Floppy Action

What it is

• Floppy is an off-ball action designed to free a shooter coming off staggered or sequential screens.
• The shooter starts in the corner or at the weak-side block.
• One at the ball-side elbow and one at the weak-side elbow (or near the lane).

How it works

• - Over the Top: The defender tries to stay between the shooter and the ball at all times, fighting through every screen.
• Switch: If the two screeners are similar in size/type to the defenders, switching both screens is viable. However, switching often creates mismatches — a guard guarding a big, or a big chasing a guard.
• Top-Lock / Deny: Some teams try to top-lock (deny) the shooter before they reach the screens, but this requires exceptional athleticism and often leaves the screeners open.
• - The San Antonio Spurs have run Floppy for decades, particularly for Manu Ginóbili and Danny Green. - Utah Jazz used Floppy heavily for Kyle Korver and later Joe Ingles. - College teams like Gonzaga and Virginia incorporate Floppy as a base off-ball action.
• The San Antonio Spurs have run Floppy for decades, particularly for Manu Ginóbili and Danny Green.

Reads and counters

• Read 1 — Curl (Defense Sags or Trails Inside) If the defender sags into the lane to cheat over the top of the screens, the shooter curls off the first screen, cutting tight off the screener's hip and angling toward the basket.
• This creates a catch in the mid-lane or at the elbow for a mid-range shot, a floater, or a drive.
• Read 2 — Fade / Flare (Defense Chases Aggressively) If the defender fights hard over both screens (chasing the shooter's hip), the shooter fakes toward the screens and then flares out to the corner or the three-point line on the same side.
• The shooter widens back to the arc for a catch-and-shoot three-pointer.
• The defender's momentum carries them into the screen and they cannot recover.

Bilingual terms

Learn before and after

These graph neighbors help place Floppy Action in the larger basketball map.

Related concepts