A while back I wrote about our side pick and roll attack versus teams who “show” or “hedge.”  To read Side Pick and Roll Concepts click here.  It seems as though today more and more teams are defending pick and rolls in a variety of different ways.  One way that is becoming more popular is to “Blue” the side pick and rolls or “push them down.”  To make things easier let’s assume we are talking about a 1-5 side pick and roll.  When teams “show” on side picks the guard defending the ball handler, X1, adjusts his stance and sends him to the pick, towards the middle of the floor.  He does this because the big defending the screener, X5, is there to “show” and buy time for the guard to get back and contain the ball.  Teams that “Blue” the side pick and roll do the opposite.  As the screener is running out to set the side pick, X1 will jump on the ball handler’s top shoulder, not allowing him to get middle, forcing him to the baseline away from the screener.  As 5 goes to set the pick X5 leaves his man and gets to a spot near the box.  He plays the ball handler as if that were his own man but is somewhat loose in doing so.

I like “Blue-ing” side pick and rolls because I think most teams are geared toward attacking a “show-ing” defense.  I have noticed that some teams run less side pick and roll versus us because of the fact that we Blue them.  I think anytime you can impact what a team is going to run with your defense you have an advantage.  A team is changing what they will run versus you because of your defensive scheme.

But as many advantages as certain defensive schemes have, they all have their weaknesses too.  What we need to understand is how to attack those schemes.  If you’re players have been trained to attack “show” pick and roll defense and a team Blues them, they are unlikely to get anything done.

The first thing I want my players to understand is that a pick and roll is a play for the guard.  You don’t put Steve Kerr in pick and rolls.  You do put Dwayne Wade in pick and rolls because it’s a play for him to attack.  This does not mean that they will shoot it every time but they must make the defense commit to them before they pass the ball and make the right play.  One of the most important things I want to get across to my guards is that a pick and roll, when run properly, creates a one on one situation for them versus a “big.”  If a good screen is set then X1 should be taken out of the play and the ball handler should have a free run at a slower, bigger defender.  I want my guard’s eye’s to light up when they are attacking “bigs” in pick and rolls because they know those “bigs” cannot stop them.  It is somewhat of a different situation when attacking a Blue because the defense does not allow the screen to be set.  What I want my guards to think about though is that X1 must change his stance to take away the middle of the floor so that he can make sure he directs the ball handler down to the big.  But when he does this he is no longer able to contain the dribble.  So once again we have given our best ball handler a one on one situation versus a “big.”  The different reads for our guards are below:

SELL THE BASELINE, GET MIDDLE (CROSSOVER & SPLIT)
We always want our players “getting middle” and “attacking the paint.”  Again, we want to try and make this a 1 on 1 situation.  Our quick guard vs. their slow big.  The first thought I want my guards to have is to immediately attack the big’s outside shoulder (“sell the baseline”).  I want the big to think I am looking to get baseline so that I can get him moving/leaning in that direction.  Once he is sliding that way he is unable to contain your quick change of direction move.  I want our guards to change direction using a crossover dribble or quick spin move and get to the rim.  If the defense helps on the drive he can kick it out for a wide open jump shot.

SELL THE MIDDLE, ATTACK BASELINE (IN & OUT TO THE OUTSIDE)
Often times big guys are fearful of getting split (beat to the middle) so they do whatever they can to take that away.  But remember they cannot take away everything.  If they take away the middle that means they are giving up the baseline.  Again, we want to try and make this a 1 on 1 situation.  Our quick guard vs. their slow big.  This time as the guard attacks the big he gives a hard “in & out” dribble to the middle of the floor, attacking his inside shoulder, to get the big leaning in that direction.  Once he gets the big on his heels he can attack his outside shoulder and beat him to the baseline.  Again, a “big” should not be able to contain our quick guards off the bounce.

ATTACK THE BIG, POCKET JUMPER
Occasionally the big in the Blue will be very loose.  As the guard attacks him he will continually retreat and retreat (“give ground”).  As the guard sees him continually backpedal he takes two hard dribbles directly at the big and pulls up on a dime for a “pocket” jumper.

STILL GET MIDDLE vs. THE BLUE
Just because the defense is “BLUE-ING” does not mean you can’t get to the middle.  X1 has a very difficult job of quickly taking away the middle of the floor.  The guard here takes one dribble to the baseline to setup his defender then quickly spins back to the middle of the floor, comes off the screen, and gets to the rim.  Anytime the ball handler can get to the middle of the floor against the Blue he will have the advantage.  X1 and X5 are out of the play.  Just because a team is “Blue-ing” us does not mean that we want to ‘concede’ to the blue.