Drop Coverage
Ball-screen defender (POA) fights through screen or slides under (does not switch)
Guide
Pick-And-Roll Coverages Glossary
A guide to core pick-and-roll coverages including drop, ICE, switch, blitz, show, veer, weak-side tags, and related counters.
Direct answer
Pick-And-Roll Coverages Glossary
Pick-and-roll coverage is the defensive plan for guarding a ball screen. The main families are drop, ICE, switch, blitz/trap, show, and matchup-specific variations. Each coverage trades off rim protection, pull-up space, rolling threats, and weak-side rotation burden.
The five core coverages, stated correctly
Drop: the screener's defender sinks toward the rim to wall off the paint and contain the roller while the on-ball defender chases over the screen. It concedes the pull-up to take away the layup.
ICE (also blue or down): on a side ball screen, the on-ball defender jumps to the inside shoulder to force the handler toward the baseline, away from the middle, while the big sits at the level of the screen.
Hedge/show: the big steps out hard above the screen to stall the pull-up and buy recovery time, then retreats to the roller; a hard hedge concedes the short roll behind it.
Blitz/trap: the screener's defender jumps out with the on-ball defender so two defenders trap the handler, conceding a 4-on-3 behind the ball. Switch: the two defenders simply exchange assignments, conceding a mismatch.
How to choose, and the weak-side cost
Match the coverage to your personnel and the threat: drop for an elite rim-running roller and a non-shooting handler, ICE to keep a downhill guard out of the middle, switch when defenders are interchangeable, blitz to get the ball out of a star's hands late.
Every aggressive coverage borrows from the weak side. Blitz and hard hedge demand a low man who tags the roller and a crisp X-out to recover to the open shooter; without that rotation, the coverage simply trades a contested two for an open three.
Core coverage families
Start with the coverages coaches call most often.
ICE (In-and-out Contain Eliminate) Coverage
Ball-screen defender (POA) forces handler away from screen (ices the screen by overplaying one side)
Switch Coverage
Ball-screen defender and big defender communicate and swap assignments
Blitz/Trap Coverage
Ball-screen defender (POA) fights through screen
Ghost Screen Concept
A fake ball screen that manipulates switching rules by threatening contact, then slipping into space before the defense can settle.
Pistol 5 — Full System Deep Dive
A side-entry system built around a playmaking 5 at foul-line extended, with DHO, backdoor, keep, and counter reads.
Spain Pick & Roll
A three-player pick-and-roll where a third player back-screens the roller's defender to create a lob, layup, or pop-out three.
Film Study Methodology
A repeatable process for turning film into scouting, tendency recognition, and actionable player or team adjustments.
Advanced PnR Coverage Schemes
A coaching menu for choosing how to defend ball screens based on handler skill, screener type, and rotation capacity.
Ball Screen Defense
The coverage menu for guarding pick-and-roll: drop, hedge, switch, ICE, blitz, and the rotations each choice demands.
Anatomy of a Set Play
A set play is a predetermined sequence of actions with a clear objective: generate a shot for a specific player or players.
Cross Screen
The Cross Screen is an off-ball screen set horizontally across the lane — from one side of the paint to the other — for a player posting up or cutting to the ball.