Recently a coach asked me, "How do you get your players get free, when playing a tight man to man defence?" The answer is screening!
Many coaches are unaware that the concept of screening, unlike in many other sports, is perfectly legal in basketball and a fantastic way for your players to obstruct and lose their marker - disrupting the opposition's defensive system.
In this progressive Sportplan session we look at the rules of screening and work through specific patterns of play so that your players can practice creating these static obstacles - whilst also reviewing the V cut.
Not only will this technique frustrate your opposition and create openings for your players, it will also change the set up of the game - as your players come up against different players, possibly resulting in a mis-match where they have a height or ability advantage.
Good spacing is only the start. The best modern offences teach players to attack the defence's rotations and play in a permanent 4-on-3 - here is how to coach that read.
The ball screen produces almost half of all professional offensive possessions, yet most teams still teach it as a memorised play. The modern approach trains the read - giving players a framework to decide based on what the defence does, not what the coach called.
The closeout is the most repeated defensive action in modern basketball. With fouls per game climbing in the 2025-26 season, coaches must teach defenders to contest the three without surrendering the drive or putting shooters on the line.
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