What is a pick and roll in basketball? The pick and roll is a basketball play designed to make many different scoring options. Made famous by the former Utah Jazz connection of John Stockton and Karl Malone,...
Made famous by the former Utah Jazz connection of John Stockton and Karl Malone, the pick and roll is one of the oldest offensive plays in basketball. But, when run properly, it can also be one of the more difficult to stop.
Former DePaul University head coach Joey Meyer has called thousands of pick and roll plays in his day. "I can't go back to when it started because I'm not that old," said Meyer. "But it's one of the oldest moves in basketball. Basically, it's screening for the person that has the basketball.
"What will happen is someone will come up to screen for the guy with the ball," he added. "The guy with the ball will dribble off that screen trying to get open. As he dribbles off that screen, the man who set the screen rolls to the basket and tries to get open. Sounds a little more complicated than what it is, but it's really just screening for the guy that has the ball and rolling to the basket."
As pure a two-man game as the NBA has to offer, the pick and roll sets up scoring opportunities based on mismatches. It forces the defense to choose to guard the guy setting the pick or the player dribbling. The procedure of the pick and roll more commonly goes with the player setting the pick and rolling to the basket for an easy shot, but with so many advancements in the skill level of the players, many new options have evolved from the pick and roll.
"I remember one time I went to a clinic and a guy talked for 45 straight minutes on the options off a screen and roll," said Meyer. "So obviously, there are a lot of different options to score from a pick and roll."
After the pick is set, the defensive player guarding the picker must step up to prevent the ball handler an easy lane to the basket. If he does not, one scoring option would be for the ball handler to just continue to the basket. If the lane is cut off, the ball handler can also come off the pick ready to shoot the jumper.
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s for the player setting the pick, rolling to the basket is not the only scoring option for them anymore. Normally, the guy setting the pick is someone big enough to get to the basket after catching the pass on the roll. Now, the big men are stepping back and knocking down the outside jumper after setting the pick.
"A lot of teams now have gone to what they call the pick and pop," said Meyer. "If you have a real good shooter setting the screen, instead of rolling to the basket, he steps back and shoots the jumper. Bill Laimbeer started the pick and pop technique back when he was with Detroit. It's so hard to defend because your man is helping out and that guy, instead of rolling to the basket is stepping back for a three-pointer."
