The average number of ball screens in an NBA game is 100!. Think about that - that’s wild!

That number has grown dramatically over the past 20 years.

If you watch the NBA, you probably know that most NBA teams play almost exclusively man to man defense.

As a result, many people associate ball screens with man to man offense (as opposed to zone offense).

While that makes sense, ball screens effectiveness is not limited to man to man defense.

In fact, they might be even more effective against zone!

That’s why Coach Showalter runs his20 Ball Screen Offense against both man and zone defense.

Why Ball Screens Work Better Against Zones!

When you run a ball screen against man to man defense, there is a defender guarding the ball and the screener.

The defense must choose how they will guard the screen - switch, hedge, trap, etc. If they switch, the goal is for their 2 defenders to guard your 2 offensive players without help.

If they do another coverage, they may bring in a third player to help for a second. Ultimately though, the goal is to get back to being matched up player on player.

That’s different against a zone. In a zone, each player is responsible for an area of the court.

Thus, when you ball screen, you are able to distort the zone.

The defense must send a second player into a zone to stop the ball, creating rotations and openings in other areas of the court. In this example, the ball screen created a 2v1 situation with 2 & 3 against x4.

I can tell you how effective this is, from personal experience. We once ran this action for almost an entire game against a team playing 2-3 zone. We put our best shooter in the corner. He hit 7 3’s and we beat a team that we wouldn’t have otherwise beaten.

Nothing fancy, just extremely effective!

How This Gold Medal Winning Coach Uses Ball Screens Against Zones

Many of you are probably familiar with Don Showalter from his work with USA Basketball. During his tenure, his teams went 62-0 and won 10 gold medals. . . not too shabby!

The 20 Ball Screen Offense was his primary offensive scheme, against man and zone.

Here’s 1 way he uses ball screens against 2-3 zone:

• 1 enters the ball to the wing and cuts to the opposite corner.
• 3 lifts a bit towards the slot.
• 4 dives to the block
• 5 goes and sets the middle ball screen on x1 for 2. 2 attacks the free throw line area.

• When x2 helps, 2 passes to 3. This creates a 2v1 against x4.
• In this example, x4 closes out on 3, resulting in the extra pass to 1 in the corner.
• If x4 stayed low, 3 could catch and shoot.
• If x4 tried to take away the pass to 1 in the corner, 4 should be ready to catch at the block and finish.

The Tip Of The Iceberg

That’s just one way Coach Showalter attacks the zone with ball screens.

To see more, check out the 20 Ball Screen Offense With Don Showalter.

Not only is his system brilliant in the way it distorts the zone, it’s also great because you don’t have to teach separate man and zone offenses.

That gives you back time to work on other areas your team needs - defense, special situations, skill development.

Stop just passing the ball around the perimeter against zones and start incorporating ball screens into your zone offense today. You’ll be glad you did! 

Comments Most Likes First   Oldest First   Newest First Dan Smith says: 2/21/2025 at 5:51:32 PM Interesting to see how much this breaks down the zone, with the action and all of the player/ball movement. An open jumper is inevitable against the 2-3! Thanks for the great article, keep them coming! Like     login   register

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