Impact of Drag Ball Screens by Mike Cyprien, Jr.    Check how you can use these screens in your offense now!

The Drag ball screens have become a staple in our game. Teams at the collegiate and professional levels have been incorporating this particular screen in their offenses more and more. It’s become so effective because there’s no real good defense for it, as they are usually set in transition, semi-transition, or in a team’s secondary break. Drag screens aren’t set at any particular moment, particular spot on the court and, most importantly, they’re set when most of the defenders are still moving up the court.

Most Drag ball screens are typically set by a trailing forward and tend to surprise the on-ball defender since the defender may be just settling in front of the ball to get it stopped or he/she may be rotating to the ball. It’s a big reason why the screen is most effective in transition as the defense may be scrambling around, getting matched up, and settling into the frontcourt. The last thing anyone wants to do after sprinting up the court is to have to defend a surprise ball screen. The on -ball defender isn’t the only defender caught off guard. The screener’s defender may not be prepared also, as he may be running to the paint to protect the basket. This means there may not be a defender to help on the ball giving the ball handler space to drive and make a play.

In the following clip, you can see that after the defensive rebound and outlet to the point guard, the closest trailing forward sets a single drag screen. The player defending the forward sags off the screening action while the on-ball defender gets caught up momentarily on the screen. Because there’s no immediate help on the ball handler, the weak side perimeter is forced to help off of his man in order to stop dribble penetration which provides a penetrate and kick opportunity to a shooter in rhythm. When utilizing early drag screens coaches have to trust that their players will make the best decisions on the fly. Players must know when to go, when to slow down, and who to get the ball to in the certain moments.

In this clip, we have a similar situation where the trail forward sets a flat drag screen in the middle of the court. The point guard rejects the ball screen and forces early help from the strong side guard. Normally coaches don’t want long shots taken so early in the shot clock, but the shot is in rhythm and the pass is to a shooter with a high three point shooting percentage.

In this final clip, you’ll see the drag ball screens involving Draymond Green and Steph Curry of the Warriors. The Warriors excel at operating out of the early drag ball screens. Their playmaking ability and collective basketball IQ’s allow them to use ball screens to perfection. After the outlet, Draymond sets the drag and the on-ball defender gets caught up in the screen. Because the on-ball defender has trouble getting through the screen it forces Green’s defender to step up and help, giving Curry an easy pass to Green for the layup. What’s also important in this play is the strong side floor spacing. Klay Thompson is in the strong side corner and his defender, understanding how well he shoots the ball isn’t in help position. Because Klay is in the deep corner, this gives Green plenty of space to roll to the rim and Curry an easy pass to complete, since Thompson’s defender is late to help. So the early drag screen and role combined with great floor spacing from Thompson make for an easy play.