Offensive Plays

Within the basic offensive strategies, teams run specific plays. Coaches diagram the plays before the season and between games, and players devote much of their practice time to perfecting them.

Setting Up Play

     When coaches set up plays, they give each player a particular role to execute. A team’s plays maximize its own strengths and take advantage of an opponent’s weaknesses. For example, if a coach’s team has several good perimeter shooters on the court and the other team does not have quick defenders, the coach may tend to call for plays that get the shooters open for easy shots.

At all levels of basketball competition, teams run set plays some of the time—how often they do so depends on the coach’s preferences and how skilled the players are in executing the plays. Coaches design most plays with multiple options, so that once a play has started, players can gauge a particular situation and choose which option is most likely to work. The player in charge on the court, usually the point guard, tells the other players which play the coach has called and decides which option to use. The player does so by gesturing with his or her hand and yelling instructions while moving upcourt.

Screen

    A screen is when one player sets up in a designated spot and a second player runs right by, forcing the second player’s defender to run around the first player. The screen either frees up the second player for an open shot, or it forces the defense to switch coverage so that the defenders switch assignments. This defensive switch can force one of the defenders to cover a player who is larger or much quicker. A player must be stationary when setting a screen. If a player is moving as he or she sets a screen, the referee will call a foul.

Pick and Roll

     The pick and roll is the same concept as the screen, but it is slightly more complex. The first player sets a pick (screen), and the second player—the ball handler—dribbles by. After setting the pick, the first player rolls (spins) toward the basket or an open area on the floor, where he or she receives a pass from the ball handler. The pick and roll works best with players who can handle the ball well and are explosive when moving to the basket. Big players who are mobile and can catch and shoot immediately thrive in running the pick and roll.

Give and Go

    In the give and go, one player passes the ball to a teammate, then makes a quick cut and receives a pass back. The move does not involve a screen. The give and go frequently takes place on the wings (the sides of the court), where the aim is for the first player to catch a defender off guard and get open for an easy layup shot after the pass, cut, and pass back. Give and go’s also occur at the high post (the area near the foul line), with a guard passing to a forward or center, and then making a quick cut toward the basket.

Posting Up

    The term posting up means that an offensive player—usually one with a size advantage over the defender—turns his or her back to the basket and backs up against the defender, forcing the defender to give way. The offensive player then establishes good position around the basket and can take advantage of the easy scoring opportunity that results. Having players who can post up well is called having a good inside game. An inside game is important because it can force the defense to double-team the offensive player who posts up; this then creates an open shot for the player whose defender has left to form the double-team.

Three-Point Shooting

     The three-point shot is an important weapon for any offense because it enables a team to pile up points quickly. A team’s three-point game certainly depends on having excellent shooters, but it also depends on players setting good, solid screens that get shooters open and on players using the wings of the court (and thus forcing the defense to cover more area). It also depends on having a strong inside game that prevents the defense from concentrating too much on the outside shooters.

Isolations

. An isolation is when a team creates a matchup in which one of its players has a distinct advantage in size, quickness, or even experience over his or her defender. The other players on the offensive team then move away, preventing their defenders from helping the isolated defender. The offensive player creates his or her own shot by dribbling past the defender, posting up and backing down close to the basket, or using a move that puts the defender off balance.

Drawing a Foul

     Referees call fouls in basketball games when one player makes too much physical contact with another player. Most of the time, fouls are inadvertent. Sometimes an offensive player attempts to draw a foul—that is, to cause the defender to foul. A player usually does this by dribbling the ball aggressively to the basket, which can force an out-of-position defender to foul to avoid letting the offensive player score easily. Drawing a foul gives the offensive player free throws and also can put the defender in foul trouble. (Players can foul only a certain number of times before they must leave the game.) But if an offensive player is too aggressive, the referee calls an offensive foul and the strategy backfires.

Blocking Out

    After a missed shot, players on both teams try to rebound the ball, and blocking out is one of the techniques they use. The idea is to get between opponents and the basket and to push them away from the basket. This opens up space for the player who is blocking out to grab the rebound. Blocking out and rebounding are key for a successful offense, because the team gains second or third opportunities to score on missed shots. However, blocking out and rebounding are generally more difficult for the offensive team than for the defensive team, because the defenders are usually playing closer to the basket than the offensive players.