defense
Choose the coverage for the screen and the players involved. France's 2022 women's examples vary by screen type; Lithuania's 2023 men's report describes showing and recovering against down screens.
Help briefly, then return to the original players. Choose the separate switch example below to learn a different coverage.
1–5 are players on offense. X1–X5 are defenders. Each number stays with the same player in every step; it does not lock that player into a position.
Diagram 1 of 3
1. Help on the down screen
5 is set for 2. X5 steps toward the cutter while X2 follows around the screen. 1 keeps the ball.
Diagram key
Use Previous and Next beside the court, or choose a numbered step. Arrows on the court show where players or the ball move. CoachAssist drew this example; it does not show every way to run the scheme.
The examples separate chasing a down-screen cutter from switching a flare. Public game observations support those choices in particular settings, not one rule for every team, screener or cutter.
The cutter’s defender and screener’s defender need a shared call. Chasing a down-screen cutter preserves matchups but needs awareness of a curl; switching transfers the cutter and screener to different defenders. A back screen or inside cross screen can require a different route from a down screen.
Source-backed summary; versions may differ.
Have the passer identify where the cutter could receive and where the screener could slip. Ask the two defenders how their chosen response covers both. Run the action once without a pass so players learn the movement safely, then let the passer choose either available receiver. Keep playing after the first catch. A screen defense is incomplete if it stops the cutter but forgets the screener standing near the basket.
CoachAssist suggestion—not the source’s exact practice.
When: The defender follows the selected chase route.
Do this: The screener’s defender gives the agreed support without abandoning the screener indefinitely.
Then: Recover before the next pass opens the other attacker.
Source-backed summary; versions may differ.
When: The cutter moves away from the ball around the screen.
Do this: The two defenders exchange attackers.
Then: France’s 2022 report describes selected flare switches and different staggered-screen coverage, not a universal switch-everything rule.
Source-backed summary; versions may differ.
Problem: The cutter’s defender watches the ball and reaches the screen late.
Try this correction: Replay the approach without passing. Ask the defender to identify the screener before entering the crowded area, then restore the passer’s choices.
Check: The player sees the screen without turning away from the cutter for the whole action.
CoachAssist suggestion—not the source’s exact practice.
Problem: The immediate catch is covered but the screener slips into open space.
Try this correction: Have an observer watch only the screener. Stop at the first moment nobody can name that assignment.
Check: The repair still handles the cutter’s next move and the rebound.
CoachAssist suggestion—not the source’s exact practice.
Changes: coverage, continuation.
When to use it: Chase and flare-switch examples are diagrammed; other screen-specific rules are written-only.
Written variant · this option does not have its own walkthrough here.
Source-backed summary; versions may differ.
Choose the level that matches what your players can do now. These steps work for boys and girls. Start simpler if players need more practice.
Set it up: Use one guided receiver and one defender with an adult passer; no screen contact.
Add more when: Players track the receiver without colliding with the marker area.
CoachAssist suggestion—not the source’s exact practice.
CoachAssist wrote these teaching steps. They are not an exact copy of any coach’s practice plan.
The reports describe different choices against screens away from the ball. This guide compares two of them; it does not assign one defense to every team from either country.
The level selector changes the teaching steps above. It does not change these drills. Check the number of players, equipment and difficulty before using a drill.
Builds a skill used in this scheme: Shows how a cutter reacts to a defender around an off-ball screen. It supports recognizing those routes, but does not teach the two-defender show-and-recover or wide-flare switch in this guide.
A screen for a low cutter offers a curved cut, a straight cut, an outward cut or a cut behind the defender, depending on the guided defense.
4–12 players · 8–15 minutes · basketballs
A screen for a low cutter offers a curved cut, a straight cut, an outward cut or a cut behind the defender, depending on the guided defense.
Four players: passer, screener, cutter and guided cutter defender; a coach indicates the coverage. Use one ball and rehearse one cut at a time. Spare balls and waiting players stay outside the active routes.
Optional: within a short coach-chosen timed interval, count sound decisions, controlled catches or completed defensive possessions. Stop at the planned time or sooner; no required makes, winning streak or exercise penalty. Rotate roles and allow rest regardless of the score.
Builds a skill used in this scheme: Practices legal off-ball screen and cutter timing before defenders add coverage calls. It is not an on-ball hedge drill and does not supply a team’s switching rules.
A controlled progression teaches setting and using a stationary screen.
3–12 players · 5–10 minutes · basketballs
A controlled progression teaches setting and using a stationary screen.
Three players: screener, cutter and cooperative defender, plus a coach passer. Begin without contact on one side of a half court. Spare balls and waiting players stay outside the active routes.
Optional: within a short coach-chosen timed interval, count sound decisions, controlled catches or completed defensive possessions. Stop at the planned time or sooner; no required makes, winning streak or exercise penalty. Rotate roles and allow rest regardless of the score.
The sources support the system guide. CoachAssist created the practice steps and checks; they are suggestions, not tested programs or a coach’s full playbook. The linked drills practice parts of the system.
Coaches run this in different ways. The sources below describe the versions covered here. These sources do not cover every possible version.
Deanne Butler, Nelson Isley and Patrick Hunt · FIBA · publication date not listed
Selected text: PDF pp.6,30,34. Overview describes Serbia 1-2-1-1; team section describes post-free-throw 1-2-2. Retain distinction; no copied statistics or exact team geometry.
Caleb Harrison, Nelson Isley, Milan Opacic and Patrick Hunt · FIBA · publication date not listed
Selected Lithuania/Latvia text in historical tournament report; not current domestic-league instruction.
James A. Gels · Coach’s Clipboard · publication date not listed
Selected public off-ball screen choices and diagrams reviewed. Short factual synthesis; no source artwork, member material or full tutorial reproduction.
