Ghost Screen Concept
A fake ball screen that manipulates switching rules by threatening contact, then slipping into space before the defense can settle.
Actions And Plays
Defending Ghost Screens
Communicate early (call "Ghost!" before the action)
Direct answer
What is Defending Ghost Screens?
Communicate early (call "Ghost!" before the action)
Quick facts
| Category | Actions And Plays |
|---|---|
| Source volume | BASKETBALL_PLAY_VAULT.md |
What it is
- Communicate early (call "Ghost!" before the action)
How it works
- Defender must stay attached to the ball handler over the spot of the ghost — do not duck under a screen that is never set, do not help, do not switch
- The screener's defender must stay home and not switch prematurely
Reads and counters
- If the screener veers off and pops without making contact, it is a ghost: stay glued to the ball, do not fight over anything.
- Read hips and speed: a real screen plants and braces, a ghost keeps drifting to the arc, so trust your feet and stay attached.
- Screener's defender reads depth: if your man slips and pops, do not commit to the ball, just close out under control.
- If the handler attacks downhill off the ghost, on-ball defender walls the drive rather than chasing a screen that never set.
- Ghosts are designed to bait a switch or a hedge, so the trigger is to do nothing extra and play it straight up.
Teaching cues
- Ghost! ghost! it's not real
- Stay attached, no switch
- Don't help, don't hedge
- Close out under control to the pop
- Trust your feet, play it straight
Bilingual terms
| English | Defending Ghost Screens |
|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 防守幽灵掩护 |
| Traditional Chinese | 防守幽靈掩護 |
Related concepts
Ghost Screen / Fake PnR
Mechanics: A Primary Ball Handler approaches the screener as if initiating a PnR, but the screener does not set a hard screen.
What Is a Ghost Screen?
A player runs toward a screener as if to use the screen but ghosts (runs past) the screen without making contact.
Defending Off-Ball Screens
When an off-ball screen is set (a screen that doesn't involve the ball handler), the two defenders involved must decide how to defend it.
Ghost Screen Reads
Ghost + Iso: Guard ghosts the screen, takes the mismatch 1-on-1 against the big
Stagger Screens (Full)
Stagger Screens are two sequential screens set for one cutter — unlike a double screen (simultaneous), staggers fire in order, with the cutter using one screen and then the next as a sequence.