When a screener rolls to the rim, the nearest help defender steps into his path, puts a forearm on him for a beat to slow the roll, and then sprints back to his own man. He is not switching and he is not helping all the way. He is renting a second so the on-ball defender can recover.
The tag usually comes from the weak-side low defender or from a defender at the nail, depending on where the ball is and how the team is built.
Why coaches use it
The roll is the second half of every pick and roll, and in drop coverage the big cannot cover both the ball and the roller. A tag is how the other three defenders pay for the drop without anybody fully leaving a shooter.
It is also the cheapest possible help. One body, one beat, no rotation behind it if it is done on time.
How to attack it
Every tag is a shooter left alone for a moment. Your job is to know which one.
- Shake behind it. The tagger’s man does not stand still. He lifts from the corner to the slot behind the ball, which pulls the tag out of the lane or gets him an open catch. Spread Ball Screen Shake is drawn around this exact read.
- Throw the pocket pass early. Get the ball to the roller before the tag arrives and the roller is attacking a bent defense.
- Screen the tagger. That is what Spain pick and roll does to the drop big, and the same idea works on a weak-side tag.
- Use two rollers. Double drag gives the help two bodies to track and only one of them can be tagged.