The Windy City Bulls were the top team in the G-League defending the Pick & Roll at .793 PPP (Pick & Roll including passes).
Like the Bulls in the NBA, the Windy City team was much more aggressive guarding the pick & roll than most teams. They would put 2 on the ball in a variety of coverages and would be
In this post we will look at how they guarded different alignments and what went into making them so successful defensively.
I separated the post by offensive alignment to help show the differences that each
Middle PNR-2 in Front
When there is 2 players in front of the ball the defense is in a tough situation. Some teams will help from the bottom of the 2 side no matter what and some teams help from the weak side low man.
The Bulls mix it up a little bit but I would say they lean more to the bottom of the 2-side. With the Bulls being more aggressive on the ball, this helps to keep the ballhandler from seeing the whole floor and picking the defense apart with his passing. The use of high hands buys time for the tags to get in place and slows the ball down.
This clip shows them tagging from the single tag. He does a good job of being in position early to help give the hedge guy some time to get back. One of the things that is important if you are helping off the single tag side is having the top guy in the 2-side (in front of the ball)
This clip shows a tough single tag situation but the bulls help from the front side with the Low man. The top guy on the 2-side should be sinking down to cover up for the tag, but this coverage option allows for the single tag defender to stay home.
One of the things I noticed while studying the Bulls PNR defense was how good they were using their hands to deflect passes. You can see in this clip how the tag defender reads the roll on the rescreen. The roller has a slight advantage early but because the hedge and on-ball defender have high hands they limit the guards vision. This possession they end up getting a deflection and the steal.
Middle PNR- 2 Behind
With 2 offensive players behind it turns into a easier tag situation for the defense. The low weak side comes in and tags the roller.
Teams have different terminology for this role. Some teams will call it the low man and some will call him the MIG (Most Important Guy). Whatever term is used, they are responsible for protecting the rim at all costs.
Something else to think about with tags is if the screener pops. In this alignment, the top defender would be responsible for tagging any pop.
Another example of the value of high hands. On the rescreen, the roller gets into space but because of the hand placement the ballhandler is unable to make the pass. This buys time for the tags to come in.
The offense runs this ballscreen to an open side so the bottom low man is able to start cheating over. The defense flat hedges and the top guard is able to take away the first pass which forces the ballhandler to throw a skip pass all the way to #8 and it goes out of bounds
The X-Out is a tactic that involves the bottom defender on the 2-side taking the roll. The top of the 2 side (#5) becomes the “Guard 2” defender and takes first pass out. The tag defender must now take #5’s man and complete the x-out.
This clip shows the importance of getting to your help spot and not being attached to the offense. As the ball goes away #2’s defender goes to the corner, #2 does a great job of getting right to the paint and is able to tag the roller. If he follows his matchup to the corner and then repositions he would be to late to help on the roller.
Another important part of tagging the defense is maintaining leverage on the roll. In this clip you can see #0 tag the roller. Because of positioning he needs to be able to tag the roller and get to his guy on a swing. If he gets caught inside the roller it basically acts like a screen on him, but because he doesn’t get pinned he is able to get to the corner to contest the shot.
The Offense tries to short roll the big here into the FT line area and the low tag is no longer needed. His position helps to take away the pass form the wing and as the pass goes to the corner he is able to sprint out to contest the shot knowing that the hedge man is recovering back to the roller.
Side PNR- 1 Behind
When looking at a side PNR their is 2 main alignments that we will look at. The Empty side PNR and the 1 behind (shake PNR). This section looks at the 1 behind (shake). This is also an alignment that puts the defense into a single tag situation at times.
The defense gets really aggressive in the PNR and forces the early pick up. The other 3 defender outside the PNR are forced to absorb the roller but because of the pressure on the ball, the ball-handler has to throw the ball to the corner. On that pass, the single tag defender must closeout and the weak side must pull over to account for the roller. Because of the high hands, the closeout deflects the ball and leads to a turnover.
The offense throws the pocket pass and gets an early 4 on 3. Now the defense must protect the basket and get out of the dominos situation. The low defender comes over and stops the ball. The top of the 2 side (O) sprints to take the corner and the defender on top sprints to take the 2nd pass. The defense is now matched up even though they do not have their preferred matchups.
Empty
The empty side PNR is tricky to guard for the defense in that the 3 off ball defenders must make sure they are clear on responsibilities. In a perfect world, that bottom defender would be responsible for all tags (Pops & rolls) and the top defender would be at the nail helping to plug up the middle of the floor. When the defense plays this PNR with the 3 defenders “3 in a row” it is almost impossible to guard.
One of the most important defensive concepts is the “Lag”. A good lag means that the as the offensive player cuts through to the weak side, the Defender that becomes the low man must lag and not follow his matchup outside the paint. You can see the low defender bouncing around and helping to take away the roll along with the on ball switch.
The offense hands off and turns the screen back down towards the baseline. No matter which way the ballhandler is going, when it is an “empty” PNR the low man must be in position under the basket and the top guy must be at the nail. The roll man gets into the paint but the guard is unable to get him the ball. (7) comes over as the low man and the defense goes into a full rotation leading to a missed layup.
The defense gets really aggressive in the screen and forces the pickup. The other 3 defenders now must account for the roller by having the low man tag. The only option for the offense is to get the next player popping out to relieve pressure and the defenses now won this possession
The Drive run a quick hitting PNR out of a secondary look, you can see the low man coming over and preventing the easy layup from the roller. Once the hedge defender recovers the defense can go back to their guy.
The Drop
The Bulls used multiple coverages to great success. Their drop coverage was effective against certain teams and one of the things that they did best is use the “next defender” to help keep the ball in the channel. This prevents the ballhandler from getting wide and stretching the drop defender. Teams like the Mavs are really good at using this defense when Boban is in the game.
Here you can see (8) being in the gaps early and helping to keep the ball in the channel. The offense has to snake dribble and takes a tough pullup.
The offense runs some action into the ballscreen and the bulls drop. With the drop its important for the big to have lower hands early to take away the pocket pass. In this clip, they tag the roller with the bottom of the 2. The drop guy makes a great play to get the steal on his recovery.
This isn’t a drop, but is a really good job of switching this double high screen. The low guy tags the roller and then must sprint out to contest the shot.