defending pick and roll for youth team

I am having some trouble teaching my kids to defend the pass back to the screener. We are giving up too many easy ones inside . The help on the ball is good but they always leave the screener.

The first thing you have to do is pick your poison, meaning stopping the person who is going to hurt you the most.

We will show early to give the defender on the ball space to go over the top, putting one hand on the screener. When we felt him leave, we would go with him. Another key is to have good help side defense. If the person who is setting the screen and rolling is hurting you more, then show quickly and recover faster/earlier. Don't let that person beat you.

If you have any other questions let us know.

Defending the Pick and Roll..... Here are some other options that might interest you on how to defend the pick and roll Roll.

Always try to disrupt the offense. Pressuring the ball makes dribbling and passing more difficult, and increases the chances of an offensive mistake. To defend the pick and roll at the wing or centerfield, here are some tactics:

Trap the dribbler and go over the screen.
Hard show and go over.
Pinch, squeeze, or push up and under or through.
Trap and aggressively switch the rescreen.
Show and go under.
Stop the dribbler and go over.
Jump out to stop the ball and go through.
Hug the screener and go under.
Jump and trap the dribbler early before the screen can be set.
Defend the roll man with a big-to-big rotation.
Note: On the weak side make sure to cover the top, elbow, and box.
Switch pick and roll - you can always switch equal size players.
Short-clock situations - switch regardless of size.

I think the most difficult play to defend in all of basketball is the Pick and Roll. Here are some options to defend against the Pick and Roll.

Thanks coach the roller is whats hurting us. The hand on the screener should be easy for them to understand. I will try having them roll with the sceener and deny him the ball. They are 4th graders and got a 5 second call in a tournament over the weekend denying an inbounds play by one of our opponents. I thought that was pretty cool.

Break this down into a drill, that way come game time, they will know exactly what to do, (we hope)...... Getting a 5 second call is great for that age group. Keep up the good work.

Happy New Year

Hey Coach Sar
We did much better in our last game defending pick and roll. We focused our help on the ball and denied the screener the ball. Didn't give up any pick and roll baskets in second half. Thanks so much for the reply.

Glad that I could help you.... can I add that W to my record? LOL :-)