Blowing Up the Sideline Pick and Roll

Tony Barone of the Memphis Grizzlies spoke about Pick and Roll defense at the Nike Clinic in Wisconsin Dells. The thing that stuck out the most for me was how he defended the side pick and roll - when the ball is one the wing and driven middle. Below is the explanation of how he did it:

When the pick is being set, the player guarding the screener drops to the ballside block. The player defending the dribbler gets above the screen and forces the ball to the baseline.

Look at what that does to the pick and roll! Dropping the screener's defender to the block eliminates the slip and the roll. With the ball being forced that way the ball has to be driven into the help with the screener's defender already waiting. The ONLY thing you would give up is a screener pop to the middle - but even then the other help should be there. Even a pick and pop to the corner would be defendable with the screener's defender seeing the pop and closing out.

This is definitely a strategy that I will use next year when defending the pick and roll!