We should run pick and roll ad nauseum with the shooters we have.
That doesn't mean run it with Roberson which we love to do. It means run the pick and pop with Lydon and Thompson. If the help defender comes off the wing, kick it to the wing shooter. If not, drive to the hoop where Frank needs to get stronger with the ball and Gillon needs to get smarter with his limitations. If both follow you, drop it off to Lydon or Thompson who can both hit the jumper, pass it to an open man or drive the lane.
I love screen-and-roll offense. However, Syracuse hasn't executed it well since it became a large part of the half-court offense. Part of the blame lies in the poor design of it, and part of it resides in the dreadful performance of fundamental skills.
To be consistently successful with this offense, a team needs to run screens from a variety of angles: high, side, flat, angle, double-fist, etc. The vast majority of ours are either high or double-fist, and the latter is often repeated against an opponent and then completely forgotten against the next. We're easy to defend because teams only have to prepare for these two scenarios, and they really only defend one regularly.
We also rarely run screen/re-screen action. Good screen-and-roll teams force defenders to fight through multiple screens. This can be done by a screener setting a pick and then reversing to screen for the ball again. It can also incorporate screen-the-screener action, where the screener sets a ball screen and then receives a screen right after. This set-up creates a dilemma for the ball-screener's defender. If he helps on the ball screen, he will be quite late fighting through the screen set on him. Lydon made a three-pointer against Georgetown off of screen-the-screener action. It was the first and only time we have used it this year.
Ball screens that are part of an offense's natural motion are more difficult to defend. Defensive players are more prone to be out of effective help position if they are chasing cutters. Villanova's offense does this well, as does the Spurs' offense. In these two systems, the ball screens are "automatic" plays built into situations that arise as a result of the offensive movements (triggered by ball position). Syracuse's offense never does this. Our players run a ball screen and, if nothing materializes on the first read, pass to another player. Another random screen is then set on the ball, often by a player on the opposite side of the floor. As a result, our sets regularly display poor spacing after the first ball screen. The defense also gets a chance to recover as our bigs work out who should set the next screen. Furthermore, none of our players know for sure what to do during the second and third attempts. Consequently, our offense is fragmented and easily defended.
In addition to the design flaws, our players inconsistently execute fundamental skills. Our screeners rarely set solid screens. The angles are usually too east/west. Good screens create good angles, forcing defenders to make tough choices about how to defend. Additionally, solid ball-screeners firmly plant their feet and let the ball-handler create space with at least two clearing dribbles before they move. Our screeners turn to run before the ball-handler has passed them. Good screeners read opposite the ball. We have screeners that roll to the hoop, regardless of whether or not that is the correct read.
In the same vein, our ball-handlers seem to be in a rush to use the screens. Every game there seems to be an offensive foul or two against our bigs because the ball-handlers don't wait for them to properly set. Our guards rarely drive off the screener's hip. Because of this, defenders can simply slide over the screen, making it pointless. Often the two clearing dribbles are neglected, or they are completed laterally rather than vertically, which doesn't really create meaningful space. Our wing shooters are rendered impotent because the lack of motion or screen-the-screener action makes it simple for defenders to help-and-recover. The fact that our dribble-drivers never use a jump-stop to shoot or pass compounds this issue.
Our players' passing often leaves a lot to be desired, too. How often has one of our guards tried to pass to the feet of big men? How often has a player thrown a chest pass when it should have been a bounce pass? How often has a post pass been ignored, or has the pass not been successful because the passing player didn't use a ball fake to set the pass up or dribble to create a better passing angle?
In short, this collection of players should theoretically utilize screen-and-roll offense effectively. What we have seen over the last five years, though, makes me skeptical that we could execute it well without major changes in philosophy and teaching practices.
Those will be worthwhile discussions, I'm sure!
