Jumping the Ball-screen

I took some clips from this women's basketball game that I watched a part of between UC Santa Barbara and Loyola Marymount. While there are many ways you can defend against your vanilla ball-screen, UCSB showed how the jump technique can really work well if executed properly. I personally like the trap, but the jump has that element of surprise which can really mess the offense up pretty good as seen here. Watch the video and then you can read my thoughts below.



What happens here is that the dribbler does not attack the ball-screen hard. She kind of straddles the screen. The jump technique by the screener's defender works really well here because the dribbler has not committed fully to using the screen so by attacking the dribbler, that moment of indecision results in the turnover.

It's a safe play because the jump happens on the perimeter where the offense is not really a threat to score.

For an old video but a good one from one of my favorite coaches, Geno Auriemma's DVD on 8 essential defensive drills is a good one to look at for defensive ideas for your practice. As usual, check out the X's and O's Basketball forum to talk hoops and exchange notes.