Spain Pick and Roll, Explained
What is the Spain pick and roll?
Spain pick and roll (also called "stack" pick and roll) is a three-player action: a ball handler, a screener who rolls, and a shooter who screens the screener's defender. The name comes from the Spanish national team, which ran it constantly in the 2010s before NBA teams adopted it.
The reason it works is simple. In a normal pick and roll the defense has two defenders handling two offensive players. Spain adds a third offensive player directly into the action, and the third defender has to guess: stay home on the shooter or help on the roll. Either answer gives something up.
How to run Spain pick and roll
- Set the high ball screen. The 5 sets a screen at the top of the key. The ball handler (1) comes off it hard toward the middle of the floor.
- Back screen the roller's defender. As 5 rolls, the shooter (2) comes up from the free-throw line area and sets a back screen on 5's defender. The screen has to be set on the defender, not the space.
- Pop to the top. After screening, 2 pops out to the top of the key behind the three-point line.
- Read the third defender. If 2's defender stays on 2, the roller is open for a lob. If 2's defender helps on the roll, 2 is open at the top for a three.
When to use it
Spain is best against teams that hedge or show hard on ball screens. The hedging big is already out of position when the back screen arrives, so he has no chance to recover to the roller. It also works against drop coverage, because the back screen stops the dropping big from staying with the roll.
It is a half-court set, not a continuity offense. Use it out of a timeout, as an after-timeout play, or when you need one quality look late in a possession. Most high school teams can install it in one practice if the players already understand a basic ball screen.
Coaching points
- The ball handler must use the screen. If he rejects it, the back screen is wasted.
- The shooter's back screen is the whole play. Screen the defender's hip, hold it, then pop.
- The roller should expect the lob. He stays at the rim; he does not drift out.
- If the defense switches the back screen, the roller has a smaller defender on him. Post him up.
Frequently asked questions
The Spanish national team made the action famous in international play, using Sergio Llull and Rudy Fernández as the shooter setting the back screen. NBA teams picked it up afterward and the name stuck.
A regular pick and roll involves two offensive players, the ball handler and the screener. Spain adds a third player who back-screens the screener's defender and then pops to the perimeter, forcing a third defender to make a decision.
Teams at the 8th grade level and up usually can. Younger players tend to struggle with the timing of the back screen. If your guards can already read a basic ball screen, Spain is a reasonable next step.
The most common answer is to switch the back screen, so the shooter's defender takes the roller and the big takes the shooter. That gives up a size mismatch at the rim, which is why the offense usually posts the roller when it sees a switch.
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Boys Program Director, MN Rush. Varsity assistant for Rogers Boys Basketball and former head coach at North Branch. Founded MN Rush in 2017. boys@mnrush.com