The SHORT ROLL as a life insurance for shooting teams

Indisputably the outside shot gained a lot of importance over the last years. More and more teams rely on it and never has the game seen so many great shooters as today.

But the beauty of basketball is that it keeps evolving. And opponents adapt too. They get better and smarter to take away these shots.

As a coach, you’d be better prepared for the next countermove on the chess board!

Today, I want to slice down a must-have tool for shooting teams.

Therefore I’ll focus on the best shooting team from last season’s Euroleague campaign, Zalgiris Kaunas. Their srongest weapon is the threepoint shot (42%). 

Logically, many opponents choose for a “hard hedge” to defend their ballscreens. This complicates Zalgiris to shoot behind the screen, but also to reach the open shooters.

This is exactly how Valencia forced an early 10-2 lead against the Lithuanian team in their match-up in January.

But in an early time-out, Coach Schiller adjusted 1 detail to the gameplan. It would lead to four open three-point shots in the next five possessions. It’s was the key decision that turned around the game and allowed Zalgiris to steal the game.

The gamechanger was “THE SHORT ROLL”.

On a short roll, the screener opens up to the ball early.  The big makes an early pass possible around the elbow area, despite the pressure on the ball handler.  This pass forces a rotation in the defense.  It’s key to have a big that can scan the floor quickly on the catch and make the right pass to the open shooter or cutter.

In the video, I highlight all the details of this “life insurance” for good shooting teams.  Fundamentals as opening up to the ball, showing 10 fingers, scanning the court, … will be shown in the breakdown:

That’s it for this time. If you want to be notified by e-mail whenever I post a new article, leave your email adress on my homepage.

Pascal.

AdB Hoops is a world leading coaching resource where you will find much more besides this video breakdown. You sign up for it for FREE right here. For the video editing I use my all-time favorite tool Coach Paint.