The video above was put edited by Iona College assistant Zak Boisvert and is essentially a compilation of great screening-slipping sets. “Slipping a screen” is a ball screen read in which the screener flashes to the basket before he even sets the screen.
Unlike the “roll” in a pick-and-roll, in which the screener’s goal is to bodily dislodge the dribbler’s defender then head to the rim, a slip preys on the defense’s anticipation of a ball screen.
As the the help defender slides into position to hedge on the ball handler his man dives to the rim before the on-ball defender has time to complete the switch.
A few things to note here:
- Watch how many of these screeners approach the ball handler not from the basket, but from the side. This forces the hedging defender into a more awkward position and makes it easier to slip quickly.
- Also important: how many of these slippers/screeners receive a screen themselves before they approach the ball handler. Again, the idea is to put the help defense in the worst possible position even before the pick-and-roll is initiated. Many NBA teams with great pick-and-roll attacks, like the Miami Heat, set a screen for the screener to start the play.
- There are a couple of high post-to-high post screens in this compilation. I wonder if the Lakers will try that out of the Princeton offense.
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