One of the simplest yet most effective actions in basketball is a coordinated move by two teammates: one controls the ball, the other sets a screen. If executed correctly, the defense is forced into mistakes: a lane opens for dribbling, a comfortable shot appears, or a pass goes under the rim to a free big. Let’s break down what the pick-and-roll consists of, which options exist for running it, and how teams defend this partnership.
The Basics: What Is a Screen and How Advantage Is Created
A screen is the static blocking of a defender’s path with the body of an offensive player. The ball handler (ball handler) brings the ball and leads his defender into a teammate—the “big” (screener)—who takes a position that forces the defender to collide with an obstacle. At the moment of contact, an “opening” appears for the player with the ball: he can accelerate inside, change the angle of his dribble, rise for a mid-range jumper, or deliver an immediate pass.
The core mechanic is in the name: pick—the setting of the screen; roll—the dive to the rim after contact. If defenders react too aggressively to the ball, the roll yields easy points at the rim. If they sit back, the ball handler has time to operate comfortably.
Roles and Variations: Not Just the Roll, but the Pop, Short Roll, and “Ghost”
- Pick-and-pop: instead of diving to the rim, the screener “pops” to the arc or mid-range. This is the weapon of bigs with a reliable jumper.
- Short roll: the screener doesn’t go all the way into the paint but receives the ball around the free-throw line to play 4-on-3: he can hit the weak side, find a cutter, or finish himself.
- Slip: seeing that the defense is preparing to blitz the ball or switch, the big only shows the screen and cuts into the paint before contact—an excellent antidote to aggression.
- Ghost screen: a screen fake without contact followed by an immediate pop to a shot—used more by shooting bigs and wings.
- Spain PnR (Spanish pick-and-roll): a third player sets a “screen on the screener,” blocking the roller’s defender. Untangling this three-man action is extremely difficult for the defense.
- Angle/step-up/flat: variations in the angle and orientation of the screen (flat, 45°, turned toward the sideline) change the reads and pressure points on the defense.
Screening by the Book: “Clean” Technique without Fouls
The screener must remain stationary at the moment of contact: feet set, torso vertical, elbows and knees not widening the body’s natural frame. Shoulder shoves, trips, moving toward the defender, or “sticking the hip out” are ruled violations (moving screen). The angle matters too: a good screen guides the defender onto an unfavorable line—toward help or into less space. The ball handler, in turn, should “rub shoulder to shoulder” with the screener; by shrinking the gap he prevents the defender from squeezing between them.
Ball Handler Reads: Decisions at One-Second Speed
The pick-and-roll is valuable because the ball is with the team’s best on-ball creator, who holds a mental map of the floor. His basic reads:
- The defender fights over the top: the attacker dives into the paint, uses a snake dribble to slither back to the middle, looks for a mid-range jumper, or throws a lob to the roller.
- The defense goes under: if the jumper is stable, the ball handler punishes from three; if not, he changes pace and calls for a second screen.
- Drop (the big sags into the paint): floaters, pull-up jumpers, and a pocket pass into the short roll all work; 4-on-3 advantages are solved with a single accurate pass.
- Hedge/Show (the big steps out aggressively): hit the window for a pocket pass, swing to the weak side, or find the screener’s slip.
- Switch: isolate against the big, take a quick three, or use a change-of-pace dribble; simultaneously, hunt a mismatch for the screener at the rim.
- Blitz/Trap: exit pressure quickly with a pass into the short roll—after that the offense plays 4-on-3.
The faster these decisions are made, the fewer chances the defense has to recover.
Defending the Pick-and-Roll: From “Drop” to “ICE”
Despite its apparent simplicity, the defense has plenty of tools, and each coverage works best in specific roster and opponent contexts.
- Switch: versatile and removes open looks, but creates mismatches. Demands mobility from bigs and rebounding help from the perimeter.
- Drop: the big sinks toward the rim, taking away layups and alley-oops. Vulnerable to floaters and the ball handler’s consistent mid-range jumpers.
- Show & Recover / Hedge: the big meets the ball, delays the dribbler, and quickly returns to his man. Good against shaky passers, but punishable by the short roll.
- Blitz / Trap: aggressive two-on-the-ball to force turnovers. The cost: open passing lanes and 4-on-3 for the offense.
- ICE/Blue (on side pick-and-rolls): the on-ball defender turns the handler toward the sideline, denying use of the screen, while the big contains the drive down the line. Requires disciplined weak-side help.
- Under: effective versus poor shooters; weak against pull-ups and seamless re-screens.
- Peel switch: when a perimeter defender gets beat, the nearest teammate takes the ball while everyone else swaps on the fly. Prevents easy layups but demands high-level synchronicity.
Teams constantly mix coverages—by matchup, by area, or even by shot-clock timing—so the offense can’t settle into a rhythm.
Details That Turn the Action into Points
In the pick-and-roll, small things decide outcomes. Spacing: weak-side shooters “pin” their defenders to the arc and open the paint for the roll. Tempo: don’t enter the screen until teammates have filled the correct lanes—it’s often more important than first-step speed. Contact: a real, solid screen is more valuable than a mere “touch”; it breaks the defensive line and grants the ball handler a split-second to read. Angle: a flat screen in the middle forces the opponent’s big to choose—take away the shot or the drive. The second screen: restarting the action changes the picture and often yields a better look than the first.
Don’t forget the related actions: the dribble handoff (DHO)—a hand-to-hand pass with a screen fake—produces the same reads at different speeds. Screen-the-screener and deceptive off-ball movement prepare the pick-and-roll so the defense meets it a step late.
The pick-and-roll isn’t a trick—it’s a language of basketball. It works at every level because it forces the defense to choose right now. If your team has discipline in setting screens, smart angles, patience in its reads, and proper spacing, you’ll consistently generate quality shots—from simple layups to wide-open weak-side threes. That’s the currency victories are traded in.
