The Art of the Roll
Rollin' With the Homies...
Welcome to our “Sunday Mornin’ Newsletter”, where we consolidate and highlight some of the best ideas, strategies, and coaches from around the world of basketball. Here’s what we’ll cover in today’s issue:
“The Art of the Roll” - Looking at the various concepts used by the best “rollers”
Moncho Fernández - Our podcast with one of the world’s best coaches
Hammer Time - Our recent love affair with Hammer Sets
Best Sets of the Week - Somewhat self-explanatory
What We’re Reading/Watching
Let’s dive in…
The Art of the Roll
This week we decided to highlight an often underappreciated, yet highly important piece of the offensive puzzle, The Roller. Akin to an Offensive Lineman, the Roller, and their impact on the outcome of a possession is often overlooked unless they are seen flying above the rim for a finish or given a lavish gift from Tom Brady. Yet, the best Rollers in the world subtly create cracks in a defense that can domino into a high quality look for the offense.
Here are a few concepts and decisions some of the best rollers make:
1. “Should I Stay or Should I Go”?
Any chance to include The Clash in a basketball newsletter is a chance even Ben Cohen would roll the dice on. English Punk-Rock references aside, the question of when to “Get Out” of a screen is one of the first and most important decisions a Roller makes. There are a variety of teaching points here, but a common rule-of-thumb for the Roller is that they should “Get Out” of the screen once they’ve been able to force the On-Ball Defender to go “Over the Top” of the screen.
There are numerous ways to “Get Out” of the screen by either using a “Ghost Screen”, a “Touch and Go”, or actually “Burying” the defender in the screen.
Once the defender is going over the top of the screen, or has change their foot angle, the Roller’s next job is to put pressure on the rim by Sprint Rolling to collapse the defense and force either the Tag (see last week’s Newsletter on the Tag Here) or the Dropping Big to have to protect the rim.
It helps to have a Roller who can climb the ladder like Emanuel Terry above (who was coached by last week’s podcast guest, Josh Schertz in college), but the other, more common, advantage the “Sprint Roll” creates comes from the offense playing “behind the roll” through the “Shake” or “Lifting” offensive players. The gravity of the “Sprint Roll” allows the other offensive players to attack either a closeout or make a quick “Extra Pass” to continue attacking through the possession.
*For a deeper film study on “Attacking the Closeout” visit HERE.
2. “Roll and Seal” - Doing the Dirty Work
Once a Roller has made the decision to “Get Out” of the screen and there is no clear Lob or Drop-Off scoring opportunity, the high-level roller will look to “Seal” or “Post” the Tag or his own defending big as they’re recovering from their on-ball coverage.
This is a subtle but powerful concept as even a half-second “Seal” attempt on a guard trying to Tag the roller can open up all kinds of opportunities for the offense. And, even if the Roller is not able to hold a seal on a Tagging guard, they are often in great position to effectively use angles and great positioning to seal their own man for a deep post catch.
*Note - A Roller sealing their own man after rolling has a similar effect as a “Screen” when a guard attacks downhill while they seal. This is commonly termed a “Gortat Screen”. Illegal? Possibly. Effective? Definitely.
3. The Short Roll - Decision Time
The above two concepts center around a Roller getting to the rim and using them as a way to create gravity and be a finisher of a play. The next action of the Roller puts them in a position to be a Decision-Maker… the Short Roll.
The Short Roll is particularly useful with a big that can both Finish AND Pass, and is a common tactic used to combat a “Hard Hedge” or “Drop Coverage”. The Short Roll is commonly used in a “Reverse-Angle Screen” (see Moncho Fernandez podcast/videos below) where the big can pivot and open up to the “Nail” and play towards the wide-side of the floor.
The first decision on the Short Roll catch is, if open, to finish at the rim…
The second, and higher-level decision, is when the Short Roller catches and cannot immediately finish. In this situation, the Short Roller will look to “Get Off the Ball” quickly and find cutters and shooters on the backside.
For further insights and to see all these concepts on video, here is yesterday’s full YouTube breakdown…
The Alchemist - Moncho Fernández
We had the pleasure this week to sit down with one of our favorite coaches to study, Moncho Fernández, Head Coach of Monbus Obradoiro in Spain’s Liga ACB in the latest episode of the Slappin’ Glass Podcast. Nicknamed, The Alchemist, Coach Fernández is well known for his “4 -Corner PNR Offense” that utilizes the “Short Angle Screen” and clever backside movement. We broke down the teaching points of his offense as well as his current Playbook in 2020 before speaking with him, so it was fun to lean in deeper during the podcast. Here are the videos:
In the podcast we spoke about:
His basketball influences and history of the “4 Corner PNR”
The various screens, cuts and decisions he teaches within the offense
How offenses and defenses evolve during a season
“Next Defense” and some subtle teaching points
And of course… “Overrated/Underrated?!”
*Thank you for the continued support of the podcast. To help it grow we’d appreciate a Rating and Review HERE. Thanks!
Hammer Time
When watching film, it’s hard to pass up a great Hammer Set, and there have been plenty as of late. Here are 3 recent favorites:
1) Igor Kokoskov - Serbia National Team…
2) Xavi Pascual SLOB Hammer Set…
3) Martin Schiller and Zalgiris SLOB Hammer…
Best Sets of the Week
With the start of the NCAA Season, along with Europe in full swing, there’s so much good basketball being played. Here are a few of the best sets we saw this week…
1) { Offensive Trend - Ghost Screen Flare } A really clever and effective tactic used by multiple teams recently. Love how this action clears space while also occupying the backside help defenders…
2) { Igor Kokoskov - Short Angle Spanish PNR } FIBA Qualifiers are being played and we love watching the action the National teams are using. Here was an interesting set by Serbia in which the “Spain” action is set toward the short-side of the floor instead of the middle…
3) { Iverson Loop Series - NCAA, National Teams, and Europe } Another installment in our “Crossover” series, here looking at the multiple uses of the “Iverson Loop” Series…
(EXTRA CREDIT) - “Switching Defenses Mid-Possession” - On the other side of the ball, we’ve seen teams increasingly switching defenses in the middle of a possession from either “ Zone to Man”, or “Man to Zone”. Here are a couple ways teams are switching from “Zone to Man”…
Boston College - Zone to Man on a High Post Catch…
Reyer Venezia - Zone to Man on 2nd Pass…
What We’re Reading and Watching
Some food for thought from inside and outside the world of basketball…
Teams We’ve Enjoyed Watching this Week…
Davidson (NCAA D1)
Reyer Venezia (Italy Serie A)
Johns Hopkins (NCAA D3)
Finland National Team
William and Mary (NCAA D1)
Thanks for reading! If you’re enjoying we always appreciate a share to others who might find it valuable…
Have a great week coaching,
Dan and Pat
slappinglass1024@gmail.com