The Pick-and-Roll

The pick-and-roll (PnR) is a two-man game: a screener sets a pick on the ball-handler's defender, and then rolls to the basket. The ball-handler comes off the screen shoulder-to-shoulder and reads what the defense gives.

It's the most-run action in basketball at every level because it forces two defenders to make a decision at once — and any hesitation creates an advantage somewhere.

Coming off the screen, read the two defenders:

• Your defender trails and the big sags → pull-up jumper in the gap.

• The big steps up to you → pocket pass to the roller behind them.

• Both commit to you → the roll or a skip to the weak-side shooter whose defender must 'tag' the roller.

• They go under the screen → three off the dribble or re-screen.

One action, four answers. The PnR is a decision tree you'll run ten thousand times.

Screeners create the whole play: sprint to the screen, set it at a smart angle (usually aiming the ball-handler toward the middle or at the defender's top shoulder), make legal contact, then roll hard with a target hand up — or pop to the arc if you're a shooter (the pick-and-pop).

A lazy screen angle or a slow roll kills the play before the ball-handler touches it. Great screening is a skill scouts genuinely grade.