What is the pick and roll in basketball? The pick and roll, also known as the screen and roll, is one of the simplest plays to execute offensively. While it may be simple to run, if executed properly, it can be a nightmare for defenses to defend. That is why you have seen the pick and roll trickle down from the NBA and all the way down to the youth and high school levels.

Tips For Executing the Pick and Roll

Players have literally made a hall of fame career off of the pick and roll. See Karl Malone and John Stockton. If you use these tips below and get better at executing the pick and roll, your team will benefit from it tremendously.

Ball Handler Pick and Roll Tips

Ideally, you want to be able finish at the rim, make good decisions, have the ability to blow by defenders, and pull up for the jump shot off the dribble. However, you can still be effective without all of these abilities.
Get low and balanced – This enables you to explode by the defender and prevents the defense from easily knocking you off balance with a forearm or slight bump.

Wait for the screen – Too many times players get anxious and leave too early. This makes it easy for your opponents to defend and can also result in an offensive foul (moving screen) on the screener because you started dribbling around the screen too early. It’s better to be late than early when coming off of screens.

Fake opposite – When you fake opposite, this makes the defense play you honestly. It will also help you set up your defender so you can run them directly into the screen. If they still don’t play you honestly, you can turn down the screen and attack the basket.

Attack! – Attack and be aggressive when you dribble off of the ball screen. More good things will happen when you are aggressive and under control versus when you are tentative. Along with attacking ball screens, this approach should be applied to all parts of your game.

Head up and see the floor – I see too many players tuck their chin into their chest while attacking the basket and slam right into helpside defense which results in an offensive foul. See and anticipate what the defense is going to do. Great defenses will have good helpside defense versus the pick and roll. See where the defense is going and locate the open man.

Screener Pick and Roll Tips

Preferably, you want to have the screener be a post player who can set good screens and has the athletic ability to roll to the basket, catch the pass, and finish at the goal. It’s always a plus if the post player can shoot from outside which sets up the pick and pop as well.

Communicate – You should let the ball handler know that you are going to set a ball screen by raising a fist and calling out the ball handler’s name.

Sprint to area – You should sprint to the area that you are going to screen. This will give the defense little time to react and make it more difficult for them to defend the ball screen.

Be stationary – To prevent an offensive foul from being called, you need to stop moving and stay stationary as the ball handler dribbles around your pick.

Be big – Get your feet spread a little wider than shoulder width apart, knees bent, and hips down. This makes it harder for the defense to move you or nudge by you.

Roll – After the screen is set, try to pin the defender on your back, reverse pivot and open up to the ball, and roll to the basket. Reach up your hand in order to give the passer a target.

Head up and see the floor – Good defenses will have helpside defense on the pick and roll. As you receive the pass rolling to the basket, keep your head up so you can see if there is a helpside defender. This will help you avoid the charge by sliding around the defender or stopping and passing to an open player.

What is the pick-and-roll?

One of the most used and effective plays in the NBA is the pick-and-roll.

Every great player in the league from LeBron James to Kyle Lowry has mastered the art of the pick-and-roll. It’s one of the first plays many players who have made it to the NBA learned when they first picked up a ball.

But what is the pick-and-roll and how does it work? Let’s take a look and find out.

The pick-and-roll (or screen-and-roll) is when a teammate puts their body in front of the defender who is guarding the player who has the basketball. This is called a pick or a screen .

Once the pick is set, the player with the basketball will then move towards the pick, which prevents the defender from following them.

The pick-setter will then roll or move towards the basket so that the ball handler now has two options: pass the ball or take it themselves for a shot.

The pick-and-roll is usually used by a guard who is handling the ball and a taller or bigger player, either the forward or centre setting the pick. It can also be used the other way around with a taller player handling the basketball and a smaller player setting the screen, but that’s far less common.

Players like Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet have become NBA stars learning how to use the pick-and-roll effectively, but it was made famous by NBA Hall of Famers John Stockton and Karl Malone in the 1990s.

Today, every team uses their own version of the pick-and-roll which helps them create easier ways to score.

Now that you know what the pick-and-roll is, can you count how many times it’s used the next time you watch a basketball game?

Above is information what is the pick and roll in basketball.   Hopefully, through the above content, you have a more detailed understanding of what is the pick and roll in basketball .Thank you for reading our post