Exploring basketball's best ideas, strategies, and coaches around the world Happy Sunday and welcome to all the new members from around the world! ICYMI: Last week, we examined Anadolu Efes’ transition offense featuring a rim-running 4-man turning the rim seal into a Spain ballscreen. Read the full newsletter HERE. This Week at a Glance:📺 SGTV: Punishing the Hedge - Slip Out Hook Screen 🎧 Slappin' Glass Podcast: Rhett Soliday {Vanguard University} 📢 Dr. Dish & Hudl Instat 🥇 Best of the Week: Ricky Screens & Gaggle Screening Let's dive in... Slip Out Hook ScreenOver the course of this season, one thing has stood out: more teams than ever are aggressively defending the ballscreen, especially using the "Hedge and Plug" {🔒} coverage. With opponents now routinely facing some form of a hedge, we’ve been paying close attention to how teams are choosing to attack it, whether through clever screening techniques or innovative ballscreen concepts. Today’s breakdown covers both, focusing on a coordinated offensive action designed specifically to punish the hedge. Slip Out Hook ScreenIn this “Slip Out Hook Screen,” the offense starts by running a decoy step-up/reverse ballscreen to bait the big defender into hedging, afterwhich, the screener immediately slips out and sprints from elbow to elbow, setting up a second "hook" ballscreen on the throwback pass to the guard lifting behind in the opposite slot. Here's an example... SpacingDue to the coordinated nature of this action, we often see it deployed as part of a designed set, with entries crafted to space the intended ballhandler in the slot behind the first decoy screen so they can attack into the short side of the floor off the "hook" screen. AEK Athens, shown above, uses this action to great effect, often flowing from a stagger away-to-pitch back, or "touch," option in order to get the correct spacing before triggering the “Slip Out Hook Screen”. Why it's Effective?Why coordinate this complex action? We recently examined the use of a "flip screen" {🔒} as a way to punish defenses that hedge aggressively... ...Due to the flip screen’s unpredictable nature, the on-ball defender is often left trying to force the ball into a screen that never comes, making it a potent way to set up "rejects" {🔒} for speedy guards. Even if a team isn't hedging, and merely wanting to switch or "drop" on the ballscreen, flipping the screen can still cause confusion for the defenders and open up driving lanes for the ballhandler. We looked at this a ton in our past breakdown of Ben McCollum's offensive principles {🔒}... While the above benefits of the "flip screen" are many, it often involves a ballhandler with a live dribble making a patient, coordinated read with their big. The "Slip Out Hook Screen" differs slightly in that it allows the guard to make a play off the catch in more of a "stampede-like" action... Zooming In: Some additional benefits of this "hook" screen are 1) due to the fact that many teams try and plug the nail during the normal step-up screen spacing, the offensive big has a great angle to actually set a solid screen on that top defender during the "hook" since that guard is pulled in so far, and 2) the misdirection of this action almost guarantees that the defending big will be late and sprinting into a sort of "drop" coverage look during the "hook" screen, allowing the offensive guard the space and time to make a play downhill. This action likely won’t replace a team's foundational ballscreen concepts, but as a well-timed wrinkle, it can free a playmaker in space against a vulnerable coverage. Its value lies in the ability to manipulate the defense into doing exactly what the offense intends—baiting the hedge, timing the second screen, and turning the defense’s own coverage rules against them. To see this coordinated ballscreen effort in action, SG+ Members can now view the full breakdown on SGTV! Together with Dr. Dish For a limited time only, our friends at Dr. Dish are giving you up to $4,000 off their entire professional lineup of shooting machines. Score up to $4,000 in savings when you purchase a Dr. Dish CT+, All-Star+, or Rebel+ before 5/31/25. But don’t wait一Inventory is going FAST. Slappin' Glass PodcastWe sat down this week with the HC of D2 Vanguard University, Rhett Soliday! The former NAIA Coach of the Year after winning the 2014 National Championship brings a wealth of knowledge to the show as we dive into Coach Soliday's philosophy on winning with smaller guards, defending all 94 feet of the floor, and discusses BLOB tactics along with "teachable moments" as a coach during the always entertaining "Start, Sub, or Sit?! segment.
