Down Screen Basketball: How to Set It, Use It and Read It

Down screen basketball for both players: how to set it, how the cutter uses it, the curl, pop, back cut and slip reads, and where coaches disagree.

A down screen frees a cutter to come up to the perimeter off a teammate who faces the baseline, and this guide shows the set-up, the reads for the cutter and the screener, and the versions coaches teach.

A down screen in basketball is an off-ball screen set by a player whose chest faces the baseline, so the teammate who uses it cuts away from the hoop toward the perimeter. It is also called a pin down. One coaching guide describes it that way in its list of seventeen screens, and uses it mostly to get shooters open. A down screen is not a ball screen, so the cutter starts without the ball and catches it off the screen. This guide covers how to set a down screen, how to use it, the reads each player makes and the places coaches teach it differently.

The defense decides the cut. The cutter sets up his defender before the screen, reads how that defender plays it, and picks the curl, the pop, the back cut or the straight cut. The screener reads the same defender and goes the other way.

Down Screen Basketball at a Glance

Piece	What happens
The screener	Steps off the high post or comes from the perimeter and sets the screen with his chest toward the baseline
The cutter	Starts lower than the screener, near the block or the lane, and comes up to the wing, the slot or the elbow
The passer	Delivers on time and keeps the dribble alive until the cutter is open
The cutter's reads	Straight cut, curl, fade or flare, back cut
The screener's reads	Pop, dive, slip, seal

Down screen basketball diagram of a screener stepping off the high post to screen a cutter's defender and the cutter running to the wing for a pass

The base down screen. 5 steps off the high post and screens X2 with his chest toward the baseline. 2 walks X2 toward the hoop, then runs off 5's shoulder to the wing, and 1 passes to him.

How to Set and Use a Down Screen

The screener. One version's cue is loud, low and legal, with the screener square to the defender's path. A second screens on the defender's numbers, jump stops with the feet shoulder-width apart about an arm's length away and holds two counts. Two other coaches tell the screener to hunt a defender and never screen air. Don Meyer has the screener say "wait" to the cutter on a down screen, so the cutter does not leave before the screen is set. The rules on how long to hold and how still to be are on the moving screen and illegal screen pages.

The cutter. The screen only works if the defender is set up first. One guide has the cutter walk his defender toward the hoop and then explode out to the perimeter. An assistant coach's article says to take two or three steps away, change speed and come off shoulder to shoulder, because a gap lets the defender slide through. Another coach walks the defender down until his high shoulder is level with the screener's low shoulder. Rick Pitino has the cutter dislodge his man with an L-cut first and does not allow straight-line cuts. Bob Knight tells the cutter to face the basket and not the screener, and another version has the cutter's name called before the first step, so the cutter has time to set up his man.

The passer. Pablo Laso treats the pass as its own skill. It has to come at the right moment and angle, the passer keeps his dribble, and a late pass or an extra dribble hands the advantage back to the defender. One training article adds that a perfect screen still fails if the passer cannot make the pass.

The Cutter's Reads

The cutter reads the defender before the screen, not in the middle of the cut. The curl against a trailing defender is common ground, and the back cut against a denial is close to it. The pop, fade and flare depend on whose words you use, which the table at the end of this page shows.

Down screen basketball diagram of a cutter curling tight around the screener toward the lane while his defender trails

The curl. X2 trails 2 over the screen, so 2 turns tight around 5 and cuts toward the lane, and 1 passes to him on the move.

Curl. The defender trails or follows the cutter. Four different versions curl against a trailing defender. One training video has the cutter set his man up slow to fast, curl tight, show the hands and dip the inside shoulder, then step into the shot with the inside foot first.
Straight cut. One version uses it against a defender who sags. Jay Wright's drill version takes the cutter straight to the free-throw line area for an elbow jumper.
Back cut. The defender overplays or denies. Two versions send the cutter backdoor. One coach's rule is to make the back cut and never fake it.
Pop, fade or flare. The defender goes under, or cheats to the other side. The names and the triggers differ by version.

Down screen basketball diagram of a cutter rejecting the screen and cutting behind the overplaying defender to the rim

The back cut. X2 plays above 2 to deny the wing, so 2 rejects the screen and cuts behind him to the rim for the pass from 1.

The Screener's Reads

The screener is not finished when the cutter leaves. Two training sites teach the screener to go the opposite way from the cutter, popping when the cutter curls and diving when the cutter cuts straight. One coach has the screener separate hard in the opposite direction as his answer to a switch.

Down screen basketball diagram of the screener popping out to the wing after the cutter curls toward the lane

The pop. 2 curls toward the lane, so 5 opens out to the wing in the other direction, where 1 can pass to either of them.

