Pick & Roll Reads
Ball-handler + screener reading drop, hedge, and switch coverages. Make the right read.
- Duration
- 14 min
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Ages
- Ages 13–15
- Equipment
- ball, hoop
min
Setup
Ball-handler at the top or wing, screener at the elbow, two defenders. The coach calls the coverage so the offense reads rather than guesses. Add a weak-side offensive player once the base reads hold up.
How to run it
- 01Set a legal, wide screen
The screener is stationary with a clear angle. Moving screens make every read after them meaningless.
- 02Read the screener's defender
Come off shoulder to shoulder and look at the BIG first — that defender decides the read, not yours.
- 03Against a drop, take the pull-up
If the big sits back protecting the rim, the mid-range pull-up is the shot the coverage is giving you.
- 04Against a hedge or blitz, get off it early
Two on the ball means someone is open. Pass before you're trapped, not after.
- 05Against a switch, attack the mismatch
The handler attacks the slower big, or the screener seals the smaller defender inside.
Coaching points
- Read the screener's defender, not your own. That defender's position determines every available option.
- Come off shoulder to shoulder — a wide path lets the on-ball defender slide through and kills the advantage.
- Against a blitz, pass early. The turnover comes from holding the ball trying to split it.
- The screener's roll or pop is a read too. Rolling into the same space the handler is driving into helps nobody.
- Change the coverage often. If players know what's coming they're rehearsing, not reading.
Common mistakes
- Picking up the dribble inside the trap, which turns every blitz into a turnover.
- Refusing the screen out of habit and wasting the screener's effort.
- The screener rolling into the space the handler is already attacking.
- The coach calling the same coverage repeatedly until it stops being a read at all.
Make it harder or easier
- Easier: no defenders — walk through all three coverages so players learn what each looks like.
- Harder: coverages called at random.
- Harder: add a weak-side defender so the pass out of a blitz is contested.
- Hardest: live 4-on-4 with the pick and roll as the required starting action.
Coaching focus: Basketball IQ & Reads
IQ and decision-making drills put players in live, small-sided situations where they have to read a defender and choose correctly — the muscle memory of good decisions, not just good mechanics.
Frequently asked questions
Coaching Pick & Roll Reads?
Swap notes with coaches running this drill in the free community, or build Pick & Roll Reads into a timed practice plan, assign it to your roster, and track who's completed it in the app.
The community is free and always will be. No card needed for either.