“Veer Screen”

Definition: a ballscreen followed by an off-ball screen, usually a wide pin-down (the player who sets the ballscreen then sets a screen for a different teammate instead of rolling to the hoop)

Synonyms: Hooiser

See Also: Ghost, Ram, Korver, Spain Veer, Spain PnR, Double Drag (77), Garfunkel (a variation of veer in which would-be picker ghosts the ballscreen before setting the pin-down; coined by @evin_gual and @samfolkk on their podcast, Bouncing Around)

Origin of the Name: N/A

How It Works: In the diagram above, 5 sets a ballscreen for 1. But instead of rolling to the hoop (as he would in a typical pick-and-roll), he sets a wide pin-down screen for 2.

Why It Works: In short, Veer screens exploit the defensive concept known as the “tag.” In the diagram above, 2’s defender is the “tagger”: His responsibility is to “tag,” or bump, 5 as he rolls to the hoop.

In this next picture, Trae Young and John Collins execute a pick-and-roll variation known as a throw-and-chase (Collins throws the ball to Trae and then chases his pass to set a ballscreen). As Collins rolls to the hoop, Aaron Gordon — circled in light blue — is the weakside low man, and therefore the tagger. It’s his responsibility to tag Collins to prevent a wide-open alley-oop.

But Aaron Gordon’s assignment, Danilo Gallinari, is going to “lift” or “shake”: move from the weakside corner to the weakside wing, making it even more difficult for Aaron Gordon to split the difference between Collins and Gallinari:

This play was not a veer screen, but if it were, Collins would have screened Gordon, the tagger, instead of rolling to the hoop:

Because Gordon is anticipating the pick-and-roll, he cheats off Gallinari to tag Collins. But the farther he cheats off Gallinari, the more susceptible he is to both a veer screen and a lift/shake.

Furthermore, if the ballscreener’s defender makes an adjustment in anticipation of the ballscreen (such as dropping or showing), he takes himself out of position to help with the ensuing veer screen.

For a longer explanation of the “tag,” here’s one my videos that discusses the topic:

Often, the screener can slip the veer screen and be open for a lob:

When the player in the corner is not a catch-and-shoot threat, he can curl the veer screen in a so-called blade or Maggette cut, which is discussed in the post for face cut.

Examples:

The veer can also follow a Double Drag (77), with either one or both ballscreeners setting the veer screen. In this example, the Utah Jazz, forced to play both Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors at the same time, have Favors set the veer while Gobert rolls to the hoop:

The Indiana Pacers run a veer stagger, in which both ballscreeners set a veer screen:

Some teams, including the Sacramento Kings and the Atlanta Hawks, run a Double Drag — Spain Veer, in which the first ballscreener receives a backscreen (cf. Spain/Stack PnR) from a player who then receives a veer from the second ballscreener:

The Cleveland Cavaliers run veer in a screen-the-screener variation, with Collin Sexton setting a cross screen before receiving the veer/down screen:

And here is a veer out of a Wedge Roll (a wedge screen followed by a side pick-and-roll):