Exploring basketball's best ideas, strategies, and coaches around the world

Happy Sunday! Welcome to all the newest members from around the world.

ICYMI: Last week, we explored the defensive strategy of doubling a dominant post player or mismatch by sending a trap from the top defender on the dribble. Read the full newsletter HERE.

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This Week at a Glance:

🔒 SG Plus Content: Defending the Short Roll - Peel Switching​

🎧 Slappin' Glass Podcast: Bryan Hodgson {South Florida}

📢 Dr. Dish: Exclusive Slappin' Glass Discount!

🥇 Best of the Week: Screen the Screener & Zipper Entries​

📚 Interesting Reads: Victor Wembanyama’s Very Fascinating No-Basketball Summer

Let's dive in...

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Short Roll Peels

Across the world we’re seeing a shift toward more aggressive pick and roll coverages, with the screener’s defender playing at or above the level of the screen. One of the biggest vulnerabilities in these schemes is the short roll, and any team choosing a more aggressive PNR coverage has to be deliberate about how they’ll defend it.

The short roll matters at nearly every level of the game. You might not face a lob-catching big who lives above the rim, or a pick-and-pop shooter who buries 45% from three, but you will face players who are dangerous when catching in the middle of the lane with a live dribble.

One answer? The controlled peel switch.

*Peel Switch Primer: Needing to get caught up on Peel Switching? BYU Assistant Will Voigt gave a masterclass on the topic in our podcast with him. We followed that conversation up with a full Deep Dive video HERE {🔒}.

Know Thy Enemy

In the ongoing evolution of the game, every defensive strategy eventually meets its counters—like a 45 cut against a stunt on a popping big {🔒}, or the familiar overload actions that challenge a committed 2-3 zone {🔒}. Recognizing these common counters can help guide defensive decisions on the ball and the rotations behind them.

When dissecting an aggressive ballscreen coverage, one of the most common counters is to hit the short roll, triggering a corner cut from the two-man side as the wing slides into the vacated corner—leaving the x-out defender facing a true Sophie’s choice: chase the cutter or stick with the shooter...

By anticipating these coordinated cuts on the catch, defenses are beginning to find success in disrupting the action with a well-timed peel switch, turning what could be a breakdown into a controlled defensive moment. Here's an example...

Zooming In: As demonstrated by Tenerife, on the short roll catch the X-out defender, in an open stance {🔒}, quickly flies to the corner cut, while the former on-ball defender leaves the ballscreen to track the wing sliding into the corner.

Zooming In 2.0: While the ballscreen unfolds, a low tag is established from the opposite baseline. The tag defender at the rim doesn’t necessarily need to overreact by stepping up too early and risking an early backdoor; instead, they time their rotation to the short roll based on the flight of the pass. Against aggressive ballscreen coverage, the pass is rarely quick or direct, giving the defender a chance to meet the short roll outside the scoring area.

This is where defensive anticipation really matters. With the dump-off to the corner cut the most dangerous option, the X-out defender must move instinctively with the flight of the pass to the short roll, sprinting to pick up the cut without hesitation.

Winning the Race: Recognizing that the ball is entering the short roll, the X-out defender no longer worries about splitting two at the elbow and instead becomes singularly focused on beating the cutter to the rim, ensuring the dump-off pass is denied.

With the X-out defender automatically peeling to the corner cut, the wing-to-corner slide becomes the next concerning fire to be put out...

Within this circular peel switch concept, the responsibility of rotating to the wing’s corner slide falls to the former on-ball defender.

Zooming In: Upon the pass out of the ballscreen, the on-ball defender peels off their match-up to chase the wing’s slide, as this becomes the next read for the big in the short roll.

However, this peel switch is not as blind as the X-out defender's peel. On the short roll catch, the ballhandler's defender needs to immediately open up and split two for a moment between their original match-up and their possible rotation...

Zooming In: The defender must position themselves to arrive “on the catch,” flying with the pass from the big to the wing. Failing to do so—rotating off the original ballhandler too early to chase the slide—can leave a wide-open step-in three at the top. As demonstrated above, the defender leverages their position correctly, refraining from committing too soon to the peel while being able to pick up the rim cut from their original matchup.

