Icing Counter: 13 Angle Ball Screen Set Play by Adam Spinella
Increasingly at the collegiate and even high school levels, teams are running ball screen sets. As the postseason nears and high level teams remain, offenses must be prepared for all different styles of defensive play. Some nuanced defensive teams will throw a counter to good ball screen offenses – known as icing. Icing a ball screen occurs on side ball screens, where the man guarding the ball squares his shoulders to the sideline and does not let the ball go middle. The man guarding the screener does not hedge the screen, instead being ready to contain the ball as it gets driven towards the baseline. He contains, the original defender recovers and the man guarding the screener is in position to take away any rolls to the rim.
The most obvious counter to icing a ball screen is hitting the pick-and-pop game, since coverage on the screener is non-existent at the moment the ball gets driven baseline. After that, teams adjust to set alley screens which lead the ball handler to the baseline. However, coaches of ball screen-heavy offenses may consider putting in a counter during the postseason. One set I like is 13 Angle, which looks to set up a side ball screen by starting with an angled guard-to-guard screen, which defenses usually do not ice.
As 1 dribbles up the sideline, 3 will come to brush off him quickly, working to either force a switch or get x1 scrambling over the top. As 3 clears through to the opposite wing, 5 then moves from the elbow to set a side ball screen. The hope is that x1 will not be in good enough position to ice the ball screen as he works to get over the screen from 3. If he goes under the screen from 3, 5 can raise and get high enough to physically screen him, making them unable to ice the screen.
Even if the defense switches the 1-3 screen, getting x5 to recognize that a ball screen is coming and to be in help on a baseline drive will be difficult. And x3 will then have to square his body to the sideline instead of to the baseline, where it is likely to be on the switch.
Coach Adam Spinella is entering his first season as an Assistant Coach at Culver Academies in Culver, IN. Spinella spent the three years prior as a Student Assistant Coach at Division III Dickinson College. The Dickinson Men’s Team advanced to two NCAA Tournaments and accumulated an overall record of 59-26 (.694) during the three-year span, with the 2013-2014 season ending in the Division III Elite Eight. A native of Bow, New Hampshire, Spinella has a keen interest in X’s and O’s, particularly in professional basketball, and skill development.
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