Together with Hudl If you’ve used FastDraw, FastScout, or FastRecruit before, you should know: they’re now part of the Hudl family. That means tighter integrations with Sportscode, access to Instat data, and a cleaner workflow across your whole program. It’s everything you’ve come to expect from Fastmodel—just better connected. Learn more about what Hudl and Fastmodel are building together! Subscribers to Slappin' Glass can also directly email Winston Jones of Hudl at winston.jones@hudl.com. Tactical📺 Iverson Entry - Ricky Screen Variations "A few subtle variations of the Ricky screen out of the Iverson entry." ✚ Pair With: A BLOB set designed to bring a shooter back to the ball off the "Ricky" screen simultaneously as the ballhandler attacks off the side PNR. 🔒 SG Plus Content: Our breakdown on Tuomas Iisalo's Iverson Keep spacing and execution. 📺 SLOB & BLOB - Gaggle Screening "Czech club ERA Nymburk using Gaggles at the elbow to generate unpredictability and defensive confusion." ✚ Pair With: The skip pass to attack the low help behind the high split screen. 🔒 SG Plus Content: Our "Film Room" session with St. Louis HC Josh Schertz on Gaggle Screening. Interesting Reads📚 What I Wish Someone Had Told Me 8. Outcomes are what count; don’t let good process excuse bad results. 9. Spend more time recruiting. Take risks on high-potential people with a fast rate of improvement. Look for evidence of getting stuff done in addition to intelligence. 10. Superstars are even more valuable than they seem, but you have to evaluate people on their net impact on the performance of the organization. 📚 Anthony Edwards and the Journey From Imitation to Innovation There are the parts of Edwards’s image that leap off the screen. His irrepressible charisma—not just telling Obama that he better recognize that Ant is “the truth” but that the rest of “d’boys” on the U.S. Olympic team “know.” How the fifth-year pro is able to take televised showmanship and strip it down to the point where viewers start to wonder whether he’s aware of the camera rolling or simply doesn’t care. The pearly smile and the icy earlobes and the buoyant charm. 📚 Extraordinary Composure Under Extraordinary Pressure But things will go wrong. You’ll make a great effort and still fall short. You’ll face moments where your emotions flare and your plans fall apart. What matters most is how you respond. Again and again and again. Excellence does not mean control. It does not mean perfection Quote of the Week
“Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.” - John Kenneth Galbraith
Thank you for reading and have a great week coaching, Dan and Pat info@slappinglass.com We're proud to partner with the leading Sports Travel company in the basketball world, Beyond Sports! Follow the link above to learn more about why more than 600 universities have trusted Beyond Sports for their team's foreign trips. Let them know Slappin' Glass sent you! |
Exploring basketball's best ideas, strategies, and coaches from around the world.
Exploring basketball's best ideas, strategies, and coaches around the world Happy Sunday! Lots to dive into today. ICYMI: Last week, we detailed a scout-specific defensive strategy to gap off reluctant, low-volume shooting Point Guards in favor of walling off the paint and plugging gaps during off ball action. Read the full breakdown HERE. This Week at a Glance: 🔒 SG Plus Content: Hook DHO - Punishing the Deny 🎧 Slappin' Glass Podcast: Mike DeGeorge {Cal Poly SLO} 📢 Dr. Dish: $2,000 off plus...
Exploring basketball's best ideas, strategies, and coaches around the world Happy Sunday and welcome to all the new subscribers from around the world! ICYMI: Last week, we explored the versatility and effectiveness of the "Slide Action", sending two cuts, a baseline cut and a corner drift, when penetrating to the full side of the floor. Read the full newsletter HERE. This Week at a Glance: 🔒 SG Plus Content: Plugging the PG - Defensive Help Strategy 🎧 Slappin' Glass Podcast: Kellen Sampson...
Exploring basketball's best ideas, strategies, and coaches around the world Happy Sunday and welcome to all the new subscribers from around the world! ICYMI: Last week, we broke down a coordinated screening action built to punish hedge coverage: the Slip Out Hook Screen. Read the full newsletter HERE. This Week at a Glance: 🔒 SG Plus Content: Full Side Spacing Automatic - Slide Cutting 🎧 Slappin' Glass Podcast: Jenny Boucek {Pacers} 📢 Dr. Dish & Hudl Instat 🥇 Best of the Week: Cutting to Post...