Not Simple, But Straight Forward

One of the biggest strengths of the short roll peel structure is the clarity it brings to rotations. Despite all the movement, each defender knows their task, allowing them to move with conviction. It may be a coordinated effort, but it’s straightforward—and straightforward actions are rare against offenses that thrive in creating defensive “grey” areas. The clocklike precision keeps players out of two-way closeouts and lets them move with speed, assertiveness, and purpose. When executed properly, this structure doesn’t just prevent breakdowns—it turns potential chaos into a controlled, repeatable defensive sequence, giving teams the confidence to match offensive aggression step for step.

For a closer look at this rotation strategy and how the defense rotates back to neutral, SG+ Members can now view the full breakdown now on SGTV!

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Together with Dr. Dish

Slappin’ Glass subscribers get ready to score back to school savings with Dr. Dish! Unlock $2,000 off the Dr. Dish CT+ to prepare your team for the upcoming season, plus an additional bonus discount when you mention the Slappin’ Glass Podcast. Score these savings before August 31st!

Slappin' Glass Podcast

🏀 Top 3 Takeaways from Bryan Hodgson on the Slappin’ Glass Podcast

In a sport where split-second decisions can swing a season, new USF Head Coach Bryan Hodgson has a simple mantra—remove human error from the equation. In our conversation, Hodgson blends deep analytics with the human touch, showing how numbers and relationships can coexist to produce smarter lineups, sharper execution, and players who understand exactly why they’re on the floor. Here’s what stood out:

1. Eliminate “Human Error” with Data and Leverage Metrics​
Hodgson uses lineup analytics, player “leverage” scores, and in-game data to make fact-based decisions on rotations, matchups, and player roles.

2. Simplicity + Wrinkles in Baseline Out-of-Bounds​
In the Start, Sub, or Sit segment, Hodgson emphasized keeping BLOB alignments simple (two or three max) while adding scout-specific wrinkles to keep defenses guessing.

3. Non-Negotiables in Transition Defense​
Certain mistakes in transition are automatic “game over” situations in practice, like strong-side kick-ahead threes or one-man coast-to-coast layups.

For much more from Coach Hodgson, listen to the full episode here...

Together with Hudl

Hudl Powers Every Possession

If you’re already using tools like FastDraw, FastScout, or FastRecruit—you know how essential they are to your workflows. And now that they’re fully part of the Hudl ecosystem, they’re more powerful than ever. From film and play diagrams to scouting reports and custom recruiting boards, everything flows together. One system. Built for high-performance programs.

​Learn more about Hudl and their variety of products or subscribers to Slappin' Glass can also directly email Winston Jones of Hudl at winston.jones@hudl.com.

Tactical

📺 Screen the Screener - Zoom DHO • RIP STS​

"A misdirection set designed to free the point guard through a screen-the-screener action, initiated off a rip screen."

✚ Pair With: Estonia NT executing a Screen the Screener action for their 4 man out of the Iverson Entry.

✚ SG Plus Content: Our breakdown of the Argentina Transition Break.

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📺 Zipper - Flare • RIP to Get​

"Zipper Entry with a pass into the Pinch Post to flare the passer and set up the RIP to Get action for the weakside corner."

✚ Pair With: Counter an opponent's attempt to top-lock the Zipper Screen with a short corner catch and back cut.

✚ SG Plus Content: Our breakdown on Sito Alonso's Inverted Post Uphill Pitches.

Interesting Reads

📚 Victor Wembanyama’s Very Fascinating No-Basketball Summer​

Chess in France. Soccer in Costa Rica. Kung fu in China. Perhaps we’ll remember this offseason as the Summer of Wemby, in which the NBA’s most mesmerizing talent leveled up by doing everything except play basketball.

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📚 When the Best Leadership Skill Is Just Being Present​

In our experience, when leaders attune, they’re often surprised by the results—reporting deeper connection and reduced reactivity. Resistance gives way to possibility. Isolation transforms into a sense of belonging. What’s most striking is how minimal the effort can feel on the leader’s part, yet the shift in the employee is both real and lasting.

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📚 Worst to First: What it Takes to Build or Remake a World-Class Team​

In the world of sports, the outcomes are more finite than they are in business—either you win or you lose. Yet for most of the sports leaders we spoke with, clarifying their teams’ objectives and setting a new standard and culture for their programs—whether that meant reiterating existing mindsets or behaviors or replacing them with entirely new ones—was the very first step toward realizing success. “Each day here looks and feels the same in terms of expectations, communication, and resources,” explains the Spurs’ Wright. “Outcomes take care of themselves when the standard is in place.”

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Quote of the Week

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!

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