Half courtvs man3 phasesRuns 5.8 s
Ram Screen
The big is screened before he screens: a teammate rams his defender from above so the big can sprint into the ball screen uncovered. It is the simplest answer to a team that wants to hedge or switch every pick-and-roll.
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Phase by phase
1Phase 1
4 rams the big’s man from above — 5 comes off it hard, already ahead of his defender.
- 4 screens for 5
- 5 cuts to the right elbow
2Phase 2
Straight into the ball screen — 1 goes middle, 5 rolls with a head start on his man.
- 5 screens for 1
- 1 dribbles to the right elbow
- 5 cuts to the rim
3Phase 3
Drop it off; 4 is sitting in the dunker spot if the low man helps.
- 1 passes to 5
- 5 shoots
Teaching points
- 4 screens the big's defender from above, so 5 comes out of it already ahead of his man.
- 5 sprints into the ball screen. The head start is worth nothing at walking pace.
- 1 waits for the screen to arrive before he moves. Early is the most common mistake.
- 1 attacks the middle of the floor off the screen.
- 4 drops into the dunker spot after the ram and stays there as the second finisher.
A ram screen is the simplest answer to a team that will not let your big set a clean ball screen. Before he screens, somebody screens for him. He arrives at the ball with a step on his defender, and a defender who is a step behind cannot hedge and cannot switch.
4 rams 5’s man from above. 5 comes off it hard and goes straight into a ball screen for 1. 1 turns the corner middle and 5 rolls with the head start he already had.
How it is guarded
The coverages that punish an ordinary ball screen all depend on the screener’s defender being in front of the action. The ram takes that away.
A hedge needs the big to be level with the screen before the ball arrives; after a ram he is behind it. A switch needs both defenders together; the ram has already separated them. Drop is the only coverage that survives, and then 1 has a pull-up.
Teaching it
Timing between the two screens is everything. 4 sets the ram, and 5 has to leave the moment the contact happens, not after he checks that it worked.
Teach it as one action with two parts and give it one count. Ram, sprint, screen. If there is a pause in the middle the defense catches up and it is just a ball screen with extra steps.
Once your team can run it, it is the thing you call against any team that traps or switches every pick-and-roll.
Counters
- Against a hedge, the big's defender is behind him after the ram and cannot get out in time. Play it straight.
- Against a switch, the ram already separated the screener from his man. Slip the ball screen instead of setting it.
- If the low man helps on the roll, 4 is at the rim on the other side.
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