with Coach William Clay,
Diamond in the Rough Skills Academy;
10 years coaching high school, Division 1, and AAU,
Published "The Seven S's of the Pick-and-Roll" in Winning Hoops Magazine (2015),
WBCA Final Four On-Court Presentation of the Seven S's of the Pick-and-Roll (2016).
For decades, coaches at every level have regarded the pick-and-roll as arguably the single most efficient offensive tool in their playbooks. In the Seven S's of the Pick-and-Roll, Coach Clay gives special attention to detail in explaining the ball-handler's role in the pick-and- roll. This video presents a template for building a ball-handler's intuition, reads, ball-handling, and scoring in the pick-and-roll in seven S's. They are:
- Survey. Read the defense from far-to-near.
- Start. Will I need to use my speed or length/size (or both) to engage my defender below the level of the screen?
- Setup. How will I get to the screener's outside foot before my defender to successfully use it?
- Seal. No space can be allowed or compromised to let my defender bridge between my attack and the screen. Close the gap by "taking up space" and attacking the screen shoulder-to-hip.
- Separate. The greater the distance covered after sealing off the screen, the greater the chance a player will find an open shot or create a mismatch.
- Sag/soft/switch. How is the screener's defender playing the pick-and-roll?
- Score. The purpose of the pick-and-roll is to create scoring opportunities. Maximize its potential by staying aggressive at all times.
Coach Clay presents three ball-handling series and one finishing series that are paramount to not only being effective in pick-and roll situations, but also that successful high-level pick-and-roll ball-handlers subconsciously perform routinely in games.
Ball-handling
The in-out ball-handling series builds the proper mechanics and muscle memory of executing the in-out dribble with a unique two-ball slam drill and one-ball stationary shift drill to attack a soft or sagging screene's defender, while also utilizing Coach Clay's "Equation of Separation: East-West jabs+North-South Stride" to yield max separation from the defender.
The second series, which is the escape-dribble series, compliments the scenario of "stringing" a hedging defender or escaping a trap situation, while maintaining vision of the entire floor to create scoring opportunities for teammates.
Lastly, in the "Snake-back series" Clay teaches the ball-handler to play with rhythm and pace while learning to take up the space when the screener's defender is again soft or sagging, which ultimately creates scoring opportunities for the ball-handler and or screener in the mid-range and at the basket.
Finishing
In the finishing series, X-out layups, Clay emphasizes changing speed and direction while attacking downhill utilizing "Floater", "Euro", and "Spin" finishes, all of which are common, yet effective complementary finishes for both the ball-handler and screener in pick-and-rollsituations when performed with proper footwork and balance.
Two-Man Game
The last segment combines all of the aforementioned concepts in "The 2-man game" in which the ball-handler and screener play off of each other utilizing Dribble-handoffs and re-screens to demonstrate how to properly read-and-react in pick-and-roll situations.utilizationof the Seven S's.
The Seven S's will not only add to your players individual skill set, but will also add to their holistic understanding of pick-and-roll, making them better team players as well.
34 minutes. 2018.