Offensive tactics: fast break, give-and-go and pick-and-roll

25 min

Making the defence choose

Five defenders can guard five attackers. Offensive tactics exist to break that balance for a moment: to create two attackers against one defender, or an open shooter, before the defence can recover. In Senior 2 you learned about spacing, ball movement and screens. In this lesson you refine three tactics that every team from school level to the professional game uses: the fast break, the give-and-go and the pick-and-roll, and you practise them in exercises that end with a shot.

Definition

Fast break: attacking quickly after winning the ball, before the defence is set, to create more attackers than defenders near the basket.

Give-and-go: a player passes to a teammate, cuts towards the basket and receives the ball straight back.

Screen (pick): a legal block in which an attacker stands still in the path of a teammate's defender. In a pick-and-roll the screener then turns and moves ("rolls") towards the basket.

Backdoor cut: a cut behind an over-playing defender towards the basket.

The fast break

Win the ball by a rebound, steal or made basket and make the first pass, the outlet, quickly to a guard on the wing.
Fill the lanes: the ball goes to the middle; two teammates sprint wide down the side lanes; a fourth player trails behind.
Attack the numbers: in a 3 v 2, the middle player dribbles to the free-throw line and either shoots, or passes to the wing whose defender has moved to stop the ball. In a 2 v 1, attack the defender until he commits, then pass.
Finish with a lay-up whenever possible: it is the highest-percentage shot.

The give-and-go and the backdoor cut

Pass to a teammate on the wing, take one step away to make your defender relax, then sprint to the basket with your hand up as a target. If your defender stays between you and the ball, cut behind him (backdoor) for a bounce pass.

The pick-and-roll

The screener stops completely, feet shoulder-width, arms in, before the defender arrives; a moving screen is a foul.
The ball-handler waits for the screen to be set, then dribbles shoulder to shoulder past it so the defender cannot squeeze through.
The screener rolls to the basket with a hand up, or "pops" out for a shot if the defenders sink.
The ball-handler reads the defence: shoot if open, pass to the rolling screener if his defender helps, or pass to a spaced teammate whose defender has come to help.

Exercises

3 v 2 into 2 v 1: three attack two; the two who defended then attack the shooter going back the other way.
Give-and-go lines: a passer at the wing and a cutter at the top; finish with a lay-up on alternate sides.
2 v 2 pick-and-roll: the defence plays live; score only from the roll pass or from a shot off the screen.
5 v 5, three-pass rule: the team must make three passes, one of them after a screen, before shooting.

Video: "Tips, Skills and Drills: Pick And Roll", USA Basketball. Watch the screener set a still, wide screen and the ball-handler wait for it before driving.

Worked example

Worked example: which shot is worth more? In a season of school matches, a team's lay-ups go in 56% of the time, its mid-range shots 38% and its 3-point shots 30%. Points per shot are found by multiplying the success rate by the shot's value.

Lay-up: $0.56 \times 2 = 1.12$ points per shot.
Mid-range: $0.38 \times 2 = 0.76$ points per shot.
3-pointer: $0.30 \times 3 = 0.90$ points per shot.

Tactics that create lay-ups (fast breaks, rolls and cuts) are worth most; a long 2-point shot is worth least.

Tip

Wait for the screen. The commonest pick-and-roll mistake is going too early. Count "one" after the screener plants his feet, then go, brushing past his shoulder.

Warning

Common mistakes and safety. Moving screens and screens set too close to a moving defender are fouls and can cause hard collisions; give a moving defender room to stop. On fast breaks, finish and keep running under the basket rather than stopping dead, and keep the area behind the baskets clear of benches and bags.

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Practice

Define a screen and a pick-and-roll.
List the four steps of a fast break.
In a 3 v 2 fast break, when should the middle player pass rather than shoot?
Why is a moving screen a foul?
A team's 3-point shots go in 35% of the time and its mid-range shots 42%. Which shot gives more points per attempt?
The defender keeps standing between you and the ball and denying passes. Which cut beats him?
In the pick-and-roll, both defenders follow the ball-handler. What should the ball-handler do?
Plan a 20-minute practice for 15 pupils on one basket that trains the fast break and the give-and-go.

Show answersHide answers

A screen is a legal block by a stationary attacker in the path of a teammate's defender; in a pick-and-roll the screener then rolls towards the basket for a pass.
Win the ball and make the outlet pass; fill the lanes; attack the numbers advantage; finish with a lay-up.
When a defender steps up to stop the ball, leaving a wing teammate free.
A screen must be stationary; moving into a defender's path creates illegal contact and can cause collisions.
3-pointers: 0.35 × 3 = 1.05; mid-range: 0.42 × 2 = 0.84; the 3-pointer gives more.
A backdoor cut behind him to the basket.
Pass to the rolling screener, who now has no defender, or to a spaced teammate if a third defender comes to help.
Example: 3 lines at the far end; 3 v 2 then 2 v 1 for 10 minutes; give-and-go lines on both wings for 8 minutes; 2-minute cool-down; rotate roles so everyone attacks and defends.

Remember

Fast break: outlet, fill the lanes, attack the numbers, lay-up.
Give-and-go: pass, cut, receive; backdoor if the defender overplays.
Pick-and-roll: still screen, wait, drive off the shoulder, roll; read the defence.
Spacing on the 3-point line punishes defenders who help.

Sources and credits

Pick and roll, Wikipedia contributors, Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted by Ganzaa.
Fast break, Wikipedia contributors, Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted by Ganzaa.
Official Basketball Rules 2026, FIBA: court dimensions, summarised.
Video: "Tips, Skills and Drills: Pick And Roll", USA Basketball, embedded from YouTube.
Court diagram, exercises, worked example and practice: written by Ganzaa.

This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1Making the defence choose

2The fast break

3The give-and-go and the backdoor cut

4The pick-and-roll

Exercises

Making the defence choose

The fast break

The give-and-go and the backdoor cut

The pick-and-roll