The pin-down: curl, pop or shoot
A big screens for a perimeter player cutting up from the block. The cutter waits for the screen, then reads what the defender does. 1 has the ball at the top, 5 is the screener, 2 is the cutter and X2 is the cutter’s defender.
Read the 5 steps as text
- 1 has the ball at the top. 5 is the screener, at the left elbow. 2 is the cutter, on the left block, with X2 guarding. A pin-down is a screen for a perimeter player cutting up from the block.
- 5 comes down and sets the screen with their back to the ball, then jump-stops. 2 waits for it and reads X2’s feet before moving. Go early and the defender gets to choose for you.
- X2 chases over the top, so X2 ends up behind 2. 2 curls tight around the screen toward the basket, and 1 passes to them on the curl.
- X2 cuts under the screen, so X2 ends up between 2 and the basket. 2 pops out to the wing for the catch and the shot.
- X2 is late to contest, so 2 comes straight off the screen into the shot, as long as there is separation and the pass is on time.
These are starting reads, not rules. The screen angle, the space and the ball still decide which one the cutter takes. On defence, the guide’s answer is to fight over the screen against shooters and go under only against non-shooters.
At junior level
Under-12s are about fun and pure skill, with no plays, so skip structured screening there. From under-14, the Off-Ball Screening guide starts with the two simplest actions, the pin-down and the back screen, because each maps to one clear read. Hold the floppy and stagger actions for under-16 and up.
The Pin-Down Reads session plan builds it in steps: a screen and go with no defender, then the coach telling the defender to chase or go under, then 2v2, 3v3, and finally 5v5, where the players have to find the pin-down themselves.
Unofficial fan-created resource. Not affiliated with or endorsed by basketballimmersion.com. The pin-down is adapted from the Off-Ball Screening guide, synthesised from The Basketball Podcast (full credit to host Chris Oliver and all guests), and from the Pin-Down Reads session plan, which is built from coaching clinics credited on that page. The curl, pop and shoot reads are the standard starting reads, added by junior.basketball rather than taken from the podcast.