Back Screen (Back Pick)
Screen on a defender's blind side — easy basket if executed correctly.
The back screen exploits a defensive instinct: defenders watch the ball. When a back screen is set, the defender of the cutter is looking at the ball-handler. The screen comes from the cutter’s side or behind — out of the defender’s peripheral vision. The cutter goes backdoor toward the rim. The defender, focused on the ball, doesn’t react in time.
Back screens are the engine of backdoor-cut offenses (Princeton being the most famous). Even in non-backdoor systems, back screens appear in nearly every team’s playbook — usually as a counter to defenses that overplay passing lanes. If a defender denies the wing, a back screen sets up an open layup as the punishment.
Teaching back screens requires teaching timing. The screener has to wait until the defender’s attention is fully on the ball before setting up. Too early, the defender adjusts. Too late, the cut runs into a recovered defender. The pass has to arrive at the moment the cutter clears — early or late produces turnovers.
Key principles
- Screener approaches the defender from behind or the side
- Cutter goes BACKDOOR (away from the ball) off the screen
- Defender's first move is usually toward the ball — wrong direction
- High-percentage shot if timing is right; turnover risk if pass is rushed