Slip. One coach slips whenever the screener's defender gets above the screen. A coaching site's slip play slips when the defender jumps to deny. Shaka Smart's Washington series calls the slip the shot and the screen the bait.
Seal after a switch. One version has the screener seal on the screen so a switch hands him inside position, and another says the screener is usually the better target after a switch, so the passer looks at him first.
Re-screen. One coach always re-screens a flare off a down screen, and another re-screens when the cutter goes through. Bob Knight back screens a shooter and then turns and re-screens for him.
Step back and look for the ball. A screening handout that gathers quotes from Sampson, Knight and Wooden calls the screener the most open man in the game after a good screen. Pablo Laso's screener becomes dangerous only after he holds still.

Down screen basketball diagram of the screener slipping to the rim as his defender steps up to help on the cutter

The slip. X5 steps up to help on the cutter's route before the screen is set, so 5 slips to the rim and 1 passes to him.

Down Screens in Sets and Chains

Down screens rarely stand alone. The FIBA Europe glossary names the common combinations. A zipper is a down screen for a player on the low block who cuts to the slot to catch the ball. A Ricky is a back screen followed by a down screen for the same player. Zoom action is a pin down followed by a dribble hand-off. The same glossary lists a wiper as a flare screen followed by a pin down.

Pablo Laso runs three or four screens in a row, such as a zipper, a pin down, a back screen, a baseline exit and another pin down, and reads each defender until the shot or the ball inside is good. In Princeton's Chin set, as one college coach teaches it, the 5 follows the three-point line to set the down screen for a pop. The cutter reads the 5's down screen with three answers, which the table below shows. Related actions are on the flare screen, elevator screen and basketball screens pages, and the Princeton family is on Princeton offense. Defending these screens has its own page, defending screens.

Drills That Isolate the Read

Two Ball Shooting (Jay Wright). A screener and a cutter with two passers. The cutter gets the first pass, passes to the screener and pops out for a second pass and a jumper. Version one is a straight cut to the elbow. Version two is a curl and pop. Version three is a back cut to the rim, then a pass back to the screener spotting up.
Curl, pop, fade. A college program's drill has the player step into the lane to set up the defender, then take alternating curl, pop and fade shots. Its note sets five makes of each as a standard for the footwork. A dummy defender comes later so players read.
Curl-Pop-Fade. A high school coach's drill with one down screen and three shots. The cutter curls for a pull-up elbow jumper, pops to the arc, or fades to the corner for a three, and the point guard adjusts spacing.
Screen and cut with a defender. Start with a defender who plays one way on purpose, such as denying the curl, then let the defender go live. A defender who denies the curl sends the cutter to fake the curl and cut to the rim, and a defender who slides below the screen lets the cutter pop out for a three.
Start with no defense (Don Meyer). Screening work begins two on zero without a ball, then with a ball, then four players at once.
Chair read. A chair stands in for the screener, a partner passes, and the cutter pictures the defender while he practices the curl footwork.

For a menu of screening drills see drills to teach off-ball screens and for the practice structure around them see basketball practice plan. Keep a down screen inside a motion system with motion offense.

Where Coaches Disagree

The cutter's read is the clearest split. The words over the top and under are used in opposite ways, so settle one vocabulary for your team and use it in every workout. Version A is a Princeton Chin teacher's. Version B is a motion-offense coach's four-read package. Version C is Pablo Laso's. Version D is a skills trainer's. Version E is a coaching site's cutting page and a college offense that uses the same words.

Defender	Version
Trails, riding his heels	Curl (Versions A, B and C)
Goes under the screen	A: pop it. B: flare. D: curl. E: fade or pop
Jumps over the top, ahead of the cutter	C: reach the corner. D: fade to the corner. E: curl
Denies the wing	Back cut (Versions A and B)

Question	Version
Who sets it?	Version 1: blockers screen and movers score (Dick Bennett and Tony Bennett)
	Version 2: guards screen only for guards, and forwards only for guards at the slot (Jay Wright's Villanova)
	Version 3: the best shooters set the screen and pop back for shots (Bob Huggins and one 5-out guide)
	Version 4: bigs screen for smaller players (Bo Ryan's swing and one set-offense page)
Screen the man or an area?	Version 1: hunt the man (Laso and several others)
	Version 2: screen the midpoint area between the basket and the sideline (Hubie Brown)
Chase or switch on defense	Version 1: chase down screens
	Version 2: switch equal sizes

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Questions Coaches Ask

What is a down screen in basketball?

An off-ball screen set by a player facing the baseline, so the cutter comes up to the perimeter. It is also called a pin down.

What is the difference between a down screen and a pin down?

One coaching guide and the FIBA glossary treat them as one action under two names.

How does a cutter use a down screen?

He sets up his defender first, walks him toward the hoop or changes speed, then comes off the screener's shoulder and reads how the defender plays it. The curl, back cut, pop and straight cut are the answers.

What does the screener do after a down screen?

He reads his own defender. Common answers are to pop when the cutter curls, dive when the cutter goes straight, slip when his defender gets above the screen and re-screen when the first screen is busted.

Is a down screen a ball screen?

No. A ball screen is set for the player with the ball. A down screen is set for a cutter who does not have it yet.

More Guides From This Batch

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