Zone Offense play
Zone Offense: Pin and Skip vs 2-3
- Court
- Half court
- Length
- 12 steps
About this play
Screening the back of the zone, Coach's Clipboard's "Carolina": the wing pass shifts the zone to the ball, the weak-side post slides out to the weak corner, and the weak wing steps in and back-screens the weak-side forward so the skip pass to the corner is an open three. Once the skip is in the air, 3 stops chasing the forward, turns, and puts his screen on X5 instead, and 4 comes off that screen from the elbow to the block for the layup. Why screen the forward and not the guard: the forward is the only defender who can close out on the weak corner, and a screened forward is a late forward. The read is whether X4 can get around the pin to close out. The counter is for the zone that fights over the pin and rotates the forward out on the skip anyway: leave 5 on the weak block rather than sending him to the corner, throw the skip to 3 on the wing, and when X3 runs out at 3, hit 5 right away on the block, with 4 already on X5's back so the middle never gets down there. Common mistakes: skipping before the pin is set, the screener chasing the forward instead of turning to screen the middle, and the corner player standing on the baseline where the skip is too long. Carolina is Coach's Clipboard's play, and Coach Calls Timeout's breakdown of screening the back of a zone is where I learned to teach the pin; read them if you want the rest.
