Middle ball screen coming: 1 at the top with the ball, 5 at the free-throw line, 2 and 3 in the corners, 4 on the left wing. The defense calls drop, X5 sitting below the screen at the nail, X1 on the ball, X3 the low man on the weak side. Drop is the call because it forces the handler to beat the defense with a jump shot instead of a layup.

5 steps up and sets the ball screen on X1 at the top. In drop the big is already where he belongs, so the defense does not move yet. The on-ball defender's job starts when the screen lands.

1 comes off the screen to the right and X1 chases over the top, top shoulder above the screener, on 1's hip; X5 stays at the nail between the roller and the rim as 5 rolls. The read is the drop, X5 not coming up. X1 goes over the top because the drop concedes the pull-up, not the three, so the on-ball defender takes the three away himself.

X3, the low man on the weak side, tags the roller with a bump and gets back toward 3, while X4 stunts from the weak wing toward the lane. The tag matters because the roller arrives before the big can meet him, and one bump from the low man gives the big the count he needs. The defense concedes a moment on the weak corner to keep the rim.

1 reads the drop and pulls up from fifteen feet with X1 on his hip and X5 below. The defense is happy because this is the shot the coverage chose to give, contested from behind, and the roller never caught the ball.

The miss comes off and X5, still at the rim with 5 on his back, rebounds it. Drop rebounds well because the big never left the rim, which is the coverage's second advantage.

Next trip, the offense's counter. Same screen, 5 for 1 at the top. Reset with 1 at the top, 5 at the free-throw line, X5 in drop at the nail. The offense comes back to it because it has learned the drop gives the pull-up, and it wants the roller instead.

1 swings the ball to 4 on the left wing to move the defense and 4 swings it straight back. The offense wants the drop reset in front of the ball before it runs the snake, so the big is at the nail where the snake pulls him from.

4 returns the ball to 1 at the top and X5 settles back into his drop at the nail. The drop is a rule, so the defense does not change. The rule is the same against the swing as against the screen.

5 sets the screen on X1 again. The defense calls drop again because a coverage is a rule, and the rule has an answer to what is coming.

The snake: 1 comes off the screen right, then crosses back left in front of 5 toward the other elbow, keeping X1 on his back and dragging X5 across the lane away from the roller. The read for the defense is the handler crossing back and the big being pulled off the roll. The snake works because X5 has to choose between staying with 5 and giving the pull-up, or sliding with 1 and giving the pocket pass.

The coverage's counter, the peel switch: X4, the top defender on the full side, switches onto the snaking 1 at the elbow, and X1 peels off into the rotation to 4 on the wing. X5 stays attached to 5 rolling. The peel lets the dropped big stay with the roller, because the handler now has a fresh defender in front of him instead of one on his back. Slappin' Glass teaches it this way.

X4 stops 1 at the elbow with X5 on the roller and X1 recovered to the wing; 1 picks up his dribble and has to pass back out to 4. It is a stop because the snake was built to make the big choose, and the counter meant he never had to. Forced out, contained.

Middle ball screen coming, same alignment: 1 at the top, 5 at the free-throw line, 2 and 3 in the corners, 4 on the left wing. The defense calls hedge, X5 at the level of the screen, X1 on the ball, X3 the tag man in the weak corner. Hedge is the call because this handler turns the corner but does not shoot, so the defense would rather turn him than drop under him.

5 steps up toward X1 to screen and X5 moves up to the level of the coming screen. The hedge is decided before the screen lands, not after, so the big goes to the level now.

5 sets the ball screen on X1 at the top with X5 already at its level. The hedge has to meet the handler as he arrives, which is why X5 gets there early. A big who starts below is late.

1 comes off the screen right and X5 hedges, jumping out high and wide above the screen with his hips square to the sideline, turning 1 back toward half court; X1 fights over the screen. The read is a turned handler. High and wide matters because a flat hedge lets the handler turn the corner and a hedge with a gap lets him split it. The defense concedes the retreat dribble to take away the drive.

1 retreats a dribble and X1 slips under X5 to get back in front of the ball; 5 rolls, and X3 leaves the weak corner to tag him while X4 drops to the nail. The tag comes now because the roller is open for one beat behind the hedge, and the coverage concedes the weak corner for that beat to keep the roll covered.

With 1 turned and X1 back in front, X5 recovers to 5 with his arms up and X3 gets back toward the weak corner. X5 recovers now because the hedge is a loan of one or two dribbles, and a big who stays out gives the roller the rim.

1 has to start the possession over from above the arc with X1 in front of him and 5 covered. The defense counts this as a win because the ball screen produced a retreat dribble and no advantage, which is what the hedge is for. Contained, and the offense swings the ball to 4.

Next trip, the offense's counter. 4 swings back to 1 and 5 comes up to screen again, with X5 at the level ready to hedge. Reset with 1 at the top. The offense runs it again because it has seen the hedge and wants the big out of the lane.

