 2021–22 season, as defenses have returned to hedging more and more, especially against elite pull-up shooters, short action has also returned. The Golden State Warriors have made special use of short action to punish teams for hedging against Steph Curry and to use Gary Payton II’s athleticism:

Ram Slip Short Lob:

In essence, shorting a PnR against a hedge is an identical function to the throw-ahead pass to set up a high-low, aka what Zak Boisvert calls a “gator pass” for how well Al Horford and Joakim Noah used to run it for Billy Donovan at the University of Florida:

Unlike the pass to the strongside dunker spot in short action, the throw-ahead pass is (more or less) horizontal and thus a bit easier for the ballhandler. In the situation diagrammed below, x2 should be tagging 5 to prevent a wide-open layup, but even if that happens, 5 often has a drastic size mismatch to finish over the tagger:

If 4 is not a shooting threat from outside, x4 can sag into the paint to prevent the high-low pass to 5. (Horford had the ball skills and Noah had the athleticism to eat up the space between himself and the basket if their defenders sagged so far off them; bad things can happen when coaches use other coaches’ plays but not their players.) Short action somewhat solves that problem, since the middleman is usually within 8 feet of the basket: within range for almost everyone on a post-high school roster.

Another way teams defend the throw-ahead or short action is to deny the first pass. In theory, 4 should be able to backdoor x4 in such situations, but a strong hedge from x5 should leave only a dangerous over-the-top pass, and since x2 is already in position to tag 5, he is often ready to steal risky passes or take a charge against 4 cutting hard down the lane:

In the short action variation, x2 can come from the weakside corner to tag 5, but that takes strong defensive communication. It’s far easier for defenders to acknowledge the tagger before a ballscreen than for x2 to realize midplay that roles have changes and it’s now his turn to tag 5. For example, in the following version of Spain Leak, Arizona State hedges the ballscreen, which means Josh Christopher (#13), who begins the play in the middle of the paint, is responsible for tagging the roller. But because his man leaks out to the perimeter instead of setting the Spain backscreen, Christopher has to choose between following his man and tagging, and he follows his man:

Why It Works (against drop coverage or switching):

Against drop coverage or switches, short action can still be effective, simply by giving more room for the roll man. In the following clip, of Zipper Fist, Nerlens Noel cuts from the weakside to the strongside dunker spot, giving room for Obi Toppin to roll and finish at the hoop:

If the nonscreening big remains on the weakside, the roller runs into him and his defender:

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