Transition play
Transition: Carolina Secondary, Fronted Post Wing Screen
- Court
- Half court
- Length
- 7 steps
About this play
Roy Williams's answer when the early post is fronted. The ball has been reversed to the wing, 5 has sealed on the block, and X5 is standing in front of him, so the entry Carolina wants first is gone. Williams's rule is three passes minimum unless it is a layup, so the offense keeps going: 4 steps down from the top and ball-screens the wing while 2 comes across the lane and cross-screens the fronting defender, the wing comes off the screen shoulder to hip toward the middle, and 5 slides under the cross screen to the far block. Why the two screens come together: a defense fronting the post has its help behind the play, so the wing screen attacks the side with no help, and the cross screen takes the fronting defender off the block before he can recover. My own read on it: a front is a bet that the ball will not reverse again, and this sequence makes it reverse twice. Personnel: 3 a wing who drives middle off a screen, 4 a big who screens and then screens again, 2 a shooter who will screen the post. The read for the wing is X5. If he steps to the drive, 5 is alone at the rim for the dump. If the defense collapses, 1 at the top is the kick. If neither, the counter is built in: 4 turns and down-screens for 2, who just set the cross screen, and 2 comes off it to the wing for the three. Common mistakes: the wing coming off the screen toward the baseline, 5 fighting the front instead of sliding under the cross screen, and 4 standing after the ball screen instead of turning to screen for 2. Everything here is from Roy Williams's transition notes as the Coaching Toolbox wrote them up: the seal, the fronted-post ball screen, and the down screen that follows; read them for the rest of his rules.
