About This Play/Drill

The San Antonio Spurs summer league team ran an End of Game (EOG) play to beat the Warriors at the buzzer with a lob to Jonathan Simmons. The play showed how teams could take advantage of defenses that hard hedge (when the screener’s defender steps in the path of player coming off the screen) or switch off ball screens. 

Kyle Anderson is tasked with inbounding the ball, in the stronger side corner is the Spurs best shooter in DeJounte Murray. His job is not to move from that spot and keep the floor spread.

Bryn Forbes is in the weakside corner and it appears as if CJ Williams and Simmons are setting a double staggered for Forbes. As Forbes comes off the first screen, Simmons’ defender jumps out early to hedge on the screen and make it a difficult entry pass to Forbes.

As soon as the defender hedges Simmons slips right to the basket without ever setting the screen. Anderson throws the lob but it is a little off target but Simmons uses his athleticism to catch the ball, gather himself and goes straight up to score over the defense.

Even if the defense switched in this situation Simmons would have the superior position as he has a direct lane to the basket and there would be no one in between him and the ball.  The play above is a great example of a team slipping a screen to take advantage of teams