Northern Colorado: Hitting the roll man by attacking the single tag.
One of my favorite teams that I watched on synergy this Spring was Northern Colorado. Coach Jeff Linder runs a very creative system with strong concepts. On a podcast with Rex Walters he mentions how he was very heavily influenced by European offense. When you watch his team play, they really do play a little different than most college basketball teams. Before he was the head coach at Northern Colorado he was in charge of the offense at Boise State where they had a ton of success.
On synergy they have the 9th best offense in all of Division 1 at .992 Points per possession. A big part of their offensive attack is the pick & roll game. They use the roller more than any other team at that level. They were one of four teams that had over 200 Roll man possessions (even more impressive that they played 1 less game than everyone else above 200).
For this post we are going to look at how they attack the single tag in their ballscreen action. The single tag refers to which defender must take the roller on a ballscreen. Some teams will help from the weak side lowest guy and some teams will help from the bottom guy on the 2-side. Northern Colorado runs some of the best single tag stuff I have seen and they are a fun team to study.
Changing Tag Responsibilities
The next big thing for ballscreen offense is how the offense can manipulate tag responsibilities for the defense. Offense is subtle. When you know the coverage you can figure out a way to punish the coverage through subtle actions. This could be moving a player, changing the angles of the screen, or involving them in an action before the ballscreen.
This is a perfect example of offense being subtle. Its a simple stagger and turn into the ballscreen. What makes this play work is that the player in the corner sprints across off a token exit screen. The guy guarding the PG is now the tag man and without any talk, he has no idea that he has that responsibility.
This is a similar idea as the play above. Moving the guy in the corner would make the #5 in red the single tag. #5 stays with his matchup and the defense is saved by #3 in red reading the play. This is also an example of involving the tag in a prior action. Human nature is to relax after guarding an action. So when Red #5 guard #13 off the pop, he doesn’t know about his other responsibilities.
This clip shows 2 things that are really important when looking at the ballscreen. 1) when #13 cuts from one side to the other he makes the defender in the far corner responsible for tagging the ballscreen without him realizing it. 2). The Northern Colorado big setting the ballscreen does a great job of making the defense initiate their coverage without setting the screen. This opens up much more space for the roll and gets him behind the drop.
I labeled this as a Spain action, but I am not sure if it is or not. They do this out of a roll replace action as well. They have some good movement into the ballscreen to spread the defense and get to their spots. #13 starts low and with him coming up it leaves the near corner defender to spread out to happen on the roll. A well timed Spain slip action from #13 helps open up the roll for the big.
Creative Sets
Northern Colorado runs great stuff. They mix ball and player movement really well in a way that allows them to take advantage of things they see from the defense.
This play has a ton of movement into the actual action. Stagger, tight curl, flare just to get into the shake action. What is interesting in this one, is that they use one of their best shooters #13 to pretend like he is receiving a screen and keep the tag guy from helping on the roll. What makes it risky, is that it puts the defender closer to the action. The PG stretches the drop coverage enough to open up the hard roll. The weak side is active and has good spacing.
One of the more creative plays I have seen. It starts with a guard to guard ballscreen. Once the PG hits the pop guy, the big sprints up into the ballscreen. On the second ballscreen the big rolls hard for a layup. You can see the tag guy position on the first one and then go back to his matchup once the ball goes back to the top. When the second ballscreen hits, he is out of position to help on the roller. At the top, the 2 side does a great job of occupying the defense with a well timed flare action.
The sneak concept is something that a lot of pro teams are running. I love the creativity of it and the indecision the defense has when guarding it. The concept is to sneak your shooter under the first screen to change help responsibilities. It is super effective with a filled or empty corner.
Same play because I am such a fan. This one #13 goes a little earlier which gets the attention of the low corner defender opening up the roll.
This play sells the handoff to a very good shooter. However, they throw it to the PG in the middle of the floor. With the spacing and quick roll form the post, the single tag can’t happen. The big does a great job of sprinting out of the screen once he sees #12’s defender is behind him. His job of rerouting the defender is done and he can sprint downhill.
Flipping the Screen
One of the ways that Northern Colorado would get to their single tag stuff was by changing the angles and flipping the screen. This is an effective technique to punish or prevent the coverage. Against a hard hedge, it can eliminate the coverage and against a softer coverage it will soften up the hedge even more. For the off ball defenders, it changes the help responsibilities at the point of the screen. This opens up the roller for a bigger pocket or a little space to get downhill on the roll.
The most basic way of showing this concept is this clip. A simple tracer action (handoff to a ballscreen) and the screener coming up and flipping his angle at the last moment. Because the guard is neutral with his defender, the screener must smash on the screen and get the guard open. He sets a good screen and rolls hard to the single tag side. The tag guy at the top of the screen is unable to help.
Northern Colorado gets a lot of mileage out of their double high ballscreen look. Against the under on the second screen, #25 sets a second ballscreen a little lower that will most likely prevent the 2nd under by the defense. The defense is in a deep drop and the tag defender is not able to help all the way in.The deep drop combined with the angle of the ballscreen opens up the pocket for the PG to make the pass.
A simple floppy play that gets the defense moving. It flows into a “Get” action with the post player. On the handoff, the big turns and sets the ballscreen for the PG. Like the play above, the defender on the PG goes under and on the prescreen must go over because of the angle of the ballscreen. The single tag defender at the top of the screen refuses to leave the screen and the PG throws a pass in the pocket for a foul.
Occupying the 2 Side
Some teams will always tag with the bottom of the 2-Side. The 2-Side refers to the side with 2 players on it compared to the single side (single tag). To have effective ballscreen actions, good offenses must be able to occupy the 2-side. This could be done through cutting or screening. The main idea is that you want to occupy the attention of the defense.
The ballscreen is a 5 man action. This clip shows a basic shake action without any entry. The defense puts 2 on the ball and the big rolls hard. The tag man on the single side is unable to get in position because of the spacing and the threat of a shooter. On the 2-side at the top you can see that the defense is occupied with the token screening action. They have no attention on the roller or ball handler.
Northern Colorado runs a lot of pistol action. Although this isn’t true pistol and turns into a shake look, I am calling it a pistol look. Because the guard is at the elbow like he would be for a normal pistol look, its a really hard help for his defender on the hard roll. The big does a great job of smashing on the screen and rolls hard once he has hit the defender. On the near side the 2-side is occupied by the down screen