The pick and roll defense of Deniz Kilicli

One of the staples of the Villanova offense is the pick and roll, which they run with several of their guards. West Virginia is a team set up well to defend the pick and roll, as their big men are athletic enough to switch the screen. Here is a clip from early in the game that shows Cam Thoroughman switching the pick and roll and picking up Corey Fisher as he drives to the basket. Thoroughman can move his feet and stay with Fisher and not allow him to get a shot off.

However, Deniz Kilicli is not quite on the same level as Thoroughman or John Flowers in terms of perimeter defense. He makes an early mistake on the pick and roll but makes a nice adjustment later in the game.

Pitt has no answer for Notre Dame’s pick and roll

If you saw the big road win by Notre Dame at Pitt Monday night, you no doubt know a lot of the win was thanks to the three straight baskets by Ben Hansbrough off the pick and roll. Here they are broken down in order starting with the first basket.

Gonzaga gives up 2 open 3′s off of the same play

Leading by only 4 at the half, Illinois came out in the second half and fired off a barrage of long distance shots that eventually sunk the Bulldogs. Three of those makes came from 7 footer Mike Tisdale, two of which came off of the same action that Gonzaga had trouble defending.

Stanford’s pick and roll defense against DePaul

In today’s finale of the 76 Classic, Stanford took away any pick and roll action that DePaul tried to run. They did this by hedging hard with the screener’s man or switching entirely. They did not want to give the guards the edge and this mitigated the effectiveness of any pick and roll action.

Inside the play: Kenneth Faried slips the screen

Morehead State opened their game against Florida confidently, executing a set perfectly for a dunk for their star, Kenneth Faried.

The play is a simple screen and roll with Faried setting the screen. However, Faried reads the defense and slips the screen when he sees how the defense is playing.

Here is the initial setup. We have Faried setting the ballscreen with the ballhandler ready to use the screen.

Faried notices the defender cheats up high to hedge the ball screen. Since the defender is above Faried’s level, there is an open line to the basket. Faried makes a great read and takes what the defense gives him.

It’s a simple play, yet it is about reading the defense. Instead of setting the screen that would have been cut off, Faried slips the screen and gets an easy dunk. Slipping the screen is a crucial part of reading the defense and Faried shows he has the ability to do so.

Rhode Island’s effective first half defense against the pick and roll

Pitt has not run the pick and roll that many times in the first half, but Rhode Island has been ready for it when they have run the set. The Rams have shown they are not concerned with the big men rolling to the basket and are putting all their focus on the ball handler.

In this first clip, watch Rhode Island switch the pick and roll. The switching defender is able to cut off the driving Pitt player and picks up help from his teammates.

This looks to be the gameplan for the Rams, as they are focusing on the driving player and relying on the help defense to provide support and recover. As the help defense collapses, the weak side is open, but the Rams are content in giving Pitt the open three point shot.

While this gives Pitt an open 3, they cannot convert. Rhode Island is happy with this possession, as they forced the ball out of the guards hand on the pick and roll.

On the second attempt by Pitt, Rhode Island doubles the screener and forces him to give the ball up, leading to another empty possession. Rhode Island is showing no respect for Zanna and it is paying off. (Sorry for the poor quality).

Finally, we see Rhode Island again relying on the switching and help defense to defend the pick and roll. Rhode Island leaves Zanna again and focuses on the ballhandler.

They then rely on the help defense to scramble to cover the open man and recover.

This works for the Rams again, as the big men of Pitt are no threat to score from anywhere on the court. Right after this clip, they ran the pick and roll again, with Zanna missing an open layup.

That is why Rhode Island is switching/doubling the pick and roll. The big men for Pitt (Zanna/McGee) are not strong offensive players and the Rams can focus on denying the paint from the ballhandler rather than focusing on the roll men. It has worked in the first half as Pitt has not scored directly from the pick and roll.

Can Pitt adjust in the second half? Check back and see.

Some plays KSU runs for Jacob Pullen

Last year, Jacob Pullen used 26.3% of his teams possessions while he was on the floor. There is no doubt this year he is their #1 scoring option, so I wanted to show some of the ways KSU works to get Pullen open. Some of these are called sets, some are free flowing action and some are motion actions that are a result of some of the sets KSU runs.

Set plays

Here is the first set I saw that KSU runs for Pullen. With a box set with Pullen on the right block, he first sets a cross screen to open up the player in the post. He then has the option of using a double screen set at the foul line. Although Clemente dumps the ball into the post on this play, Pullen is one of the two main options on this play.

Here is a variation on that play, which has Pullen setting a cross screen for the post man and then receiving a single screen to get open at the top of the key. Again, the play goes to the post again, but Pullen is looking for a jump shot.

Here is another set they run for Pullen, which starts with him in the corner. He then gets two staggered screens set for him as he runs diagonally across the lane. His defender gets caught up in the first screen, as he is not sure how Pullen is going to use this screen. The second screener seals off his own man, allowing Pullen to get the open look.

As you will see throughout the next few videos, KSU loves to run Pullen off multiple screens and get him moving off the ball. Pullen showed he is willing to work off the ball and use screens in order to get open looks.

Running off multiple screens

As I said above, KSU loves to run Pullen off of two screens. In the following two clips, watch how KSU sets the staggered screens in various places on the court. In the first clip. we see it on the opposite side of the lane. In the second clip, we see it on the baseline.

The screeners did a great job of getting a piece of Pullen’s man as he was using the screens. Call it a moving screen if you want, but they were effective in getting Pullen open. As I showed in his scouting post, jump shooting is one of strengths and I am sure KSU will continue to run him off screens this season.

Pick and Roll

Pullen also runs the pick and roll for KSU, although I think he could become much more effective with this action this year. Watch this first clip and notice how he does not turn tightly around the screen but rather loops past it, ruining any chance of him getting to the basket. However, he does do a good job of finding the roll man for the basket but you can see how he is not really looking to create for himself.

When Pullen does use the pick and roll for himself, he likes to split the defense. Watch here as he comes around the screen and splits the defense to get to the lane.

From the other PNR sets I saw Pullen run, he usually loops around the screen and does not really use the screen that well. The PNR can be a major weapon for college teams, as most college big men don’t quite have the grasp on how to defend the entire action yet.

Now KSU does not run much isolation for Pullen, so that may be why he is uncomfortable creating off the PNR. I really hope this was a point of emphasis for him this summer, as he could become a much better offensive player if he felt comfortable creating off the pick and roll.