Sideline and After Timeout play
SLOB Box: Safe Entry into Ball Screen
- Court
- Half court
- Length
- 16 steps
About this play
The sideline play every team needs first: get the ball in to the best handler and into a ball screen, from Coach's Clipboard's "Celtics" and the Coaching Toolbox's Portland sideline series. From the box inside the lane, the two elbows down-screen the two blocks; the handler pops off the ball-side down screen to the wing for the catch, the weak block pops to the slot as the second outlet, and the inbounder steps in while the weak elbow lifts to set a middle ball screen for the handler. Why a down screen for the entry: a denied sideline entry is a five-second call or a turnover, and a screen on the denying defender is the cheapest way to get a clean catch. The read is X2: trailing under the screen means catch and go. The counter is for the defender who denies the pop anyway: the screener comes back to the ball, the inbound goes to him instead, and the handler cuts off him in a handoff. Common mistakes: the handler popping before the screen is set, the inbounder throwing to a denied man, and no second outlet on the weak side. Celtics is Coach's Clipboard's and the Portland series is on the Coaching Toolbox, and Zak Boisvert's America breakdown is where I learned how the pros space the same entry; give them a look.
