A screener comes from up the floor and sets his feet below the cutter, facing the baseline. The cutter starts low, sets his man up, and comes up off the screen toward the ball. It is the screen you see in almost every playbook, from a simple wing entry to an out-of-bounds play.
Why coaches use it
It gets a shooter a catch on the move without the ball ever leaving the perimeter, and it does it in a part of the floor where help is furthest away.
It also teaches reads rather than routes, which is what makes it worth the practice time. The cutter does not have one job. He has four, and the defender picks which one:
- Straight up to the wing when his man trails him.
- Curl into the lane when his man is glued to his back.
- Fade or flare out when his man goes over the top early.
- Back cut when his man top-locks and refuses to let him use the screen at all.
Teach the reads and the same call produces four different plays against four different defenders.
How it is guarded
- Chase. Lock onto the cutter’s hip and trail him over the screen. Takes away the catch-and-shoot, gives up the curl.
- Top-lock. Stand between the cutter and the screen. Takes the action away entirely and gives up the back cut.
- Under. The short way, for a cutter who is not going to shoot it.
- Switch. Cheap, and it leaves a mismatch somewhere.
The screener is never innocent, either. Screen the screener and the defense that just recovered has a second problem in the same possession.