5 steps up to screen and X5 jumps out early to hedge before the screen is set. The read for the offense's counter is the big out above the screen with the rim behind him. The slip answers an early hedge because a big at the level of the screen is not at the rim.

The counter: 5 slips the screen before contact and rolls to the rim, and 1 looks for the pocket pass over the hedge. X5 jumped out over the screen and left the rim behind him, so he slips to it. Coach's Clipboard calls this one Jet-Back.

The coverage's answer: X5 breaks off the hedge the moment 1 is turned and sprints to the short roller at the free-throw line, X4 stunts at the nail from the weak wing, and X3 tags early from the corner so the dunker is covered. The answer is the recover, not the hedge, because the hedge was a loan and the big collects it by getting back before the catch.

1 throws the pocket pass to 5 anyway and 5 catches at the free-throw line with X5 arriving and X4 stunting, no four-on-three to play. The catch is harmless because the short roll was supposed to find three defenders scrambling, and it found two already there.

5 has no drive and no pass with X5 in front and X4 at the nail, and kicks the ball back out to 1 with the clock running down. Contained. The hedge survives the slip because the coverage never promised to stop the pass to the roller, only to be there when he caught it.

The stack: 1 at the top with the ball, 5 at the free-throw line, 2 the shooter stacked behind him at the dotted circle, 3 and 4 in the corners. 2 stacks because the back screener has to be behind the roller's defender before the roll, and the stack puts him there before the defense can read it.

5 steps up and sets the ball screen on X1, screening toward the left. The screen sends 1 away from the stack, so the roll and the back screen meet in the middle of the lane.

1 comes off the screen downhill toward the left elbow and 5 begins his roll; X5 drops toward the rim. The read is X5, in drop. He is the read because a dropped big is standing exactly where the back screen is about to land.

2 steps up out of the stack and back-screens X5 at the free-throw line as 5 rolls past him. X5 is backing toward the rim watching the ball, so he never sees a screen on his back.

5 rolls off the back screen to the rim with X5 stuck behind 2, and 2 pops to the top of the key as X2 stays with him. Both happen at once so that 1 has a roller nobody is guarding and a shooter whose defender has to choose.

1 throws the lob to 5 at the rim over the screened X5. The dropping big is behind the back screen and the low man is on the corner shooter, so the rim is empty.

5 catches and finishes. Score. Spain beats drop because the coverage's whole plan is a big waiting at the rim, and the back screen removes him.

Next trip the defense switches the back screen, X2 jumping onto the roller as 2 screens and X5 staying with 2 on the pop. Reset to the stack with 1 at the top. A switch is the only way to have a defender on the roller after the back screen, which is why they try it. The price is a guard on him.

1 brings the ball back to the top and rebuilds the stack. X2 is already a step higher, ready to switch the back screen, because a defender who intends to switch onto the roller starts closer to the roller's path.

5 screens and 1 comes off toward the left elbow; as 5 rolls, X2 cheats up early toward the roller to switch the back screen before it is set. The read for the counter is X2 leaving 2 before 2 has screened. A switching defender has to be at the roller before the screen lands, so he goes early.

1 drives off the screen and 5 rolls; X2 jumps onto 5 and X5 shades to 2 in the stack. The switch has to happen on the roll, before the back screen, otherwise it is late.

The counter: 2 leaks out of the stack to the right wing instead of screening, and 5 keeps rolling with the smaller X2 on his back. The defender who switched onto the roller is a guard, and the one who stayed is a big guarding a shooter on the move, which is why 2 leaks instead of screening. Half Court Hoops runs the same counter.

1 throws the lob to 5 over the smaller X2. The lob again, because the switch put a guard under the rim with a big rolling at him, and a lob over a guard is a layup.

5 finishes over the guard. Score. Spain has an answer to the switch because the switch changes who guards the roller, and the leak makes sure it is the wrong one.

The double drag, 77 in NBA shorthand: both bigs trail into stacked ball screens before the defense is set. 1 pushes right of center, corners filled, 4 and 5 coming up behind the ball.

4 and 5 set the double drag, offset a step so X1 has no gap to slide through. Whoever gets there first screens first, usually 4 first and popping, 5 second and rolling.

1 comes off both screens going left, downhill. If X1 ducks under the screens, 1 pulls up. If X5 steps up late to hedge, 1 splits between the two screeners, because the hedger left his man behind.

5 rolls to the rim and 4 pops to the top. The read is the second screener's defender. He can take the roll or the pop, not both, and neither corner defender can help without giving up a three.

X5 drops with the roll, so 1 throws back to 4 at the top. The throwback is hard to deny because X4 was the first screener's man and is two steps behind the play.

4 shoots the trailer three. The counter when the defense switches the second screen is to attack the switched big off the dribble and take him to the far side before the defense can trade back.